(Early) Spring Cleaning

Well the Bears began what should be a very interesting off-season by doing some house cleaning. Veterans Mushin Muhammad, Fred "Turnstile" Miller, and Darwin Walker were all let go. Out of the three the only really surprising one if Walker. Still these are all moves that needed to be made as these players were all making way too much money compared with their production. But lets take a look at what each move means for that position on the Bears roster:

WR: "Moose" Muhammad was the Bears big splash a few years back. He was a veteran reciever coming off an amazing year with the Carolina Panthers who was supposed to give us a legitimate threat in the passing game. However, age and poor QB play have caught up with Moose pretty fast and now he's on he way out of town. There is a strong belief that these moves were directed in some part towards clearing the cap space to franchise Bernard Berrian, who is a free agent. Given the wealth of unproven talent behind Berrian that seems like the Bears only move at this point if they can't get him locked up long term. It's one thing to lose a #2 receiver, and a totally different thing to lose a #1 and #2 in an off-season where the free agent class is weak. I know the Bears project Hester to eventually be a #1 receiver, but at best he will probably be a more reliable #3 next year and it's important for the Bears to keep at least one established player at this spot around.

OT: Few people were harder on Fred Miller this past year than I was. The offensive line worried me at the start of the season and I stated that if the Bears really slipped this year it would because of a fall off in Tackle play. Sadly that prediction came true as the aging Miller fought nagging injuries all the way to setting a new NFL record for "look out" blocks. It's a shame cause Miller comes across as a good guy, but just one who's time has passed. The move, however, does leave the Bears EXTREMELY thin at this position. It is essential that the Bears land an OT in free agency or the draft, and probably both since John St. Clair doesn't inspire much confidence as a back-up. Even before the move this figured to be the Bears #1 off-season focus, and now it HAS to be.

DT: Walker came in during training camp to be the final piece to a defensive masterpiece. Instead he proved incapable of unseating the young Dustin Dvoracek before the start of the season, and then was painfully ineffective following Dustin's injury. The end of the one year relationship with Walker was due mainly to the large ($5.2mil) bonus he was to receive in early March. I am sure had Walker been the run stuffer the Bears need alongside Harris they would've gladly paid it, but instead it's a prime excuse to send him on his merry way. Still this means the Bears will add a body here at some point. Obviously Dvoracek will have first crack at being Harris' running mate now that he's out of ACL's to tear. But the depth past that is pretty shaky since Idonije (as much as I love him) is really more of a combo DT/DE. The Bears will need one more big body to add to the mix and I'd bet on it being a veteran.

Along with these three moves the Bears renegotiated Alex Brown's contract, which runs through 2011. Brown, who lost his job even before training camp last year, was at odds with the organization and many thought he was on his way out of town. I've always thought the Bears undervalued him and that he is an excellent two-way defensive end, and actually able to hold up against the run unlike Mark Anderson. Brown's strong play in the 2nd half of the season should earn him his starting job back and give the Bears a solid 3 end rotation.