Needs More Ditka

The Chicago Bears and Jerry Angelo better hope that they were thinking clearly Thursday, because in one day, the franchise has been changed irrevocably.

The Bears on Thursday bought high, not waiting for market price to fall, sending Kyle Orton and two first round draft picks to Denver for maligned Broncos’ quarterback Jay Cutler. Also today, the Bears agreed to a three year contract future Football Hall of Famer tackle Orlando Pace, agreeing on a contract for three years worth $15 million dollars.

Cutler, the former Broncos’ quarterback of the future, will be asked to stop the seemingly endless carousel of Bears quarterbacks that has been turning for decades. The 11th pick in the 2006 draft, Cutler was a Pro Bowl player last season, and after leaving the Broncos in a spat, debatably much of his own fault, he has been handed the keys to a proud franchise, with the Bears having to ignore the immaturity and bratiness the 25 year old has displayed in the soap opera like saga he created with his previous employer. Make no other point, Cutler, started the drama in Denver, and it was he who continued the saga for weeks unable to recover from his feelings being hurt.

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The Chicago Bears missed out on the playoffs last year. This is a fact. A sad one for Bears fans, but a fact nonetheless.

Lovie Smith is on the hot seat. Jerry Angelo can’t get a seat at any restaurant. Needless to say, the Bears need to have a winning season.

That won’t be easy though. The Bears lose several key components, components that might not have been obvious to the casual viewer, but key to the knowledgeable Bears fan. How they replace these players will define how their season goes.

Let’s take a look at what the Bears need to address this off season

Wide Receivers
The Bears have always had trouble at wide receiver, and this year they are trying to pass off Devin Hester, who is not a wide receiver, as their number one option out wide. The Bears should abandon that tall tale quickly, as there is no way that Devin Hester is the number one wide receiver on any SEC or Big 12 football team, much less an NFL team.

In a wide receiver heavy draft, the Bears would be foolish not to pick a wideout in the first round. Their seventeenth pick could bear (no pun intended) plenty of fruit.

Michael Crabtree will be long gone, as he is by far the best wide receiver in this draft. But factor in the depth of this draft at the position and the bust potential of any one player and it would be foolish for the Bears to trade up to get Crabtree.

Jeremy Maclin on the other hand, might, that’s just might, fall to the Bears at number 18. If Maclin runs a weak 40 yard dash time, there will be many question marks surrounding the Missouri speedster. The Jets could snag him up right before the Bears at pick 17, but if Maclin falls to 18, the Bears must take him- no excuses.

Maclin might go in the top ten though, so the Bears should not count on him falling. The Bears will have at least two of five possible first round wide receivers on the board when they draft. Including Maclin and Crabtree, the other three are Percy Harvin, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Hakeem Nicks.

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