Quote Originally Posted by Butka View Post
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bear...-behind-scenes

Don't misconstrue the Bears silence on the free agency front.

Club officials remained holed up in meetings all day Tuesday, as representatives for several of its own free agents wondered why there hadn't been any contact regarding potential deals. Part of the team's slow pace in consummating deals stems from the fact the Bears are plotting how to navigate a course that involves several moving parts.

For example, the Bears have made contact with Steelers tackle Willie Colon about the possibility of making a deal, according to an NFL source. But it's believed that Colon is actually more of a contingency plan for if the Bears are unable to land Saints tackle Jermon Bushrod.

Interestingly, though, the availability of Colon and Bushrod could potentially be determined by what happens in Atlanta with the Falcons trying to sign free-agent tackle Tyson Claybo, and guards Justin Blaylock and Harvey Dahl. The Bears expressed interest in Claybo prior to the NFL draft, but obviously drafted Gabe Carimi in the first round.

Still, the team is interested in beefing up the offensive line because of the inexperience of Carimi and second-year man J'Marcus Webb, not to mention concern about the duo not being able to participate in a team-supervised offseason conditioning program. It's also worth keeping in mind that offensive line coach Mike Tice prefers to work with tackle types who can kick inside to guard.

So in addition to what's going on with the potential moves in free agency with offensive linemen, the team is also trying to re-sign some of their own players such as center Olin Kreutz, and defensive tackle Anthony Adams, while pondering the idea of bringing in a free-agent receiver such as Brad Smith (the coaching staff is on board, according to sources, but the front office isn't yet sold on Smith).

The team is also interested in Jaguars free-agent linebacker Justin Durant, and reportedly is interested in Titans pass rusher Jason Babin.

The team spent the earlier part of the week trying to bring in its class of undrafted rookies, and is still trying to make deals to bring in all the draft picks before the start of training camp on Friday.
Bears contact Colon; busy behind scenes

So the Bears have their hands full on several fronts.

But again, don't misconstrue the team's silence as a lack of interest on the unrestricted free-agency front.

Stay tuned.
Nice.....thanks for the update Butka. I hadn't seen this one yet. I kind of figured the action on Olineman was being complicated by both the sheer number and quality of them and the fact that most teams, like Atlanta, Tampa and NO, are probably scrambling to hold on to whoever they have. There are some key guys on each of those teams that we'd be interested in.

I'm kind of surprised to hear about the interest in LT, Jermon Bushrod after we drafted Carimi but I can see where it makes sense. With no OTA's to bring rookies up to speed and Webb's inexperience coupled with the need to protect Cutler's blindside NOW, the guy makes sense. He's done very well at keeping the rushers at bay in a pass oriented offense so why not. Jason Cole has him as the top OT in free agency.

But if we do this I still see the need for insider help too so we'll still need an OG in my opinion. Maybe the talk about not being surprised to see us bring in two or three new guys was more than just talk. Lord knows JA is a poker player who'll never tip his hand and the fact that there has been almost zero talk about Olineman coming out of them may be the tip off that we'll be spending our cap money there.

It may also be the reason for the delay in re-signing Olin and AA. Maybe they want to see how much of their FA plan they can accomplish before they can make a final decision on what they can afford to offer those two and how it would need to be structured to remain cap friendly. Then there's still the WR. OLB and the pass rusher issues to be dealt with.

Thought the info on Brad Smith was interesting. I think Lovie and his guys see what I do in Smith. Not so much a WR but a very useful weapon who can backup at RB, WR and QB plus run a wildcat offense. Maybe the front office is more in favor of a pure WR like Sims-Walker and there isn't $$$ for both (shrugs)?

I also like the possibilities of getting Babin and/or Durant. Babin is very much needed to add depth as DE and I see Durant as an upgrade to Roach and the oft injured Pisa. Gonna be an interesting few days coming up.