Bears Benson an Outsider
In an extremely interesting article from the Chicago Courier-News, Bears running back Cedric Benson is painted as an outsider, even to his own teammates. According to the article, Benson apparently got off on the wrong foot last year with some of his teammates. Now, it would seem, his relationship with many members of the Bears is strictly business, a strange situation for a starting running back to find himself in. Benson has indicated that this does not change the way he approaches game time or preparation, but on some level, team chemistry always affects on field performance.
Though the article doesn’t come right out and name exactly which players with whom Benson is not particularly friendly, it does seem to imply that a lot of his problems stemmed from the fact that he was replacing the very popular Thomas Jones. After Jones left the team this offseason, that stigma only seemed to further hound Benson. It seems amazing to me that grown men and professionals could honestly seem so petty and immature, but this is the reality for the Bears. They can only hope it doesn’t affect them in the wins/losses columns.
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Bears Trade to Replace Tank Johnson
According to reports, the Chicago Bears have made a trade to acquire defensive tackle Darwin Walker from the Bills. Walker is an NFL veteran who can step in immediately to fill the hole left when the Chicago Bears cut troubled player Tank Johnson earlier in the offseason. Walker, a holdout at Bills camp, was dealt to the Bears by Buffalo to avoid any problems or distractions heading into camp. The Bears only had to part for a conditional fifth-round pick to get Walker.
Walker already showed up to Bears camp for a physical. It does not appear that he will hold out while renegotiating his contract in Chicago. This is a great deal for the Bears, who have answered many of their critics questions as to how their defense in 2007 would compare to that of 2006. If Rex Grossman can finally get his act together and become the accurate top tier passer the Bears need him to be, look for the Bears to contend for another Super Bowl this season.
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Chicago Bears Fantasy Preview
ESPN.com has published their fantasy football guide to the Bears. The guide has a few really nice and a few really ugly things to say about last season. Though to be fair, 2006 was a really ugly season for the Bears offense most of the time. The article is long, in depth, and has a ton of information for all you fantasy football geeks out there. Plus, if you’re a Bears fan, the article is very honest about how your team shapes up this year.
As far as fantasy football is concerned, there’s not much going on with the Bears that should excite people. Sure, someone will take their Defense/Special Teams, and probably in the first round too. But past that, the Bears don’t have much to get excited about, in terms of fantasy football. Luckily for the Bears and their fans, they play real football, not fantasy football. Also lucky for the Bears and their fans, they play in the NFC, so they have a legit shot to make it back to the Super Bowl.
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Bears and Briggs Reach Agreement
After a laborious offseason, the Bears and Lance Briggs have finally agreed to a one year contract, according to ESPN.com. The contract will pay Briggs 7.26 million dollars. The sticking point was apparently the Bears agreeing to not designate Briggs as their franchise player next year, which will allow him to test the free agent market. At age 26, Briggs will most certainly command a great deal of attention in the open market, especially if he continues to perform up to his potential.
Even after the entire soap opera of this offseason, orchestrated by superagent Drew Rosenhaus, Briggs has done what everyone expected. His trade demands, strong words, and sound bytes will all be completely forgotten and forgiven by any team in need of his services at the end of the 2007 season for the Bears. Thus is the nature of the NFL. If you perform on the field, you can get away with quite a bit off of it.
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Briggs and Bears Reportedly Near Deal
According to a report on ESPN.com, the Chicago Bears and holdout Lance Briggs may be nearing a deal that would place him in training camp on time and on the field for every game of the 2007 season. Briggs, who has vowed to hold out and even went as far as to claim that he would never play for the Bears again, seems to have softened his stance as playing time nears. Though there are no definite details yet, sources expect that a deal will be reached before the start of training camp.
Once again, people have been sleeping on the Bears, and calling out the Briggs holdout situation as one reason the Bears would not be as good this year as they were in 2006. Now, it appears that Briggs will be with the Bears for at least the 2007 season, though it would seem likely that once this season is over, he will leave for another team. However, the Bears look more and more serious about repeating last year’s Super Bowl run with every passing day and story. Watch out for the Bears in 2007.
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Bears Trying a Few New Things in 07
ESPN.com’s John Clayton has posted his NFC Stories to Watch for heading into training camp. He outlines a solid story line or two for each team in the National Football Conference from top to bottom, division by division, until he has made sure that every one of us NFL junkies has plenty to chew on heading into the final weeks of practice before the preseason games finally start. According to Clayton, the big story for the Chicago Bears is how much change they’ve undergone this offseason, and what new things you should watch for.
I’ve been wondering for weeks now how it is that the defending NFC Champions aren’t getting any love from the media to repeat, and perhaps Clayton has finally given me my answer. The Bears have undergone a lot of shuffling and offseason moves, and perhaps the pundits just aren’t picking them because they think these moves have made them worse and not better. I, for one, am holding out judgment until I see this newer incarnation of the Bears out on the field.
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Bears Insider Training Camp Preview
ESPN.com has released it’s NFC North training camp previews, and their preview of the Chicago Bears training camp has been made available for free. Inside the preview, Bears fans can read up on a few things to look for during camp, which positions will be contested, what questions the Bears will need to answer going forward into the season, and other team-related inquiries. All in all, it’s a good article for any Bears fan to read, because it’s packed full of information about your favorite team.
The Bears, despite some off-season issues, should be a very strong team in 2007. Everyone of course knows about the Lance Briggs hold out and the Tank Johnson suspension and eventual team release, and of course there will always be grumblings about Rex Grossman at QB, but the fact remains that the Bears play in the NFC, and the NFC is wide open every year. I believe the Bears, even with their issues, still have a solid chance to get back to the Super Bowl.
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Bears New D-Coordinator has Big Heart
The Chicago Bears will have a new defensive coordinator this year by the name of Bob Babich. Babich is certainly not a household name among NFL fans. However, the Beaver Count Times is running a piece to help fans get to know Babich a little better. Apparently, Mr. Babich has been spending some time before the Bears start training camp coaching youngsters on the finer points of the fundamentals of the game.
The article is quite a nice piece about a man Bears fans might not know very much about. It’s yet another story that only gets run in local newspapers, never catches national attention, and happens all over the NFL. Countless members of the league, from players to coaches to owners and front office members spend their downtime in the offseason attending and sponsoring football camps. Unfortunately, none of this is considered big enough news for the national outlets to cover.
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Bears Special Teams are Tops
ESPN.com has finished their rankings of the top 10 teams at every position. Today was special teams, and the Chicago Bears rank number one on the list. No doubt Mr. “first man to ever receive a 100 speed rating in Madden” Devin Hester had quite a bit to do with this ranking. But the Bears also rate quite highly in many other areas of special teams as well. However, having a man who can break for a touchdown every time your dominant defense forces the other team to punt will certainly put the Bears over the top of every other team on the list.
This final ranking only further cements the Bears as one of the teams to beat in the NFC. The defending conference champs are flying under the radar this year, as people seem very high on the Saints and Cowboys. While both of those teams are good, I’m not sold on the Cowboys with a first year coach, or the Saints with an abysmal defense. People are sleeping on the Bears because of their issues at QB. Rex Grossman has been inconsistent, to put it lightly, but he’s got a cannon for an arm and has supposedly been working his butt off in the offseason. And don’t forget, the same Devin Hester who made the Bears special teams unit number one on ESPN.com’s list is going to lining up at wide receiver this year. Don’t sleep on the Bears. It just may be their year.
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Bears Named Number 2 Linebacking Corps
Espn.com has released its daily top 10 list and today it’s linebackers. For those who are unfamiliar, this system takes into account the opinions of a few men over at ESPN.com’s “insider” division, who when rank each team 1-32 at all the positions. The top 10 picks are then made available to the general public for free in an effort to entice readers to get an ESPN.com Insider account (which you should get, by the way, because it’s awesome, especially if you play fantasy leagues in any sport). The Chicago Bears ranked number two on the list.
The Bears ranking is the only ranking to come with an asterisk. They’re only ranked number two according to the insiders if Lance Briggs does indeed play for the Bears. Briggs was not signed to a long term contract by the Bears and has said he will hold out until week 10 before he reports to play for the Bears. No one can as yet speculate as to whether the Bears will even play him if he does come back in week 10. One would assume that would depend on the play of whichever linebacker replaces him. The fact remains that the insiders believe that the Bears are only the second best linebacking corps in the league if Briggs is on the roster. Time will tell.
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