Bears Football Blog

Briggs cuts self?

Perhaps it's time for Bears linebacker Lance Briggs to treat his straight-edge razor like a new Lamborghini and abandon it altogether.

Briggs -- who walked away unscratched after wrecking his $350,000 sports car on the Edens Expy. less than two years ago -- apparently didn't have the same luck recently while attempting to shave with a straight-edge razor. That's the story Briggs told people who showed up Saturday at an autograph signing in Algonquin. The left-handed Briggs patiently signed with a heavy wrap on his right hand, clearly seen in multiple pictures posted on a blog by a fan who attended the event. Continue

Bears finally join the party

After the Bears' first three draft picks Sunday morning, college scouting director Greg Gabriel came downstairs at Halas Hall and declared the defensive line was the cornerstone of the franchise.

It was this weekend, anyway. Operating without first- and second-round picks three weeks after acquiring quarterback Jay Cutler -- who could be a cornerstone himself -- the Bears prioritized defense on the second day of the draft.

They grabbed San Jose State defensive tackle Jarron Gilbert in the third round and followed it up by choosing Texas pass rusher Henry Melton in the fourth. Gilbert is athletic enough at 6-5 and 287 pounds to jump out of a pool standing up. Melton, a converted fullback who scored 10 touchdowns as a freshman, is a high-motor guy who still is learning the position. They'll be Rod Marinelli's first rookie pupils with the Bears. Continue

Bears trade pick to Hawks

The Bears traded away their 49th pick in the second round to the Seahawks for the 68th overall pick in the third round and the 105th overall pick in the fourth round.

They did so with wide receivers such as Mohamed Massaquoi and Oklahoma's Juaquin Iglesias still on the board. The thinking behind the decision was that the Bears obviously believe they can still fill needs at wide receiver, safety and defensive end in the third round and nobody on the board jumped out enough to justify using the selection.

Bears might deal 49th pick in NFL Draft

Jerry Angelo was all smiles and cracking jokes Thursday knowing his most important work for the 2009 NFL draft -- and the 2010 draft, for that matter -- has been accomplished.

Getting a potential franchise quarterback in Jay Cutler provides a calming feeling, that's for sure.

But the Bears have work to do starting tonight, when they'll make their only selection on the first day of the NFL draft -- 49th overall, the 17th pick of the second round. Multiple league sources said the Bears have put the pick in play, meaning they're willing to trade down in the right situation. That doesn't come as a surprise. Angelo has a history of dealing down, but with eight total selections (seven on Sunday from rounds 3 through 7), the Bears are confident they will come away with some players who can contribute now. The positions of immediate need are wide receiver and free safety, and this draft happens to be stocked with a good number of the former. Continue

Bears have 5 in prime time

The Bears are the only team that will play all four conference finalists from January, but otherwise their 2009 schedule looks favorable -- if you buy into the teams' 2008 records.

The schedule released by the NFL on Tuesday includes five prime-time games, starting with the Sept. 13 opener at Green Bay. Always a popular network choice because they play in the league's second-largest television market, the Bears became more appealing with the trade for quarterback Jay Cutler. Continue

Bears need WRs

While the Bears have been getting acquainted with Jay Cutler this week as the voluntary offseason workout program began at Halas Hall, they're also spreading far and wide to find their new quarterback some help.

Wide receivers coach Darryl Drake put Oklahoma's Juaquin Iglesias through a private workout Tuesday in Iglesias' hometown of Killeen, Texas, and Drake will do the same with Georgia's Mohamed Massaquoi today in Athens, Ga. They're two of the players the team is targeting with its first pick -- now in the second round at No. 49 overall after the Cutler deal. Continue

Cutler's dream job

Growing up in southern Indiana, Jay Cutler was a Bears fan, so he understands the franchise's history of quarterback futility.

That was apparent during his introductory news conference Friday at Halas Hall when he was asked the last time a Bears quarterback faced the kind of expectations that will greet him when he takes the field.

''I don't think I was alive,'' Cutler said quickly. ''It's been a while.''

Indeed it has. That's why the news of the Bears acquiring Cutler from the Denver Broncos on Thursday was almost unanimously hailed as a great move. Cutler, though, said he is fine with such expectations. Continue

Bears acquire quarterback Jay Cutler, add tackle Orlando Pace

The Jay Cutler saga has come to an end in Denver and the Cutler era has begun in Chicago.

The Bears acquired the 25-year-old, Pro Bowl quarterback from the Broncos along with a 2009 fifth-round pick in exchange for Kyle Orton, this year's first- and third-round picks and a 2010 first-round pick in a deal that Bears general manager Jerry Angelos said “came together unexpectedly.”

“We had a chance to talk amongst us," Angelo said Thursday evening. "I came to the conclusion with taking with Lovie [Smith] and Ted [Phillips] as well as ownership that I felt like we needed to pursue this. And if we got in it, we needed to get in it to win it.

“We didn’t know where we stood in the process until about an hour before.”

The Bears instantly become arguably the best team in the NFC North. Now the top draft priority has to be landing a receiver to go alongside Devin Hester. The Bears worked out North Carolina's Hakeem Nicks and Rutgers' Kenny Britt, with more workouts certain to be in the works. Continue