Who stays, who goes amongst Bears free agents

Not in my memory has a team had as many players unrestricted free agents as the Bears and General Manager Phil Emery have this offseason. Last offseason Emery made the offense a focal point, retooling the offensive line and taking it from the worst units in the league to the strongest unit of the team.

He has promised to do the same this offseason. He has to start in deciding if Defensive Coordinator Mel Tucker will be back and beyond that has some tough choices to make starting with the players that played in Chicago this season.

Before the team signed kicker Robbie Gould and fullback Tony Fiammetta signed contracts before the Week 17 showdown with the Packers, the Bears had 29 players eligible for free agency after this season.

The list of players is long, but contains some big names, including Jay Cutler and Charles "Peanut" Tillman. I've been clear how I feel about Cutler and backup quarterback Josh McCown, who is also a free agent, but things seem to be taking shape on some of the other players. Tillman's injuries the last couple seasons make him a guy that could be on his way out. He says he's not done playing football, but might be a guy the Bears are willing to let go.

The biggest name outside of Cutler and Tillman is Devin Hester, who still has ability to be a game changer and did so throughout this year. It was his first season as just a return man and he seemed to do well. He earned just $2 million this season and if they can agree on something around that this year, I would be behind bringing him back. Otherwise, Hester has been clear he'd like to reunite with Lovie Smith, where ever he ends up this winter.

Cornerback Tim Jennings, who plays opposite Tillman, should be a guy the Bears look at signing. He's young enough and is a great playmaker. Whether he can play man coverage is something that could play a role in that.

Linebackers D.J. Williams and James Anderson are free agents, as well. Williams was the starting middle linebacker at the start of the season, but injury ended his season early on. He makes just $1 million and has been clear he wants to be back. For that salary, it would be hard to let him walk away, for depth purposes alone. Anderson could be a casualty with rookie James Bostic showing himself worth in Lance Briggs' absence during the year.

Along the offensive line center Roberto Garza was the lone holdover from last season and proved himself worthy this season. I'd be inclined to keep this group together for another season as they started all 16 games this season. Left guard Matt Slauson has said he wants to be back and I'd like to see him back, too.

Finally, Julius Peppers is an interesting name that's been brought up this week. He's not a free agent, but is set to make $18.133 million next season. If the Bears are looking to find dollars to spread around to the free agents and draft picks, that might be a spot they look to make a move. Peppers led the team with 7.5 sacks this season, but was not nearly the force he's been in past year.

I'm glad I'm not the guy crunching the numbers and dealing with the agents, but it will be interesting to see fall into place as Emery and Trestman put a team together over the next six months.

Tucker needs to be scapegoat for Bears defense

As the realization sets in that there will be now games for my Chicago Bears this weekend, the one thing clear to me (after the fact that Jay Cutler needs to be resigned) is that changes need to be abound on the defensive side of the ball, starting with Defensive Coordinator Mel Tucker.

I'm not usually the guy that calls for coaches to be fired just for the sake of making the change, but in Tucker's case it seems like a logical move to start over for a unit that did nothing but disappoint after being the backbone of the team for so long.

This Bears defense was worst in the league in rushing yards per game (161.4) and per carry (5.35) and with Lance Briggs out for seven games the unit went on to give up 100-yard rushers in six straight games, another franchise record.

Yes, this defense was historically bad, but the question around how much blame to place in Tucker's lap goes back to the fact that seven of the 11 Opening Day starters missed significant time. That led to two starting rookie linebackers playing for most of the second half of the season and teams running at will on the Bears.

Tucker was brought in because head coach Marc Trestman's thought was to continue running the Cover 2 which had been so succussful under Lovie Smith. Tucker continued the status quo on that side of the ball and continued to use the same vocabulary even. 

Even at the start of the season, it was clear this wasn't Lovie's defense and us as fans hoped they could figure things out. Some improvements were made, but things took leaps backward in the Eagles game in Week 16 where they gave up 54 points.

Then there's the Packers game and two plays may have spelled Tucker's fate with the fumble that led to a free touchdown for the Packers and the scoring play for the Packers in the final minute. An all-out blitz with man coverage on the outside, that fell apart when Chris Conte decided to jump a route at the first-down marker. 

All of the progress that had been made over previous weeks fell apart over the final two weeks. Add to that the personnel changes that could be a big factor in things, as well, with Charles Tillman, Craig Steltz, Major Wright and Tim Jennings among the free agents that might not be back. 

After the team surrendered a franchise record 6,313 yards (breaking the 24-year record by 584 yards), a change of some sort has to be in the works. If GM Phil Emery and Trestman are going to retool the personnel, it would make sense they bring in a new coach, as well.

Would it be 100 percent fair? Not necessarily, but the Bears have a history of doing so. In Lovie's first year, offensive coordinator Terry Shea after he struggled. He had quarterbacks Craig Krenzel, Jonathan Quinn and Chad Hutchinson under center that year, so it was hardly fair. It had to be done though and three years later the Bears were playing in the Super Bowl.