Chicago Bears Sign Fred Miller

by Adam T on Sep 10, 2008 9:08 AM CDT Comment 8 comments

Last year Fred Miller was the goat of the offensive line and took the brunt of the blame and was released for it. Then the line looked bad and people starting getting hurt and the Bears reached out to Miller.

The line looks to be coming around and now Fred Miller is being brought back into the mix.

Fred Miller turned down more money when the Bears signed him originally in 2005 and he will do the same thing this morning when he rejoins the team as a backup offensive tackle.

He will sign a one-year contract today, a source close to the player said, and is expected to be on the practice field this afternoon. Miller will become the third offensive tackle with the Bears apparently deeming experience necessary as rookie seventh-round pick Kirk Barton filled the role last week.

I'm much less upset with this than when the Bears first contacted Miller. Then it was because we looked awful and needed the players. Now the line looks better and Miller is coming in strictly for experience and depth. The Bears have some young guys in the mix in Chris Williams, Josh Beekman and Kirk Barton and having a guy whose been around awhile and is familiar with the Bears offense can't hurt. Now lets just hope we don't need to turn to him.

Miller's deal is for one year and unless injuries move him in to a starting role or the young guys don't come around he likely will only play out that one year.

0 recs | Comment 8 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I think its kind of funny that

Last week Miller was trying to “decide” if he wanted to join the Bears and now we come out and play real well and look like we could be a decent team is when he suddenly decides finally, yeah I’ll go back to the Bears.

Fire Angelo!!

by GallopingGhost on Sep 10, 2008 9:34 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Oh yeah... cause Miller's WAY better than Willie Anderson.

Anderson could’ve been a Ruben Brown-like move for us. But, he signed with Baltimore instead.

At this point, I’d say the play of both our starting tackles is questionable. That being said, it’s doubtful that Miller is better than any tackle we have.

And who are we cutting to make room on the roster for Miller? We’re already short one spot thanks to Chris Williams.

I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008

by SackMan on Sep 10, 2008 9:41 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

We cut Barton who may move to the practice squad.

So Barton will keep developing. Miller has more experience and knows the offense and is only going to be a backup. In an emergency he’ll go in. That’s fine to me. If he is better than St. Clair, eventually he could replace him and anything that improves that group is positive, but I don’t see that happening.

As far as Willie goes, he never wanted to play here. The first day he was released it was known that his eyes were on Baltimore. Although it could have been a big steal for us, we may not have had the money to throw around to get him either.

Kick it to me... I'm open!

by #23 on Sep 10, 2008 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh great...

We cut Barton. I’m not happy about this.

For one, there’s no guarantee we can add him the the PS. And, even if we do, he can be signed by anyone. Jacksonville lost 3 lineman Sunday. When stuff like that happens, teams go out grab what they can.

For two, we need to get younger on our line… let the rookie develop while he’s on the roster! He’s probably half a season away from being hands down better than Miller anyway.

I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008

by SackMan on Sep 10, 2008 11:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah you are right all the way around.

Maybe the Bears only kept Barton on the roster out of need. They did draft him in the 7th so hopefully they just feel he probably won’t make it here anyways and we’ll continue to draft lineman next season.

Kick it to me... I'm open!

by #23 on Sep 10, 2008 2:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

so than we are

bringing back fred miller…… fred miller!

i hope everyone on this blog remembers fred “false start” miller of last year.

i guess the thinking is that when the special teams gets us good field position, fred miller can back them 10 yards so we can incorporate the draw play more frequently with matt forte.

by rahulsriram on Sep 10, 2008 9:29 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Fred "drive killer" Miller

Not a bad move for the Bears just in case someone gets hurt. He’s a significant upgrade over Barton because of experience. He’s been in the offense for three years and knows the system. Barton can stay busy developing on the practice squad.

"I'm not so mean. I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." - Dick Butkus

by propheteer on Sep 10, 2008 11:10 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't care...

I couldn’t possibly care less how much experience he has or how much depth this will supposedly give us.

Fred Miller was, without a doubt the WORST lineman in the league last year.

On top of all the false starts, he was too weak/lazy to look forward and always dropped his head, a mortal sin for any lineman and an easy way for rookies to prove they should be cut. I can’t count how many times linebackers, ends, and even slow defensive TACKLES ran around Miller UNTOUCHED.

We may have drafted him in the 7th round, but he did make the team. You can’t say it was just out of need because we dropped our other 7th round OLineman and Receiver, more positions of need. Barton played well in the preseason and could’ve developed well.

We’re trying to build a YOUNG line, remember? I’m so pissed about this. and Miami, another team building a young O-Line picked him up RIGHT AWAY. What do you think it says about him when Bill Parcells, who drafted Jake Long #1 doesn’t hesitate to get Ohio State’s starting Right Tackle.

by HesterSteals1st on Sep 14, 2008 5:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs