Bear Market In Chicago

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After spending the past two seasons as one of the NFC's elite teams and capping the latter season with the conference title, the Chicago Bears' future suddenly does not look quite so bright. A list of issues too unbelievable to be fiction has fallen upon the team's front office, aside from the commonplace calling for Rex Grossman's head.

Finishing the 2006 regular season on a bad note, losing to arch rival Green Bay, the Bears were said by some to be "the worst 13-3 team ever."

Seemingly full of holes that a team with such impressive a record rarely is, the Bears managed to prevent themselves from sinking until their Super Bowl loss. It would have been hard to repeat such a run, even with the same team remaining intact. There were questions even throughout the '06 season as to who would be the team's starting running back. Thomas Jones was coming off a 1300 yard season in 2005, but the team had spent the #4 overall draft pick in 2005 on Cedric Benson. As different style runners, the pair was able to share the load more than effectively, but both wanted to be the man. Jones requested a trade after his 1200 yard 2006 season and was granted his wish. He was sent to the Jets in exchange for a swap of '07 second round draft picks. Moving up to a higher pick in the second round of the draft does little to replace a team's best playmaker.

These "bad news" Bears were already making headlines before the 2006 season even came to an end. Terry "Tank" Johnson was arrested on December 14th for having unregistered firearms in his house. Johnson was sentenced to four months in jail on March 15th for violating probation from a 2005 gun case. Depending on how much of the four months Johnson actually ends up serving, he may or may not miss mini camp time. The Bears continue to stand behind him, so he will likely remain on the team.

Making a name for himself alongside one of the NFL's most popular players, Lance Briggs wants to get paid. The Bears selected the outside linebacker out of Arizona in the 3rd round of the 2003 draft and watched him become one of the top tacklers in the NFL. With little intention of losing him now that his contract has expired, they labeled him their franchise player. Briggs, however, says he will never play another down for the Bears. His agent is Drew Rosenhaus, who has a track record for getting big money for his big name clients. As a franchise player, Briggs is entitled to the average salary of the top five players at his position or a 20% salary increase, but he and Rosenhaus obviously feel they can get more on the open market. If he stays, Briggs will likely be unhappy and affect team chemistry. If he leaves he will inflict a huge hole on the Bear's defense.

The Bears have already lost safety Todd Johnson to the St. Louis Rams; little used wide receiver Justin Gage to the Tennessee Titans; safety Cameron Worrell to the Miami Dolphins; and are in danger of losing one of their better defensive linemen, defensive tackle Ian Scott, who is being pursued by the Minnesota Vikings. With so many distractions on top of however many key players they eventually end up losing, it will be a rough road back to the big game for the Monsters of the Midway.

-AB