Chicago Bears sign defensive lineman Turk McBride

In the first real head scratcher of a move in the Marc Trestman era, the Chicago Bears signed six year veteran defensive lineman Turk McBride to a one year contract.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Filed to ESPNChicago: <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Bears">#Bears</a> agree to terms on one-year deal with DE Turk McBride, per a league source.</p>&mdash; Jeff Dickerson (@ESPNChiBears) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNChiBears/status/314421651049705474">March 20, 2013</a></blockquote>
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My initial thought was, 'Does this effect the potential re-siging of Israel Idonije?'

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Signing of Turk McBride doesn't diminish chance of Israel Idonije returning to the <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Bears">#Bears</a></p>&mdash; Sean Jensen (@seankjensen) <a href="https://twitter.com/seankjensen/status/314448054218543105">March 20, 2013</a></blockquote>
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I hope Jensen is right.

Izzy is a better football player, and with a down market at defensive end, I'm surprised the Bears can't come to an agreement with their own versatile free agent. Without any knowledge of the inner workings of Halas Hall, I'll guess that McBride is a cheaper version of Idonije. Trestman has expressed a desire to bring Izzy back, but at a reduced price.

Like Idonije, McBride has played both defensive tackle and defensive end. He has played in 66 games in his six year career, with 24 starts. The last two years in New Orleans, McBride has only appeared in 15 total games, with 2 sacks. In that same time frame, Idonije hasn't missed a game, he has 27 starts, and he's piled up 12.5 sacks.