Chicago Bears Make Signing Orlando Pace A Priority

According to an NFL source the Bears have made signing free agent LT Orlando Pace a priority.

If he joins the team they plan on putting him at left tackle and moving last year's first round pick Chris Williams to right tackle.

Orlando Pace's Agent Kennard McGuire said Pace "had a very good and productive" visit. McGuire declined to discuss specifics in relation to a contract offer.

Chris Williams is versatile enough to play either tackle spot, which is why the Bears would be able to move him to the right side.

If, Pace signs that opens up a competition between recently signed Kevin Shaffer and Chris Williams at right tackle. Also, Frank Omiyale would be able to compete at his natural position LG.

According to Bears sources, the Bears aren't concerned about Pace's injury issues the last couple of seasons.

Even with the signing of future hall of famer Orlando Pace, the Bears still will address the tackle position in this month's NFL Draft, but they won't need to do it in the first round.

Frank "the Tank" Omiyale: What Does He do for the Bears' Offensive Line?

The Bears recently signed a little known offensive lineman named Frank Omiyale (OH-mee-YEL).

So far Frank "the Tank" Omiyale's highlights of his career have been these two things:

1) On October 5, 2008, Omiyale made his first NFL regular season start, replacing the injured left tackle Jordan Gross who was out with a concussion.

2) Omiyale signed a four-year, $14 million deal with the Chicago Bears on February 27, 2009.

Omiyale was asked why he chose Da Bears:

“Because it’s the Bears. I’ve heard a lot about the tradition here. From talking to other players around the league, I know it’s a family-oriented organization, so that’s what really made it attractive.”

Omiyale sounds like a Chicago Bear to me.

With the retirement of John Tait and John St. Clair maybe not returning, I have come up with the Bears starters at the o-line:

LT- Chris Williams (The Bears' 14th overall in last year's draft, was injured for most of the season).

LG- Josh Beekman (He started all 16 games for the Bears last season and did a solid job, some say he might take over at center once Olin Kreutz retires).

C- Olin Kreutz (The soon to be 32 year old, struggled at times last season, but still can be the pro bowl player he was three seasons ago).

RG- Roberto Garza (31 year old lineman was shaky at times through last season, and Bears' GM Jerry Angelo has said Frank Omiyale could compete with Garza at RG if John St. Clair doesn't resign).

RT- Frank Omiyale (From what you read above, Omiyale is very inexperienced, but many Panthers players have said he was overshadowed by Pro Bowler Jordan Gross).

Backups:

G- Dan Buenning a reserve lineman for the Bears last season could be in the mix with Garza for the starting RG job.

G- Terrence Metcalf- was suspended for four games last season and has struggled at times when he was able to start.

LS- Patrick Mannelly- Strictly a long snapper, but is listed at center.

T- Cody Balogh- spent all last season on the practice squad last season.

G- Tyler Reed- also spent all last season on the practice squad.

quotes from chicagosuntimes.com

Report: Bears offer OT John St. Clair a Contract

Today the Bears made a contract offer to offensive tackle John St. Clair.

Financial terms discussed were not disclosed.

John St. Clair would like a five-year deal, I'm sure he would settle for the three-year deal the Bears are believed to have offered.


St. Clair had this to say today:

"It's great to have dialogue, I don't want to get into whether [the offer] was good or not good. I'll let my agent [Ben Dogra] handle the contract negotiations. He knows what I'm looking for. And he knows I want to be back."

"My agent knows what I should get, I'm just letting him handle it.

"You don't want to reach free agency. You want to stick with your team. But you have to do what's best your family. And wherever God wants me to be, that's where I'll be."


Lovie Smith talks about John St. Clair:

"John St. Clair was big for us even before John Tait retired. John played well for us throughout the year. He was consistent each week, we knew what we were gonna get from him. Of course we'd like for him to remain a member of our team."

all quotes from chicagotribune.com



This is a move the Bears had to make considering how thin they are at the offensive tackle position.

St. Clair was a solid player, starting all 16 games last season at left tackle.

If, St. Clair signs the contract, this makes him the starting right tackle and Chris Williams the starting left tackle heading into training camp, unless the Bears bring someone else in via free agency or the NFL Draft.

The Bears made the right move by only offering St. Clair a three year deal, he's already 32 years old and you don't know how much he has left in the tank.

Let's all hope John St. Clair resigns with the Bears.

Bears to Lose John Tait?

John Tait, 34, is said to be done with football for good.

John Tait had this to say about his "potential retirement":

`You notice little things that didn't happen when you were younger, it just takes a little bit longer to recover from games. I think you have to do a lot more maintenance, just the upkeep, that's the biggest thing. If you would have asked me after my rookie year if I was going to play 10 years in the league, I would have told you were you were crazy. I'm just happy I am still going.''

John Tait's agent Ethan Lock declined to comment on his client's future.

John Tait signed a six-year, $33 million contract to come to the Bears from Kansas City in 2004 and has made 139 career starts.

John Tait is a veteran recipient of the Bears 2005 Brian Piccolo Award as voted by his teammates.

John Tait had a base salary of $4.8 million for this coming season with a salary-cap figure of $5.35 million.

What Now?

With John St. Clair set to become an unrestricted free agent Feb. 27, Tait's retirement would leave the Bears with only one tackle under contract: 2008 first-round pick Chris Williams, who didn't start a game as a rookie after undergoing disc surgery on his back early in preseason.

It's pretty big loss depth wise, but I think this is a good decision by Tait, you could tell he was slowing down.

Chris Williams on John Tait's "Potential Retirement"

Williams said this about tackle John Tait:

"The way he prepared, the way he took care of his body, on the field, he was a real patient player. And he knew a lot about everybody we played against."To tell you the truth, Tait retiring took me by surprise. I felt like he could have played a while longer. But everybody knows their own body and their own situation."

Chris Williams on the 2009 Season

With the news of tackle John Tait, Chris Williams will be a starter at LT, so he knows he better step up.

Chris Williams had this to say about his rookie season:

''I made some strides, how significant obviously we'll get a chance to see at some point, I'm definitely more comfortable, more confident and everything just going forward with the rest of my career here. I want to compete, but position battles happen in training camp. I missed training camp, I missed preseason. I'm quite a bit stronger. Even from the point before my surgery I'm probably stronger.''

all quotes from chicagosuntimes.com

Bears Off-Season

Bears Free Agents:

The Bears took care of all of their big names last year, so this year nobody that is hugely important is a priority.

Mike Brown *

Kevin Jones

Brandon Lloyd *

Darrell McClover

Rex Grossman *

John St. Clair *

Brandon McGowan *

The asterisks are the players I think the Bears should keep.

Mike Brown should be brought back, even though he is hurt a lot, he is a great player when on the field.

Lloyd could be good as a 3rd or 4th receiver.

Grossman should be brought back to compete with Orton and maybe another veteran QB.

St. Clair will defiantly be brought back for depth behind the young players like, Chris Williams and Josh Beekman.

Brandon McGowan has been hurt a lot, just like Mike Brown, but I think having more solid depth at safety is a great idea.

Team Needs:

Wide Receiver

Defensive End

Offensive Line

Quarterback

Lloyd Out; Booker, Tillman, Vasher and Williams Questionable

Brandon Lloyd is officially ruled out for Sunday's game against the Lions and Marty Booker, Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher and rookie T Chris Williams are all questionable.

Also, Tommie Harris is suspended by head coach Lovie Smith for the game because he showed up late to some of treatments for his knee.

Kyle Orton had this to say about playing without WR Brandon Lloyd:

“It’s tough because he’s really coming on strong, he made a couple really nice catches and ran some great routes last week.”

Devin Hester had this to say about playing without WR Brandon Lloyd:

We know Brandon Lloyd went down, he’s a key receiver, but he’s down this week. It’s just going to give the next guy an opportunity to make plays. With him being down, it’s time for somebody else to step up.”

Lovie Smith on Tommie Harris suspension:

“We’re not trying to send any messages, it’s pretty simple: You’ve got rules, you break rules and you get punished.”

Other News:

After being inactive for the first four games, Bennett could be in uniform Sunday at Ford Field.

“I’m very eager to get the opportunity to get out there and play and help us win a game,” said the third-round pick from Vanderbilt. “If opportunity knocks, I’m there.”

Starting cornerbacks Charles Tillman (shoulder) and Nate Vasher (wrist) were limited in practice Friday and listed as questionable on the injury report, but both said they expected to play against the Lions.

Booker (knee) was also limited and listed as questionable, while rookie left tackle Chris Williams practiced without restrictions and was listed as questionable.

The first-round draft pick has been making steady progress in his rehabilitation from back surgery.

“Chris Williams had another good day and he’s had a good week of practice,” said coach Lovie Smith. “That’s always good to get a player like that back into the mix.”

Bears Bring Back Veteran Tackle Fred Miller

Veteran OT Fred Miller reportedly agreed to a deal for the minimum-salary benefit and will earn roughly $781,000 after a $40,000 signing bonus today.

They released OT Kirk Barton in order to make room for Fred Miller.

Miller returns to the team that released him in February.

They did this because then they wouldn't have to pay him a $500,000 roster bonus that was due March 4.

Fred Miller's base salary was to be $4 million this season.

He was pursued by the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He took the practice field this afternoon.

Miller will become the third offensive tackle with the Bears apparently deeming experience necessary as rookie seventh-round pick Kirk Barton filled the role last week.

Miller(35), entering his 13th year, has started 160 of his last 162 games — 46 with the Bears the past three seasons.

The Bears have been in talks with Miller for more than a month, talks that began when they realized first-round draft pick Chris Williams would be sidelined for at least the first half of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back.

Fred Miller had this to say last month about the possibility of returning to the Bears:

``If I stay, I can finish and that would mean a lot."

Fred Miller's agent Harold Lewis had this to say about his return to the Bears:

``It's an opportunity I am glad Fred did not pass up,'' Lewis said. ``It was not about the money for him, ever. These are just days he will never forget. For players it's not so much the games as it is the time in between spent with teammates and coaches. They wanted him back and Fred wanted to return."

"His hope and dream was to be back in Chicago, "He had five teams that wanted him, but his family is in Chicago. The relationships with the players that he's made everyday and on Sundays, that's stuff he will remember forever."

``They're hopeful their tackles hold up for the rest of the season and Williams the draft pick steps in and is a solid player. Fred is an insurance policy and he's a good policy to have when you're a team spending $120 million trying to get to the Super Bowl. He's an insurance policy they will have for the rest of the year and I'm glad it worked out this way.''

How many offensive lineman are on the roster?

The Chicago Bears have nine offensive lineman including injured first round pick Chris Williams.

What's Next for Barton?

Look for them to try to sign Kirk Barton to the practice squad.

Good Move?

Obviously, if five teams pursued Miller, he still has something left in him, although he did struggle at times last season, but he is a good guy to have as a backup.

Bears name Orton the starter for tommorow's night first preseason game

The Chicago Bears named Kyle Orton the starter for the Bears first preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

But, the reps between both QB's will be the same.

Rex Grossman will come into the first half, so don't worry you will get to see both of them in the game.

Grossman will start next week against the Seahawks and Orton the next week and Grossman the final week of the preseason.

What about un-drafted rookie, Caleb Hanie, he could be the starter.

This QB competition will be a good one, but I see one QB coming out on top earlier than many expect.

I truly believe Rex Grossman will be the man under center, when the first week of the season comes.

He has so much potential and has a much better arm than Kyle Orton.

Kyle Orton did do a decent job, during his rookie season for the Bears.

Lovie Smith had this to say about the QB decision "Don't look into any of these decisions that we've made right now." "It's a starting spot, and there's no rhyme or reason as to why we're going this direction. It's just the way I want to go right now."

Kyle Orton addressed the media yesterday, and had this to say "I think the last four or five practices, I've been sharp." "I just keep on getting better, and that was my goal going into camp. I'm glad. I wanted to come out and start. I feel real confident right now."

Grossman was all small talk, when he said "I really don't have an opinion on how it came down, but I'm excited about being live. That's how you get in game mode."

In other preseason news, Terrence Metcalf and first round pick Chris Williams won't play in the game tomorrow night. Instead, Josh Beekman will fill in for Metcalf and John St. Clair will fill in for Williams.

Besides those injuries, the Bears are still without Dan Bazuin (knee swelling), Dusty Dvoracek (calf), Michael Okwo (leg) and Hunter Hillenmeyer (undisclosed).

But, Kevin Jones is close to coming off the physically unable to perform list, dressing in full pads with a brace on his right knee.

We will see what happens in tomorrow nights game.

Chicago Bears: Highlights From Training Camp, Day 2

Welcome back to Chicago Bears Training Camp highlights. Yesterday was the second day of training camp for the Bears and again no sign of Devin Hester.

But, they brought in another wide receiver from Hawaii Ryan Grice-Mullen. They signed the undrafted free agent after they released FB J.D. Runnels.

Ryan Grice-Mullen is 5'11" weighs about 183 and has a very slim chance of making the team, but he plays the slot and he could replace Devin Hester, if he never shows up again.

Ryan Grice Mullen is a rookie that signed with the Texans as an undrafted free-agent but was cut after the mini-camps.

I was a bit surprised that they didn't keep him around for longer, I thought Grice-Mullen was the best WR on Hawaii's team last year.

Other notes from yesterday:

Rookie LT Chris Williams leaves the field with a back injury, but Lovie Smith think he will be back on the field soon.

Kevin Jones is seen doing some drills. Hopefully he will compete for the starting with Matt Forte soon.

Little known WR Mike Hass who spent most of his time with the Bears on the practice squad made a nice catch thrown by Kyle Orton.

Charles Tillman and Olin Kreutz are still out.

Here is a video of Ryan Grice-Mullen--

Colt Brennan to Ryan Grice-Mullen