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Mel Tucker known for getting the most out of available talent - Dan Pompei: New DC is expected to keep defense mostly intact as it evolves under his leadership and is even retaining Lovie Smith's terminology, meaning he will have to adjust more than his players.
Will Trestman have the ‘Harbaugh’ touch? - Mark Potash: It was the year of Big Decisions in the NFL. Can Marc Trestman make them? Plus, 10 more thoughts.
Peter King's TMQB - Russell Wilson's contract; Sean Payton's reinstatement; Tom Brady's controversial slide; more thoughts and reader mail.
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Bearsss
Bruce Arians thinks highly of Cutler - Sean Jensen: New Cardinals HC viewed QB as an asset and harbored no resentment toward the Bears, even hugging Phil Emery in the parking lot outside a Senior Bowl practice Monday.
NFCN Blog - Kevin Seifert: Could Rodgers, Cutler and Stafford all sign new contracts before the start of the 2013 season?
Bears hire Clark as strength and conditioning coordinator - Larry Mayer: The Bears have hired Mike Clark as their new strength and conditioning coordinator. He replaces Rusty Jones, who is retiring after 28 years in the NFL.
NFCN Blog - Kevin Seifert takes a closer look at FO's and Rick Gosselin's widely-used Special teams rankings. The Bears finished 6th and 9th, respectively.
PFF snapshot - TE pass drop rate: "'It would be something of a surprise to see Kellen Davis back in Chicago next year. You can’t drop eight balls and catch 19 and make it in this league."
Marc Trestman's 1998 Cardinals playbook - rockbadger's google-fu is mighty. Mighty.
Bears player salaries for 2012, '13 and '14 - Tip o' the hat to chicagofan09 for putting this together. Chester Taylor was on our books for $750k last season. Thanks, Jerry.
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(The Next) Ditka
Trestman expects to make smooth transition - Larry Mayer: Although he spent the last five seasons in the CFL, new Bears coach Marc Trestman isn't concerned about assimilating back into the NFL.
Five 2012 games Marc Trestman must watch - Maggie Hendricks: The Bears' 10-6 record won't be easy to improve on, but Trestman can do it by seeing what the Bears did well, where they fell apart, and where they just barely lost.
Scott Mitchell on Marc Trestman: ‘One of the best coaches I ever had’ - As the quest to truly get to know Marc Trestman continues, the new Bears head coach received a ringing endorsement from a former player.
Grading the NFL head coach hires - Chris Burke: Will the Bears' defense suffer under Trestman’s watch?
Trestman builds staff differently than Lovie Smith - Mark Potash: If there’s a leap of faith that Phil Emery took, it’s that Trestman is as astute at judging coaches as he is at working with QBs
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Polish sausage
Hall of Fame finalists - The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2013 has been cut down to 17 finalists. NFL.com's Elliot Harrison examines the case for each player, including first-year nominees Warren Sapp and Michael Strahan.
NFP's draft blog - Matt Bowen's Tuesday notes from the Senior Bowl: Eric Fisher, secondary talent, Denard Robinson and more.
Know thy enemy: Vikings - Dan Wiederer with a look ahead to 2013 and the team's RB position. He could have simply written "AP2.5K" and moved on to the next topic.
Know thy enemy: Lions - Dave Birkett: Jim Schwartz helped bring the Wide 9 defense into vogue in the NFL a decade ago, and said Monday he has no plans to dramatically alter his team's defensive scheme this off-season.
Laugh at thy enemy: Lions - Kevin Seifert: WR Titus Young took to twitter to suggest he is "the best" and that he has "never been selfish," but implied he will retire if he isn't thrown the ball more often. (Well, if you will insist on stocking your roster with known character risk players.....)
Non-gridiron link of the day - Did you know there was a celebswithnoeyebrows.com? Well, now you do.
Many of you are also Bulls fans; have you seen Sackman's Derrick Rose t-shirt design?
Some more non-smooth jazz for your Wednesday.