When you’re on a budget – and we know the Misers of the Midway always are – it’s best to do a little research before going on a shopping spree to be sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.

Last season the second biggest disappointment for the Bears, besides Jay Cutler and his knack for throwing the ball to the other team, had to be Matt Forte.  You can blame the O-line or playing with a bum wheel, but the fact is that the Bears had no one to spell and/or compliment Forte.

Let’s assess the expected crop of Free Agent Running  Backs the Bears might consider to bolster their backfield:

Darren Sproles

This little waterbug is likely to be a hot commodity on the free agent market.  His diminutive stature (5’6″ and 185 lbs) makes it a stretch to think that he could be a primary back, so that might cost him a few bucks, but heading into an uncapped year, that will hardly make a difference.

Sproles i’s quicker than a hiccup and sometimes tougher to stop.  Mike Martz has wet dreams about this type of running back.  Can you imagine the screen plays he could run with him?  Would be the perfect compliment to Forte in the backfield and I can hardly imagine what Dave Toub could do with his unique talents on special teams?   (more…)

The short list of candidates includes former Detroit Lion Kevin Jones, former Seattle Seahawk Shaun Alexander, former Denver Bronco Travis Henry, former Houston Texan Ron Dayne, and current Oakland Raider LaMont Jordan.  The Bears organization hasn’t given us any indication they are on the market for a new running back.  The hype is the result of Kevin Jones expressing his desire to suit up for the Bears so he can get back on the field.  Jones has been working out for several NFL teams to show them he has recovered from his torn ACL but no one is biting.  Even when he was healthy, he showed some flashes of talent but could never stay consistent on the field.  It appears to be a replacement of Benson in terms of running ability to could be a mistake for the Bears.  Jones has been in the league four years and the Bears have had plenty of time to scout him as a Lions running back to decide if they like his style.

I don’t even know where to begin with the rest of the candidates.  Shaun Alexander was over-hyped as an MVP and the Bears should avoid his fall to obscurity.  Travis Henry has more than enough legal problems to keep the Bears from even entertaining him for a workout.  Ron Dayne showed some life in Houston but I don’t see how he would fit into an offense built to utilize speed.  If the Bears did bring in Dayne he could fill a void needed for a bone crushing goal line back, so there is an outside possibility. 

LaMont Jordan is currently under contract with the Raiders but they are looking to get rid of him and are afraid he will sign with the Broncos or Kansas City Chiefs if released.  Jordan is due $4.7 million this season and $5 million next season so any trade talks would scare off a Bears organization looking to save up salary cap room.  I’m also very concerned about the Warren Sapp interview, highlighted in the Raiders blog, JustBlogBaby, and can be seen here: Sapps got no love

I will be the first to admit that Sapp runs his mouth, but he’s also a veteran defensive tackle that lasted many years in the league and knows a good running back from a bad one.  He commented that Jordan is one of the softest running backs he has ever seen.  Coupled with scouting reports that Jordan does not work hard in practice and has been asked by coach Lane Kiffin to stay away from practice, I doubt he’s in very good football shape.

Put it all together and it appears that the Bears should avoid the running back market like the plague.  The whole crop carries too much baggage that counter acts the Bears releasing of Benson.  The only two I would consider are Kevin Jones and Ron Dayne and both are inconsistent runners that failed to meet expectations.  Sounds exactly like the guy that just left town.  If the Bears were eager to grab either back the organization would buzzing about the possibility, but as for now they are silent.

The current third string running back is Garrett Wolfe, drafted two years ago with a lot of promise as the 4th player in division 1-A history to rush for over 1,500 yards for three straight seasons.  He has been compared to Warrick Dunn as a small, speedy back that is hard to tackle in the open field.  The Bears designed a package of plays just for him, but he was never able to showcase much of his ability on the field.  Benson and Adrian Peterson were never able to establish a solid running game to incorporate Wolfe into the mix.  As a result, his position on the roster was shaky with the drafting of Matt Forte and could be in doubt if the Bears invite a new running back to training camp.  For now his job appears to be fairly secure. 

General Manager Jerry Angelo stated in a news conference on Monday afternoon that “Cedric displayed a pattern of behavior we will not tolerate.”  He continued by saying ”Everyone in this organization is held accountable for their actions.” 

Angelo went on to summarize the Bears policy by saying “When individual priorities overshadow team goals, we suffer the consequences as a team. Those who fail to understand the importance of ‘team’ will not play for the Chicago Bears.”

The move will allow the Bears to escape from the media circus surrounding Benson and focus on football going into training camp.  It also puts new pressure on rookie running back Matt Forte, who will battle with career back up Adrian Peterson for the starting job.  The Bears have not had a chance to see how Forte plays with pads in a contact situation but so far they seem very happy with his progress.  However, unless Forte proves incredibly talented in the preseason, I would expect the Bears to use Peterson as a starting back to utilize his veteran experience and ease Forte in on third downs until he looks ready to assume the role of starting back. 

Getting out from under the shadow and constant attention on Benson could prove beneficial for both Forte and Peterson.  Each will have far more opportunities to work with the starting offensive then they ever anticipated and can push each other in what could prove to be a fun to watch training camp competition.  Peterson has long been a favorite among fans and players as a hard working, team driven player.  The more time Forte spends learning under Peterson instead of Benson is an added bonus for all Bears fans.  Any ideas of inviting Shaun Alexander to training camp should be thrown out the window.  I say let the two kids fight it out and give the offense something positive to talk about and look forward to this season. 

As for Benson, unlike many other players in the league that have gotten into trouble with the law, Benson has never showed enough flashes of talent to warrent other teams to come calling.  I would be very surprised to see Benson show up on another NFL roster this year.  The only reason the Bears felt obligated to extend so much latitude with Benson’s poor play was to attempt to justify using a first round pick on him.  Benson’s best bet is to stay in game shape and wait for running backs to start hitting the injury list.  My bet is a team will sign Benson in late preseason or early in the season after the injury bug hits their backfield.  *sniff* *sniff*  Do I smell a couple games with the Houston Texans in his future? 

I wouldn’t even put it past Benson to go to another team mid-season and put up a couple 100-yard games.  He showed up to training camp slimmed down and in great shape to run the football well.  Whatever team that takes him will also quickly find out that Benson has far more weaknesses then he does strengths.  He is a downhill runner without almost no ability to turn a corner or make defenders miss tackles.  Fans and coaches alike grew tired of his incredibly poor pass blocking skills that frequently left his quarterback kissing dirt.  Finally, his biggest down fall is his inability to stay off the injured list.  Every year he manages to get an injury that puts an end to his season, not a good quality for a running back that wants to use a punishing style of running straight between the tackles. 

There is also another quality about Benson that may prove to be his biggest downfall when attracting a new team.  I don’t quite know how to put a name on it, so I’ll just call it “balls.”  Cedric Benson doesn’t have any balls.  No one is asking for a player to play injured and risk his career, but in any professional sport there comes a time in the career of an athlete when they play with a little pain.  Many fans still harbor a grudge with Benson for going down with an injury in the Super Bowl and went straight for the bench without even an ounce of fight.  The biggest stage in a young players career, the chance to be a champion, and Benson was content grabbing some bench.  No one in Chicago really wanted to say it, but now that he’s gone I think it should be said now, Benson really doesn’t have any balls to be an NFL running back. 

In three seasons Benson rushed for 1,593 yard and 10 touchdowns in 37 games.  Those are the type of numbers the Bears expected him to gain in a single season.  Now he will have to try to do it someplace else. 

Benson has already stated that he passed the field sobriety tests and informed press that when the camera footage taken by the police squad car is released, we can all see that he was not drunk.  It just seems like a hard pill to swallow after Benson was involved in similar squabbling of police misinformation from his boating arrest.  You want to believe Benson but the whole thing sounds like too much coincidence.  Meanwhile, Benson’s credibility is quickly deteriorating in the public eye.

Benson claims he had a single alcoholic drink and later his attorney stated he may have had a couple, but police reports indicate the running back looked too drunk to stand.  Regardless of whether Benson really was over the legal limit, what was he thinking?  A man that was just starting to escape the persecution of his first arrest promptly returns to Texas and gets arrested again for alcohol?  It was within reason to ask fans to sympathize with having a few drinks on a boat with family, but now Benson has to ask for understanding that he was driving drunk, alone, and dangerously. 

I wrote a while ago that I was willing to forgive Benson for his boating actions but he needed to make better choices about the situations he enters.  This gives every indication that Benson is making poor choices in his personal life that are going to interfere with his professional life.  He not only put his own life in danger, a stupid move for a person that is paid solely on his physical ability, but put other people in danger.  It’s dumb, irresponsible, and has made the decision for the Bears much easier or tougher depending on how you look at it. 

The Bears are currently hosting an Expo for fans to interact with the team and General Manager Jerry Angelo has been heard expressing his extreme displeasure with Benson.  If Benson’s future with the team was in jeopardy before, his head is in the guillotine now.  The problem is a few months ago I suggested the Bears go out and get free agent running back Dominic Rhodes.  Rhodes has agreed to return to the Indianapolis Colts and leaves the Bears with few options.  I would rather see the Bears go with a tandem of Matt Forte and Adrian Peterson rather than sign an aging back like Shaun Alexander. 

The Bears organization have given every indication that they are prepared to move on with Benson.  The word out of OTA’s is Bears coaches are in love with Matt Forte.  Offensive staff have called him an every-down back, lots of talant, ability to make plays on the field, virtually the anti-Benson.  It appears the Bears are inching closer to accepting the idea of putting rookie running back Matt Forte in the backfield as starting running back.  They may choose to split his playing time with Benson if he stays around or Peterson.  Either way, I think you can count on Forte seeing a larger bulk of playing time than originally anticipated.  He may not be a bad sleeper pick to queue on your fantasy draft. 

As for Benson, maybe he can open up a bar in Amsterdam with Ricky Williams and talk about the good old college days in Texas. 

Take, for instance, last week’s OTA’s where Brian Urlacher and Cedric Benson were missing.  When Benson hired an attorney to represent him in his boating under the influence and resisting arrest charges, the Bears and fans assumed he would show for the first day of OTA’s.  However, Benson decided not to show up for the first day of OTA’s and the Bears opted to have Adrian Peterson take snaps with the first team offense.  I was a bit surprised the Bears didn’t take the opportunity to throw rookie Matt Forte into the mix but he probably requires a lot more time with the playbook. 

The absence of Brian Urlacher was expected as he announced his disappointment that a new contract has not been worked out.  Keep in mind that 5 years ago Urlacher signed a 9-year deal.  In case you were not a math major, that means Urlacher is asking for renegotiations on a contract that still has 4 years remaining.  His timing couldn’t be any more frustrating as the Bears are attempting to negotiate with Tommie Harris and Devin Hester.  The Bears have already offered Harris the highest paid contract for a defensive tackle and he turned it down.  The Bears would be foolish to let either player go, but they are reluctantly going to have to award each player with the largest contract for their respective positions. 

The Bears organization and Bears fans are growing increasingly frustrated with the undeniable face of the team.  The biggest risk for Urlacher is tarnishing his god-like status in Chicago despite his array of child custody suits from different women.  Bears fans may be willing to give a shoulder shrug to personal problems as long as it doesn’t affect the team, but once it transfers over to the field, there is little room for understanding.  Bears fans are getting restless after making a Super Bowl appearance two years ago and they are anxious to see their team return to victory.  Urlacher should take a look at former Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander to see how deep the fall from grace can reach.  A few years ago Alexander was the league MVP and now he can barely find a spot on an NFL roster.  Urlacher has had off-season neck surgery and has acknowledged he’ll have to play the rest of his career with arthritis in his lower back.  That doesn’t translate into a new contract for more money. 

The Chicago Bears and Bears fans may have to face the reality of a team without Urlacher or Benson.  I have been in favor of cutting Benson more due to his low production than his recent troubles.  As far as Urlacher is concerned, I am a huge fan and he may be one of the most underrated players in the league.  There is no doubt that he still has a few good years left in him to dominate the league.  What I don’t understand is why an aging player with 4 years left on his contract and long term health issues thinks he in entitled to a contract extension and bonus.  If this continues it may be in the better interests of the Bears to sign Harris and Hester and explore different avenues for Urlacher. 

The Bears may be approaching a similar crossroads that Seattle endured where an aging star doesn’t realize they are in the downturn of their career.  Urlacher has done great things for Chicago and is the face of the team, but his recent actions make me question his motives.  He has always been praised as a team player, but I wonder in his deteriorating condition if he is just trying to get a pay day.  Only time will tell if the Bears make the right call.

Chicago Bears

My initial reaction was, rookie running back Matt Forte may now have a good shot at becoming the starting running back for the Chicago Bears.  My second reaction was my plea for the Bears to sign running back Dominic Rhodes may not be too far off at this point.  I was also a little curious how a person goes about passing a field sobriety test aboard a boat, but I digress. 

If Benson showed a little of the fire on the football field that he showed against a river authority officer, perhaps his starting job wouldn’t be at risk.  Benson will go down the road of several NFL players and most of the Cincinnati Bengals roster by measuring up their current arrest with their record. 

In 2002, he was arrested on misdemeanor drug and alcohol charges, but they were dropped.  In 2003, he was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing for reportedly breaking into an apartment to look for a stolen TV and was sentenced to eight days in jail.  The weight the Court system and the NFL puts on his previous arrests and his current arrest remains to be seen. 

Benson was released from jail today on a $14,500 bond.  The charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest are both Class B Misdemeanors carrying a possible 6 months jail time a piece and a $2,000 fine. 

I doubt Benson will see much, if any, jail time in the matter.  His biggest concern will be with the NFL and the Chicago Bears, who are both exercising a zero tolerance policy.  The NFL may hand down a suspension for a game or more and coach Lovie Smith is not going to happy with this news.  The Chicago Bears had troubles with defensive tackle Tank Johnson’s arrest for gun charges and he was released from the team.  He resigned with the Dallas Cowboys but had to serve a league suspension.  If the Bears release Benson, I doubt many teams would jump to sign the under achieving running back. 

With Shaun Alexander and Dominic Rhodes available there isn’t a need for the Bears to make a trade for a running back.  Shaun Alexander is in the twilight of his career and seems content to play in Cincinnati.  The best bet would be to sign Rhodes to give some competition at the position.  It is a possibility the Bears could try to compete with a running back tandem of Matt Forte, Adrian Peterson, and Garrett Wolfe, but it wouldn’t do much to solidify the running game.  Splitting carries between Forte and Peterson could be productive but it relies on Forte to make an immediate impact and Peterson to carry the load.  I’ve felt for a long time that Peterson deserves a shot at starting running back, but the NFL has shown that successful teams have a two-running back system.  The learning curve for Forte just became very steep.

As for Cedric Benson, his lackluster career could be coming to an end in Chicago.  It would probably be the best situation for a team that has become frustrated with their franchise running back that never matured and a player criticized for his every game.  It would probably do both sides good to get a change of scenery. 

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.