In case you were wondering . . .
The NFL made it official Monday: The Bears will select 31st in the April 28-29 draft, one of the casualties of having a very good season. Along with the draft order was listed the combined winning percentage of each team’s opponents for the season, revealing that the Bears had ostensibly the easiest schedule in the NFL based on opponents winning only 110 games and a 43.0 percentage.
Something doesn’t quite compute there. When two games are against 3-13 Detroit, it skews the numbers. Give the Bears a break. They played 10 of their 19 games against teams with records of .500 or better, won seven of those and were 5-2 against playoff teams.
Domino-tipping
The Bears have spent considerable time evaluating current personnel. Those evaluations will factor into decisions in free agency beginning March 2, and what happens in free agency will affect the draft.
The Bears are squarely in their window of Super Bowl opportunity, and general manager Jerry Angelo will build for the future. But decisions will be based on winning right now, not in several years.
Angelo consistently has followed his plan to first address certain needs in free agency, taking pressure off the draft, and if something failed to materialize there, he struck in the draft.
The age on the offensive line suggests Angelo will address that, possibly with an addition like Bengals free-agent guard-tackle Eric Steinbach, a Providence High School product. If not through free agency, Angelo has traditionally selected linemen early in his drafts. This year could continue that pattern.
Last year he targeted a punt returner (Antwaan Randle El) and a safety (Adam Archuleta) early in free agency. When both went to Washington, he drafted Devin Hester and Danieal Manning.
Safety first
Archuleta looms as a key figure again.
The Bears went into last year’s draft looking for safety help and found it in Manning.
The rookie had catastrophic breakdowns as the season went on, and he more than any single Bear appeared the worse for the injuries to Mike Brown and Todd Johnson and the accompanying loss of mentoring.
But Manning is set. The rest of the picture, however, is not.
Brown has two more years at $2.49 million, a paycheck befitting a Pro Bowl safety but a heavy tab for a seven-year veteran who has finished each of the last three seasons injured. Johnson and Chris Harris provide good depth, but the Bears will be looking for more. They may not have to look far.
After what he went through last season in Washington, Archuleta may be willing to pay his way here.
The Redskins outbid the Bears and a phone-calling, lobbying Lovie Smith with a six-year deal worth $30 million, including $10 million guaranteed.
It was a disaster.
Archuleta, one of Smith’s favorites when the two were together in St. Louis, claimed in December he was lied to by Washington coaches. He played perhaps 10 snaps on defense over the last half of the season and is likely to be cut March 1.
A new rule allows Archuleta to hit the market at the outset of free agency, the Redskins to be rid of early what became a ridiculously expensive fourth-string safety and the Bears to move quickly as Angelo has done in the past on signing targets.
Running back situation
The very good news is that the MRI on Cedric Benson’s injured knee from the Super Bowl was negative. His loss was an overshadowed turning point for an offense that planned to wear the Colts down using both Benson and Thomas Jones.
Jones’ best chance of being traded out of Chicago disappeared last off-season when the Colts stepped away from a deal for the veteran running back. His next, last and best chance appeared to vaporize late in the first quarter of the Super Bowl when Benson suffered a game-ending knee injury.
The result has become a bizarre juxtaposition of tailbacks.
The older rusher, with a history of nettlesome nicks, has emerged as the 1,200-yard fixture on offense.
The younger back, with a history of ironman durability, is suddenly a health concern with a run of injuries in the tradition of unfortunate quarterback Jim Miller.
Benson has had three time-losing injuries, two of them knee injuries, in two seasons.
The Bears find themselves in the delicate position of needing Jones too much to let him leave without some extreme risk to their immediate future.
Teams in the Bears’ position typically trade for a veteran like Jones, not trade one away.
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jmullin@tribune.com
