My assessment so far for the bears this off season is that things are looking up. We have a long way to go but so far so good.

The latest news is that Marty Booker has been released which was expected but good news none the less. Going into last year it was the thought that Booker may have even become the number one wide receiver so with that thought out the window we will hopefully get SERIOUS about a true number one wide receiver via free agency and the draft. Anquan Boldin should be high on our list considering his ability to turn short passes into big gains and Kyle Orton's inability to throw an accurate deep ball. 

With mini-camp being moved up three months I believe that Lovie Smith is making the message clear that the Bears mean serious business about righting this ship. The expectations for our defense is all of a sudden very high with Rod Marinelli joining the team and Lovie taking over the defense. With two of the best in the game at coaching the defense and the potential of the players already under contract I am getting excited about the possibility of a dominate Bear defense once again.

Lovie Smith says we are not far from being that dominate team and I am buying it to what he is selling. If you consider we gave three or four games away last year we are in fact what Lovie said, "close". Really, look at what we were working with as far as wide receivers, an experimental O-line and not to mention a very inconsistent defense and we were still very close.

So what do you think? Are things looking up or am I disillusioned once again?