Reunited: Alan Faneca and Russ Grimm together again like their days with the Steelers.

You probably won’t like the answer to The Alan Faneca Question.  The answer?  Not Chicago.  New York Jets’ castoff Faneca is reportedly re-uniting with former offensive line coach Russ Grimm in Arizona.  Faneca played under Grimm back in Pittsburgh at the height of his career.

I’ve already presented some numbers showing why he may or may not be a good fit.  In my unscientific poll, BGO readers overwhelmingly wanted to bring him to town, with nearly half of all readers suggesting that we get him only if he comes cheap.  The deal is said to be a 1-year pact worth about $2.5 million.  Is $2.5 mildo cheap enough?  That’s tip money for the McCaskey’s at the yacht club.  This deal should have been made.

Bears fans have seen both sides of this type of situation.  Of course, Orlando Pace is fresh in our minds for how signing a veteran offensive lineman is NOT supposed to work.  Pace quickly demonstrated that his best days were behind him.

On the other hand, a few years ago, the Bears took a chance on a aged Ruben Brown, who was on the street after the Bills let me go.  Brown was extremely productive and fortified the Bears’ offensive line en route to a Super Bowl appearance.  So which is Faneca?  I’m a numbers guy, so let’s look at some numbers:

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I had assumed that if the Bears were willing to let players like Berrian and Lance Briggs go, then they would spend the money to shore up running back and offensive line. There have been on reports about running back, but I have heard the Bears are dismissing the idea of signing Alan Faneca as too expensive an investment for a guard. Forget the fact that he is a Pro Bowl offensive guard that could sign a long term contract and return the Bears offensive line to dominance.

The Bears sounds optimistic that they will sign Berrian and even make an effort to sign Briggs. The entire thing disgusts me since Briggs is pretty much as good as gone to the San Francisco 49ers, who have been pursuing Briggs for a while and have a complaint filed against them by the Bears for illegally inquiring about him before free agency. Whine all they want, Briggs will likely be in a 49ers jersey next year. The Bears need to stop living in fantasyland and get their act together before they lose out.

I realize there is a game that General Manager’s play to get players for a fair price, but this offseason seems to be a make or break time for this organization to either get back to the playoffs or spend the next 10 years talking about the Super Bowl loss. If the Bears pass on Faneca, Berrian, and Briggs, then where do they plan on spending that money? I can only hope the Bears are holding their cards, waiting to cash in on a bigger pot down the line.

There have been recent revelations the past few days as teams avoid paying out the first portions of salaries on March 1st. The Kansas City Chiefs have released wide receiver Eddie Kennison, the Washington Redskins released Brandon Lloyd, the Seattle Seahawks will lose D.J. Hackett, and the New England Patriots had to let go Dante Stallworth and Randy Moss. Don’t even get your hopes up about Moss, but the remaining three names could create possibilities. Given the youth of Bradley and Hester, they could benefit from a veteran like Kennison, much the way Moose had to help last season.

In fact, the Bears have been surprisingly quiet about the possibilities of any wide receiver free agent after cleaning house a few weeks ago. It doesn’t sound like Berrian has any plans of giving a home town discount and plans to sign the largest contract available. Is it possible the Bears could pull one over on all of us and land Dante Stallworth? Surrounded by talent on the Patriots offense, Stallworth never had a chance to see the ball more than a few times a game. Is it possible the Bears could bait him to Chicago with the chance to immediately be the top receiver? Does the re-signing of Rex Grossman help or hurt the Bears chances to sign any of these receivers? We’ll have to wait and see how free agency plays out. Personally, I would like to see the Bears make a move on Brandon Lloyd, a young receiver that make some plays down in San Francisco, but was forgotten in Washington, which has become a black hole for NFL talent.

Unfortunately, the Bears look content to release three Pro Bowl players and replace them with low level free agents and draft picks. The plan will be genius or completely blow up in their faces. There really is no in between for an organization that has traded or released every offensive player with any ability to get the ball and make big plays. I’m sure Greg Olsen will become a force on the field, but he’s not ready to carry an entire offense. It looks like the Bears are going to have to use the draft to bring in an offensive tackle, guard, wide receiver, safety, and possibly running back. If the Bears are lucky, the can draft two impact players to fill those positions, but there is no way they can expect to fill them all. At least two of those positions need to be filled by free agency or this team will not even be considered a playoff contender.

Offensive tackle Flozell Adams is available from the Dallas Cowboys but even he might be too expensive for the Bears to make a move on him. Speaking of Cowboys, running back Julius Jones is a free agent and has been lying under the of radar NFL rumors. He is a durable running back that doesn’t necessarily make big plays, but neither did his brother Thomas Jones before he signed with the Bears. The Bears should put a high priority on Michael Turner, but if things turn sour or he signs quickly with another team, turning to Julius may be a good option.

The best move the Bears can make to attract free agents would be to lock up one of their own. We have seen players sign with teams for a smaller contract with the expectation of winning. I think the best move the Bears can make is locking up Tommie Harris to a long-term contract. It will show free agents the Bears are committed to winning and are willing to pay out to the right player. If the Bears are so worried about leaving cap space to sign him, then they should sign him now and figure out how much money they have left for signing free agents.

At this point, if the Bears are not willing to spend money on free agent lineman then they need to make a priority of drafting lineman in the first couple rounds and signing a free agent running back and wide receiver. You hear that Jerry Angelo??

Suddenly the chances of bringing in difference makers like running Michael Turner and right guard Alan Faneca seems much more likely. The Bears don’t seem to be in any hurry to bring back guard Ruben Brown and Faneca is regarded as one of the top guards in the league. Locking up Faneca long term would open up the door for the Bears to use their first round pick on an offensive tackle, which I have been lobbying for since mid-season.

My biggest disappointment is the Bears did not make more of an effort to get Moose the last 66 receiving yards he needed to reach 10,000 receiving yards for his career. In a season that fizzled, it would have been nice to have a special event at Soldier Field to honor a great receiver. Instead, Moose will have to enjoy his career milestone in a different uniform.

The sudden cuts come because many NFL players have their first paycheck come in March. Moose was owed a $500,000 roster bonus in March, another $500,000 to Miller, and an unreal $5.2 million to a largely ineffective Walker. I hate to see Moose leave but when you look at the numbers the roster cuts eliminates over paid players that opens up cap room to sign younger, more productive players.

The sudden surge in cap room addresses several questions that will be answered in the coming weeks. Will the Bears use the franchise tag on Bernard Berrian or attempt to lock him up in a long term contract? Some football analysts feel Berrian is just as over-hyped as Moose but I have never seen an analyst take a ball deep and to the end zone the way Berrian does. Will the Bears grab Michael Turner off free agency and sign him to a huge deal to lock up the top free agent running back? Will the Bears do the same to Alan Faneca? Will the Bears look at free agent wide receivers or are they that confident that Devin Hester can remember his routes without Moose explaining the play while leaving the huddle? Will the Bears address any of their safety concerns in free agency or wait for the draft? Even if the Bears offer Rex Grossman a contract, will he want to return after all the criticism? If he does re-sign, will Brian Griese be gone?

The next couple months are going to be a big determination of how the Bears want to rebuilt a Super Bowl contender.

A couple questions have already been answered. My suggestion of signing back Marty Booker didn’t seem to have much effect on Halas Hall and they don’t appear to have any interest of bringing back another aging wide receiver. The Bears also showed their confidence in Alex Brown and need at defensive end by signing a two-year extension to his contract, keeping him in Chicago until 2011.

The New York Giants are the NFC representation in the Super Bowl. Take a moment to let it sink in and make you sick. The NFC representation was supposed to be the Cowboys, or Packers, or even the Seahawks, but not the Giants. We have two weeks to consider the Giants chances against the Patriots, but what does this mean for the Bears? It means the Bears are not that far away from another Super Bowl appearance.

The Giants go into the Super Bowl with a shaky quarterback, prone to getting rushed into making bad decisions in the pocket, but offers a huge upside when playing well. The Giants have an effective run game but have to use a variety of running backs in different situations and parts of the game. The Giants have a veteran wide receiver with Super Bowl experience that they are relying on to lead a young, inexperienced receiving corps. They have a quick defense that relies upon take aways and a dominant pass rush to get at the quarterback and cause problems. Any of this sound familiar? It should because it’s the same formula our Bears used last season.

The crushing reality for the Bears and the rest of the NFC is they are not that far removed from returning to dominance next season. As much as every team wants to say their players are the most skilled at their positions, there is a certain element of luck that comes with hard work in the NFL. If you put it all out on the field for the entire game, hopefully your players will be in the right position during a key fumble or interception. The ball was bouncing the Bears way last season, but they appeared to be out of place this season.

Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot more than luck that had to due with this year’s collapse. It requires all 11 players on the field playing their best in order to capitalize on those mistakes. The Bears had too many weaknesses at running back, offensive tackle, and safety to make the most of their opportunities. Notice I did not include quarterback on that list. Too be quite honest, the quarterback situation has become such a problem for this team it has taken away attention from positions that need more drastic improvement. The Bears could trade for Donovan McNabb, but if there is no running game he’ll be run back out of town just as quickly. I’d rather see the Bears make a priority of signing free agent Michael Turner and establish a strong ground game. Go back to last season, remember when Rex Grossman was throwing all those wonderful deep routes to Bernard Berrian for big scores? Almost all of those were play action passes, utilizing the strong running game of Thomas Jones to take defenses by surprise.

If the Bears bring in a strong running back, the passing game can fix itself. It would be a huge mistake to commit too much energy and money on a position that can’t flourish without a strong supporting cast. How many touchdowns do you think Tom Brady could throw for the Bears? Go back and look at footage of how long the Bears offensive line game Rex to throw the ball and then watch how long the Patriots offensive line will give Brady in the Super Bowl. The Bears need to draft offensive tackle and improve the position immediately. Going after Pittsburgh Guard Alan Faneca would be a good long-term move, but the Bears have a more pressing matter at tackle. The sudden decline of Fred Miller had less to do with physical than mental collapse. His repeated off-sides penalties were devastating to an offense that already had trouble moving the ball.

As far as safety is concerned, the name Adam Archuleta should serve as case closed. It remains to be seen if the Bears believe Ricky Manning Jr. or Danieal Manning can play the position or if they bring in a top draft pick. I’m an advocate of bringing back Mike Brown to see if he can stay healthy and reaping the huge rewards. When Brown can stay healthy he’s one of the most talented players on the field.

If the Bears draft an offensive tackle and safety in the first two rounds and sign Michael Turner I wouldn’t be surprised to see this Bears team back in the playoffs next year. The Giants victory has made it clear that there is no NFC dominant team and any team can take the Halas Trophy any year.

The only team left with a dominant running game is the San Diego Chargers due mostly to the ability of LaDainian Tomlinson to take over a game by himself.  Even the Seattle Seahawks with ex-NFL MVP Shaun Alexander has developed into a pass first offense and put the ball in the hands of Matt Hasselbeck when the game is on the line.  I thought the Jacksonville Jaguars would lose this weekend due to their one-trick pony running offense.  Ironically, they won because of a run play…..by their quarterback.  When the Steelers defense dropped back to defend the pass they left a bowling ball lane for David Gerrard to run through and burn them. 

So where does this leave the Bears?  With an offense that is struggling in every aspect they need to figure out in a hurry how they are going to identify themselves.  Lovie Smith talks about getting off the bus running on opponents, but the trend in the NFL is to get off the bus passing.  When you look at all of those teams they have a few things in common.  They all have quarterbacks that stand confident in the pocket and are ready to make big throws and lots of them.  They all also have runnings backs that are very opportunistic and make plays when they do get the ball.  So far the Bears are 0-2 on the list. 

Last year at this time we were all riding on the highs and lows of the Rex Grossman adventure ride through the playoffs.  He is amazing at times and frustrating at others.  It sounds like the Bears are willing to give Grossman another shot and it may be the Bears best chances of winning.  As much as Grossman is frustrating to watch, there is not much else out there.  The cries for Donovan McNabb are only pushing up his value and could require giving up massive talent to bring to Chicago.  It doesn’t help that word is coming out of Minnesota that the Vikings are going to try to put together a package to convince the Eagles to trade them McNabb.  Just as the Bears are not willing to commit too much to Briggs, it could cost the Bears too much as a team to obtain an often injuried McNabb.

The Bears best option this off season may be letting go Lance Briggs and putting the franchise tag on Bernard Berrian to save money and keep one of their top receiver threats.  Re-signing Grossman will likely include an incentive heavy deal if he can perform.  That would leave money to shore up three positions that are more important to building a winning team, running back, offensive tackle, and safety.

Say what you will about Rex Grossman but the biggest reason for the Bears lack of offense is Cedric Benson.  He shows no burst coming out of the backfield, no ability to shed tackles, and no big play ability.  He is best suited as a back up running back.  That means the Bears need to solve their problems through draft or free agency.  Depending on how the first round plays out, the Bears should try to grab one of the offensive tackles coming out this year.  It is a good looking crop and could make an immediate impact.  The second round will be open for either a running back or safety, again depending on the level of talent left on the table.  As we have seen, draft day can leave big suprises open in the second round and maybe the Bears can get lucky. 

I think the best option would be taking tackle and safety in the draft and signing a running back.  After watching the Chargers game I’m loving the thought of Michael Turner in a Bears jersey.  His hard running style would suit the Bears offense well and can pick up where Thomas Jones left off. 

There has been a lot of talk of bringing Pittsburgh guard Alan Faneca to Chicago.  I’m actually indifferent towards this one.  As you can tell I love lineman and they are the core of every team.  However, I also understand this is a business.  Faneca is an amazing guard and would be a big boost for the Bears, but their need is at tackle, not guard.  Roberto Garza and Ruben Brown are great veterans.  Brown had a rough year and tried to play out the season with essentially one arm due to hiding an injury.  When fully healthy he is a great lineman and leader.  He basically told the Bears he will come back and play for any offer they want to give him.  The only problem is Brown is already old and would be a short term fix as opposed to Faneca that is four years younger.  This one comes down to money.  Signing Faneca would be a great long term fixture, but signing Brown would give room to make a bigger free agent splash.  We’ll have to wait and see what the Bears decide.