With Jason Campbell signing a rare (for this offseason) two-year deal to compete for the starting job in Cleveland, the Bears are now left without security at the most important position in all of sports.

While most fan attention is situated in the middle of the offensive line, my attention is here. To the best of my knowledge the franchise quarterback still has a history of concussions to pair with his penchant for holding the ball too long/refusing to throw it away. Yes, Phil Emery has added two terrific perimeter blockers in hopes of keeping #6 upright. Yes, Aaron Kromer will make the health of the QB his priority. Yes, Marc Trestman will institute a precision-based, timing route passing game that involves far less of the Martz/Tice “wait in the pocket and chuck it” approach. But even with all these changes on the offensive side of the ball, history tells us it is fair to believe Cutler will not play every down at quarterback for the Bears in 2013.

Where will the Bears turn? Might they be interested in a player like Colt McCoy? Will Carson Palmer’s desire to play for a contender lead him to accepting vet minimum (while collecting a ton from Oakland) to stand behind Cutler? Do the Bears believe McCown or Blanchard are good enough to hold down the fort should the moment arise? Would Emery use a pick in the first few rounds on a quarterback?

Guards are important, sure. But the absence of a top quality guard will not keep a football team from winning double-digit games and being in contention for the postseason. The 2012 Bears were a prime example of this. Backup quarterbacks are not important until they’re called upon. The absence of quality one can send a season plummeting into the seventh dimension of Satan’s layer. For illustration of this, the 2011 Bears are the poster boys.

It didn’t take Phil Emery a week. Less than a week after he and the whole of the Chicago Bears organization saluted and celebrated the career of Brian Urlacher in a lengthy press release, the GM has reloaded the club’s trademark strength and added a pair of veteran linebackers in free agency.

DJ Williams will “replace” Urlacher in the middle of the defense. Williams, coming off a season where PEDs and team suspension kept him off the field for more than half the year, possesses tremendous athleticism and speed. As we enter what will hopefully be the twilight of the read-option in the NFL, Williams’ ability to go sideline-to-sideline will be pivotal in limiting the kind of success Russell Wilson had the end of Bears v Seahawks in December. (I’m still haunted by that half hour. It seemed to be three days long.) Even if the Bears brought Urlacher back into the fray in 2013 there was no way they could rely on his knees to hold up against this new generation of speedy quarterback.

Can Williams keep his head on straight? That is the bigger question.

James Anderson missed time in 2012, as well, but his absence was due to injury not the intake of enhancement drugs. From Brad Biggs:

Anderson, 29, finished sixth in the NFL in tackles in 2011 with 145 and was a cap casualty in Carolina earlier this month, two years after he signed a five-year, $22 million contract with $8.5 million guaranteed. He set a Panthers record with 20 tackles in a game against the Giants last season and holds the team record with 94 games played at linebacker. Of his 53 starts, 44 came on the strong side.

“I am just reaching my peak right now,” Anderson said. “I am definitely still in my prime. This is the best I have felt at this point in the offseason in years. I feel like I am on my way up.”

Anderson, 6-foot-2, 235 pounds, was hampered by shoulder and back injuries last year and missed the final four games.

“I had a chance to have some time off and all is well, all is healed up,” he said. “I had some tightness and some other issues with the lower back, but it was nothing that is going to be an issue going forward. I feel great.”

Anderson will replace Nick Roach on the strong side.

These two signings only slightly alter Emery’s approach to the position in the draft, however. Both Williams and Anderson are one-year rentals in the middle of the defense and Emery must get the Bears younger at the position. What the signings afford him is the ability to attack the LB position at his own discretion. He does not need to draft a starter in 2013. He would like to draft one for 2014.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake up. I’ll make breakfast – eggs, bacon, cheese, some bread – and drink a nice pot of iced coffee. I will then turn my television to NFL AM, a show I despise, because the topic of conversation will most certainly be one of pertinence to myself and those who read this site daily. The topic will be Brian Urlacher.

It all ended with a press release and a Twitter announcement from Larry Mayer and the Bears organization. At 5:30 PM on a random Wednesday in March Urlacher’s tenure with the team he’d come to represent for the past decade ended. It was followed by a multitude of quotes from GM Phil Emery and George McCaskey. Phrases like “humble superstar” and “all-time great” and “Hall of Fame” were everywhere.The Bears were not showing Urlacher the door. They were sprinkling rose petals on the red carpet leading from Urlacher’s career to the retirement sidewalk.

(If you ask me, the quotes were too prepared and too ready. This decision had been made far sooner than today.)

Brian Urlacher was more than the Bears middle linebacker. He was the heart and soul of their locker and the hero of their fans. He was the link to a brilliant tradition at the franchise’s most storied position. Lach (pronounced Lack with an almost quintessential beauty when uttered through the sparked tones of a Chicago accent) owned this city, obvious to anyone attempting to count the #54 jerseys on  the sixty-one thousand plus gathered on the lakefront each fall. Two Tweets I received immediately after the news broke accurately sum up the response of a majority of fans.

@Pankster198: That is BS!!! Cant believe it!!

@sallakm: I’m at a lost for words so wrong wow

Grammar and spelling aside, those two responses are what was being shouted at dinner tables across the Chicagoland area as news of this divorce became public. There will be no discussion of a chronically-injured knee, salary cap restrictions or a devaluation of the middle linebacker position in the modern NFL. There will a Chicago Bears team without Brian Urlacher for the first time in 13 years and that will be enough to send out for another twelve-pack of Old Style.

Whenever I’m asked about Urlacher, I tend to lean on his catching Michael Vick from behind when discussing his athleticism. It was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen on a playing field. But my favorite Urlacher moments?

There’s this. 2001. The first of back-to-back game winning INT touchdowns for Mike Brown. Urlacher caused Terrell Owens to burrow a hole in the ground to avoid a hit.

There’s this. Self-explanatory.

There is, of course, 2006. My favorite plays? His interception of Chad Pennington in the end zone and strip of Edge James during the “who we thought they were” game.

Brian Urlacher’s tenure in Chicago will be celebrated forever. He is one of the best players to ever don the navy blue and orange. But an NFL player’s career can end overnight. It sure feels like Urlacher’s just did.

Marc Trestman, at the NFL owners meetings, told the Chicago media that Devin Hester will be working exclusively with special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis. The greatest return man in the history of the league is returning his attention and energy to the action that will one day land him in Canton.

I have written countless columns about the ludicrousness of the Devin Hester on Offense Experiment. Any human being with eyes could tell Hester was never comfortable. He never knew where to line up. He ran the wrong route half the time. He dropped passes. Moving Hester to offense was the stubborn objective of GM Jerry Angelo and head coach Lovie Smith – two men who had failed to draft (the former) and develop (the latter) offensive talent for a generation of Bears football. That is over now.

Hester should not take this as a demotion. This is where he belongs. And now he can begin to demolish every record in the return man book.

Green Bay Packers

Tom Crabtree is gone. Greg Jennings in gone. The Packers did not make a significant move to upgrade the running back position. But forgive me if I’m not sounding the “fade from glory” alarm for the club up in Green Bay just yet. The modern Pack regime does not make flashy moves in March. They make flashy plays on the field from September to December. They’ll restock their offensive artillery in late April and be a force to reckon with in the 2013 season.

Minnesota Vikings

I’ll say it: I think the Vikings are a 6-win team in 2013. They’re still starting Christian Ponder at QB and now are backing him up with the worse-than-Ponder Matt Cassel. Percy Harvin covered up Ponder’s flaws with his ability to convert the bubble screen into an 80-yard touchdown on a regular basis. Greg Jennings does not replace Harvin. He is a prototypical wide receiver and he’s never played with such mediocrity at the quarterback position. The only way Minnesota finds themselves in the postseason is if Adrian Peterson delivers ANOTHER all-world season.

Detroit Lions

Is their defense better? No? Then why would I care if they signed Reggie Bush. Points and yardage were not Detroit’s issue in 2012. They can’t stop anybody.

Phil Emery acquired his starting left tackle and his starting tight end on the first day of free agency. The two most significant vulnerabilities of the 2012 Chicago Bears have been, at least in the eyes of the GM, have been addressed. Now that the spending spree is over and the organization is tight to the salary cap, where else might Emery turn?

• Stay home. Signing Nick Roach, Lance Louis and Brian Urlacher would give Emery complete freedom as he approaches the end of April. Roach and Urlacher would be penciled in as the starting linebackers, leaving the Bears only to seek depth (a Geno Hayes type) for the position. Louis would be  the starting right guard, leaving the Bears to perhaps draft his counterpart on the left side. Without these three players the Bears will INEVITABLY be seeking 2013 starters on Thursday night, April 25th. This is a position good teams usually avoid.
• Karlos Dansby. Dansby can still be a viable middle linebacker in the right system, even at the age of 31. Would he provide the sideline-to-sideline ability of a prime Urlacher? No. But he could be an affordable tackling machine in the middle of the defense at the right price.
• Rey Maualuga. Is Maualuga a great player? No. He’s not. But is he a serviceable third starter next to Briggs and either Urlacher/Roach? Sure. The Giants are rumored to be interested so if the Bears are going to pursue, they’d need to pursue quickly.
• Kevin Boothe & Brandon Moore – the guards of New York. While Emery told Mike Wright of ESPN Chicago that the Bears can’t afford a starting guard in free agency, he does not know what the market will be for these two significant potential upgrades to the Bears offensive line. Boothe is a more exciting option since he could start at center for the Bears and allow Roberto Garza to slide back to his natural guard position.

There are options out there but they require money. If Phil Emery and Cliff Stein can find some the Bears may not be done upgrading this roster for 2013.

Phil Emery landed the surprise of the 2012 off-season with his acquisition of Brandon Marshall from the Miami Dolphins for a pair of third-round picks. Marshall rewarded Emery by delivering one of the most impressive offensive seasons in the history of the Chicago Bears and in my opinion allowing Emery the grace period which led to the firing of Lovie Smith in the aftermath of the ten-win 2012 campaign.

The first day of Free Agency 2013 was nearly as surprising.

Within minutes of the official signing period opening, word leaked out of Chicago/New York that former Cowboys and Giants tight end Martellus Bennett had reached an agreement (in principal, of course) to join the Chicago Bears. Bennett, much like Marshall did a year earlier at wide receiver, immediately validated the tight end position. If he repeats his 55-626-5 from a year ago over the four-year duration of his contract, Kellen Davis will become no more than a trivia answer to questions asked by negativity-prone intoxication monkeys in Rossi’s on North State.

Emery was not done.

As the clock moved from five to six in the middle of this country, Emery and the Bears inked a long-term deal with former Saints tackle, Drew Brees blindside protector and certifiably pornographic last name holder Jermon Bushrod. The deal is worth a bit more than $17 million guaranteed.

Around these parts much has been made about the Pro Football Focus grading of Bushrod as equivalent to J’Marcus Webb in 2012. A few points on this:

• Emery acknowledged PFF in his post-season press conference. These were not numbers unknown to the Bears GM. These were numbers unimportant.
• Aaron Kromer, the Bears current “offensive coordinator”, was Bushrod’s position coach in New Orleans. If Bushrod is a marginal player and marginal improvement, Kromer must simply not care or decided to stay quiet.
• Bushrod is not only an improvement at left tackle for the Bears. He also drastically improves the right tackle position by allowing Gabe Carimi and J’Marcus Webb to battle for the spot in camp. Best case for Bears? Carimi beats Webb and becomes a swing tackle with a year plus experience on both sides of the line.

In one day the Bears upgraded their two most vulnerable positions: left tackle and tight end. Did they overpay? Perhaps. But during Cliff Stein’s tenure in Chicago the Bears have rarely, very rarely, faced anything approaching cap trouble. They’ll be just fine.

Now the club has the flexibility heading into the NFL draft. Now they can use their first round selection on a middle linebacker or guard or wide receiver or whomever they believe to be the best player available. Emery has used free agency to address the needs. Now he can use the draft to address the desires.

While many were clamoring for Jared Cook over the last few months (I was not) Giants TE Martellus Bennett was quickly gaining traction amongst the folks at Halas Hall. That traction has led to his reportedly agreeing in principal to become the new tight end of the Chicago Bears.

So join in bidding a fond farewell to Kellen Davis’ involvement in the offensive game plan.

March 12, tomorrow, unlike say franchise tag application day, is a day of actual importance on the NFL calendar. Franchises can be changed forever, both positively (Reggie White, Green Bay Packers) and negatively (Albert Haynesworth, Washington Redskins). The best teams in the NFL don’t build their organizational foundation by cutting big checks to veterans. But the smart ones know how to complete their personnel puzzle and add the type of depth necessary in the injury-laden modern NFL.

The finest modern (post-Ditka) Chicago Bears teams were able to compete in January due to decisions made in March.

Where would Dick Jauron’s 2001 Bears and their up-and-coming middle linebacker have been without the forces of nature called Keith Traylor and Ted Washington – both acquired as unrestricted free agents in the lead-up to the 2001 campaign.

Jerry Angelo has received his “fair” share of abuse in Chicago but he was able to rebuild the team’s offensive line (ironically) in the mid 2000s by acquiring John Tait (2004), Ruben Brown (2004) and Fred Miller (2005). When Lovie Smith was hired and wanted to return the Bears to an off-the-bus run attack Angelo signed Thomas Jones at the drop of the free agency period. (It my memory that signing happened at 12:01 AM but I doubt that’s accurate.) Free agency dramatically helped send that team to the Super Bowl in 2006.

There’s a reason prospective FA acquisitions are referred to as “targets”. The more specific and narrow the scope the greater possibility there is for a team to make the right maneuver. Attempts at grand, sweeping change, at a roster overhaul are almost economically impossible and often end in unrealistic expectations and unsustainable success. (See: Team, Dream) Football is not a sport where championships are won by the best collection of talent. Or perhaps more accurately, since the beginning of free agency football is not a sport where championships are won by the best collection of talent.

Where do the Bears and Phil Emery find themselves on the day before the day?

1. They do not have a top forty offensive lineman on their roster. Their best talent (Lance Louis) is coming off a significant injury and while I expect his services to be retained I also expect the Bears to bring in someone with veteran status if only to calm the angry mob of fans who don’t want to see another bullshit camp battle J’Marcus Webb can’t lose.
2. The Bears don’t have a pass-catching tight end to own the middle of the field. What nobody seems to know – because nobody inside Halas Hall leaks anything ever these days – is if this sort of player is in Marc Trestman’s plans. We assume the answer is yes because all of the league’s top offenses utilize the TE  but is it any more than an unsubstantiated assumption? If Trestman is planning to throw only 30 passes to the position this year it is something the Bears can address in the middle of the draft.
3. People point to the New England Patriots as the model NFL franchise and why not? They win their division every year and seem to win at least one playoff game each time they get in. But one needs only to look at that team’s complete lack of depth at almost every position on defense to understand a basic truth: the Patriots win because they have a top-5 all time coach and a top-5 all time quarterback. Depth, as we’ve come to know it, does not exist in the hard cap NFL without maintained success in each draft round season after season. Adding depth vets in free agency is about short-term security. Signing players like Geno Hayes, Kelvin Hayden and later Jonathan Scott might not have disrupted the balance of power in the NFC but the moves enabled the Bears to survive injuries and win 10 games.

Phil Emery’s offseason (and year, for that matter) will not be defined by what he does over these next few weeks. His year will be defined by the man he has put in charge of the football team. But to believe the Bears are in some kind of rebuilding mode is to lack an understanding of the dynamic nature of their current roster.

Imagine the 2012 Bears with adequate pass protection? Imagine replaying the season and replacing every Kellen Davis drop with a Kellen Davis catch? What you’re imagining is a division champion. What you’re imagining is a title contender. What you’re imagining of 2012 is what the Bears could be in 2013.

I don’t take a lot of time off over the course of the year from this site but the next week will be such a time. I am taking my drinking & eating talents to the great American city of New Orleans until Monday morning.

DBB will return on March 11th to set the stage for the start of the free agency period on March 12th. Will the Bears make a splash for a starting tight end or offensive lineman? Will Phil Emery repeat his maneuvers of 2012 and add quality depth on the defensive side of the ball? Will all things remain quiet at Halas Hall?

See ya Monday.

PS. Should anything of note happen, I urge you to follow @DaBearsBlog on Twitter. That’s the only place I’ll be for the next four or five days barring huge breaking news.