With the Bears season coming to its soap opera close, it's time to begin speculation season. While it would normally be a straightforward affair, the lack of a collective bargaining agreement throws a bit of a wrench in the plans of free agency, and to some degree, the draft. The draft will still happen in April, but free agency could still be delayed.
Brad Biggs has a nice piece up today about the Bears' 2011 free agents, and it seems like as good a place as any to start our discussions.
"We feel good about the nucleus of this football team, the foundation that we've laid, going forward and I feel that our focus is going to be on continuing to build this team," Angelo said. "I'm not sitting here saying that we can't get better, we can get better and we will get better. We're going to do business as usual, we'll have a plan for free agency and I am sure we will be able to get a few players in free agency. We'll want to bring some of our own back and I am confident we will be able to do that. Like everyone else, we just have to plan accurately."
These are the words of Jerry Angelo on Monday. While he has likely said some variation of this paragraph at the end of every season since he's been with the Bears, that doesn't invalidate it. There are several players that they will need to take a very hard look at on their roster. There are also some that should be a very easy decision.
2011 Unrestricted Free Agents:
| Pos | Player Name | Pos | Player Name |
| C | Olin Kreutz | TE | Desmond Clark |
| DT | Anthony Adams | LB | Brian Iwuh |
| SS | Danieal Manning | WR | Rashied Davis |
| SLB | Pisa Tinoisamoa | RB | Garrett Wolfe |
| LB | Nick Roach | LB | Rod Wilson |
| CB | Corey Graham | S | Josh Bullocks |
| P | Brad Maynard | QB | Todd Collins |
2011 Restricted Free Agents:
| Pos | Player Name | Pos | Player Name |
| QB | Caleb Hanie | WR | Devin Aromashodu |
Three things that stand out quickly:
-Linebacker Depth
-QB Depth
-Special Teams Depth
There are some key areas that require looking at, and some beloved veterans who may not be coming back. Are any of these players "tag-worthy?" We're not even sure tags will work the same way under any new contract structure.
Look for Pros/Cons lists for all these players over the next few weeks, as we'll break each player down and try to determine the likelihood of their retention for the 2011 Chicago Bears.