Is Jerry Angelo Taking a Vacation?

While the rest of the NFL is taking part in a free agent spree, the Chicago Bears have been incredibly quiet. I'm not necessarily talking about signing guys, because sometimes that stuff is out of your control. I'm talking about the Bears not being mentioned in any rumors for any free agent or possible trade target.

It's not as though the team doesn't have needs, as I outlined five in the offseason roadmap. I unintentionally omitted another need, which was astutely pointed out by the first commenter -- that they need an able-bodied backup to Matt Forte in the backfield as well. So that makes six pretty important needs.

Thus far in free agency, the Bears have signed an offensive lineman who has been a career backup, and that's it. I can't find evidence of legitimate pursuit of anyone else. The "interest" of T.J. Houshmandzadeh wasn't real, and the Bears haven't been reportedly tied to anyone else who could help the team. Meanwhile, free agent after free agent falls off the market.

This was a team which won nine games last year and missed the playoffs. The season before was a brutal step backwards from a Super Bowl team. Do they really think everything they need for the 2009 season is in-house, other than whomever fills out the draft class? They have a decent amount of cap space, after all.

- Kurt Warner, Matt Cassel, and Jay Cutler were reportedly available, at least temporarily. Now, I've said before that Kyle Orton is not the main problem, but wouldn't it have at least been worth the Bears time and attention to discuss the possibility of an upgrade? Jeff Garcia is still sitting around without a job, and he could at least push Orton.

- Correll Buckhalter, Maurice Morris, J.J. Arrington, Fred Taylor and Lamont Jordan have already signed, and any of those could have fit behind or next to Forte in the backfield. Arrington especially could have been a very nice third down/change of pace back. It's not like any of those five were guaranteed a starting job where they eventually signed. The remaining options -- including Warrick Dunn, Ahman Green, Deuce McAllister, and DeShaun Foster -- aren't nearly as enticing for various reasons.

- Plenty of the top offensive linemen have been scooped up, again, without a peep from Halas Hall.

- It looks like Anquan Boldin is going to end up staying put, but I'm guessing Angelo never called Arizona, nor did he plan to. I don't know, something about his track record. As I said above, the "interest" in Housh wasn't really real. Meanwhile, Laveranues Coles was sitting around waiting on the Housh signing to set the market. Why not just swoop in and attempt to woo him? He's not a star anymore, but he'd certainly represent an upgrade over every other receiver the Bears have. They could then attempt to find a bigger possession receiver to play opposite Coles and use Devin Hester as a playmaker from the slot. By the way, Torry Holt will soon be hitting the open market. He's only one year removed from 93 catches and 1,189 yards. What do you wanna bet he's ignored by the Bears as well?

- A handful of solid corners have signed, with nary an interest from the Bears.

- Who is replacing Mike Brown at free safety? I sure don't believe Craig Steltz can do it. Brian Dawkins could have. What about Gibril Wilson? Renaldo Hill and Chris Crocker could have represented upgrades to Steltz as well. Instead, no interest whatsoever from the Bears.

- Finally, it's pretty redundant to say nothing's been done to upgrade the pass rush -- because nothing's been done to upgrade the team. But, I'll say it. Nothing's been done to upgrade the pass rush. Not even an attempt has been made.


I'm not necessarily saying all of the above would have been good signings. In fact, at the price tag, several would have been bad signings. It's just that there has been absolutely no proactive action to improve the football team in the past week, while other teams are doing everything they can to prepare for the 2009 season. You'd think a team so close to the playoffs would have a bit more urgency, especially when there are so many holes -- and probably front office jobs on the line.

Maybe whenever Jerry Angelo gets back from his vacation -- one he's apparently been on for years -- the Bears will become players in the NFL offseason. Until then, fans are left watching many quality players go elsewhere, without even considering Chicago. You can hardly blame the players. It's hard to consider a destination when it shows nothing but indifference.