Jake Long is reportedly asking for $11 million a season as he enters the free agency pool in a few weeks. Nobody is going to pay Jake Long $11 million a season. Based on most of the reliable and reputable grading systems across the NFL, Long is on the decline  and I’d be surprised if he draws anywhere near double-digits from an offensive line hungry team. Long was a great player for the Miami Dolphins and at times the most dominant left tackle in the sport. But injuries and time have taken their toll on him, leading to a 2012 season where the label of “mediocre” might actually be too generous.

Is Jake Long still a viable left tackle? Yes. Pete Prisco, Peter King and Omar Kelly have each written on the subject of Long’s demise being overstated.

Is Long capable of overcoming the injuries which have plagued him the last few seasons and returning to his previous form? Doubtful. Players don’t fall from greatness and return to it in the NFL. The league gets too young too fast and the human body can only take so many snaps.

Is Long worth the financial risk for the Chicago Bears? Maybe.

At his worst in 2012, Long graded out by Pro Football Focus as the 21st best pass protector in the NFL. This was devastating news for Long but it essentially means only 20 tackles in football protected their quarterback more effectively. J’Marcus Webb was 53rd. Gabe Carimi was 63rd. Think about that. 63rd? (For you non-math wizards, there are only 32 teams in the NFL and subsequently 64 starting tackles.) If one believes 2012 Long is a precursor of 2013 Long, the Bears would still be improving their edge protection by a significant amount.

The downside of signing Long is the 2012 version. The upside is he regains his health and provides a veteran anchor to the Bears offensive line for a few years the way Fred Miller did in the mid 2000s.  But Miller was never Long, never an elite NFL player and never capable of dominating a pass rusher the way Long is.

There are questions arising from the Long option.

1. Can the Bears afford him? My belief is now and will continue to be that with Cliff Stein managing your salary cap a team can afford any player they’d like to sign. If the Bears want Long, Long will be a Bear.
2. Would the signing preclude Phil Emery from taking an OT with the 20th pick? No. The Bears could sign Long and draft a Lane Johnson or DJ Fluker and enter the summer with the J’Marcus Webb and Gabe Carimi battling for backup spots. (I continue to say the oft-maligned Webb is an incredible asset as a flex tackle with his experience on both edges.)
3. Are Long’s health risks too risky? Maybe in baseball but not the NFL. Unless the Bears were to guarantee Long some absurd amount of money his contract would essentially be structured as a series of one year deals. (That’s most NFL contracts.)
4. Would a new home motivate Long? I think the answer is absolutely yes. I spent some of this weekend watching Dolphins tape and – while he hasn’t stated it publicly – I believe Long was struggling with injuries for a majority of the season and I agree with Prisco/King/Kelly in their assessment of his performance. I don’t think he was bad in 2012 and I think he can be good in 2013.

If I were running the Chicago Bears, I’d bring Long in at the right price but no one knows for sure how Phil Emery intends to approach the free agency period. If he decided to roll the dice on Jake Long, he may reap the benefits for the next three seasons.

Let’s consider this post something of a poll question. I will keep it short and sweet. I want to know how you, readers, commenters, Bears fans would rebuild the club’s offensive line heading into the 2013 campaign. You must be logical and take into consideration salary cap restrictions and draft place. You can’t have everything.

I will be writing a piece on the subject for Monday morning and I will use some of the best answers below in the body of that column. So bring your A-games.

(Hint: My column may/may not involve the wing champion above.)

Two things should be stated at the outset of this column.

Item #1. I have no evidence nor have I read any evidence that former Notre Dame linebacker and future NFL millionaire Manti Te’o is homosexual. For the purposes of this piece that is actually unimportant. When Katie Couric asks you if you’re gay on national television in front of a zillion people, the topic has been raised.

Item #2. I make my literary living writing for the theatre and, for half that time, the musical theatre. Homosexuals are as normal to my daily existence as iced coffee. I have no issue with their sexual behavior. I just hate it when they’re fucking late to rehearsal. (Side note: This has far more to do with them being actors than it does with their sexuality.)

Many of the NFL scouts and GMs interviewing Manti Te’o at this week’s Combine have asked about his sexuality. They are not asking because of personal bias – Bill Belichick went to Wesleyan for Christ’s sake. They are asking but they’re keenly aware of an overwhelming bias existing in their locker rooms.

The never dull lightning rod of a columnist called Jason Whitlock believes the NFL has a gay dilemma and believes Roger Goodell is tasked with solving it. Whitlock poignantly writes:

Let’s be honest. I think it’s reasonable to assume that 15 percent of NFL players are gay and/or bisexual. Generally speaking, they’re forced to conceal their sexuality out of fear of being ostracized and potentially released from the team.

They need to be set free, released from the grip of the most hostile work environment in America. Is there a more homophobic work setting than a football locker room? I can’t think of one.

I grew up in a football locker room. We wore our homophobia like a badge of honor. No one thought twice about using the F-word that rhymes with rag. Being gay was viewed as a disease that stripped you of all masculinity and most of your integrity.

This is expertly written but missing one key component.

Whitlock’s contention is that Goodell – through partnerships and penalties can help open the door for a homosexual to come freely out of the closet and into the locker room. This has not been achieved in any American sport but Whitlock believes it can happen in the NFL – America’s most masculine and violent of sports – with the help of the folks on Park Avenue.

But one needs to look no further than the world’s football to understand how naive an opinion that is. For the past decade FIFA, UEFA and a host of soccer federations have launched an aerial assault against racism both on and off the pitch. What has that organizational attack reaped? Higher tensions, monkey chants and banana peels thrown onto the pitches across Eastern Europe (literally) and everything surrounding the Ferdinands and Mario Balotelli.

Anti-gay sentiment will not exit NFL locker rooms because Roger Goodell does a commercial with GLAAD or invites Harvey Fierstein to announce the first pick of April’s draft. It will not exit NFL locker rooms because Goodell takes the Chicago Bears to see a Mario Cantone show. It will not exit the NFL locker room because like it or not the institution of the NFL is not IN their own team locker rooms.

After all, is the government in the living rooms of all those who hold anti-gay stances? Will any amount of gay marriage legalization influence the millions of Americans receiving their anti-gay instruction from velvet-draped megachurch stages across the map?

Aye, there’s the lighthouse.

We somehow forget how religious professional athletes are. We forget that an overwhelming majority of NFL players are African-Americans and rural whites – two groups that wear their love of the lord around their necks. We forget that these individuals do not treat homosexuals with the same rancor white baseball treated Jackie Robinson and those who followed. They don’t just historically hate gays. They believe “gay” is evil. They believe “gay” is an affront to their god. And one needs only to look at the Twitter feeds of the NFL’s more vocal to know where they place god’s opinion on their list of priorities.

So how can the NFL become a safe place for a homosexual to exist? The players must make it so. But that will not come to pass until more of the NFL is as outspoken as Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo have been. That day will not come until religious institutions around this country stop hand-feeding an atmosphere of hate/rejection and begin embracing what I believed to be their primary means for existence: love and acceptance.

Some of you will read this column and believe I am advocating a change in the stance on homosexuality by various religions. I am not. I could care less what is taught in churches because I only ever set foot in them to watch two fools get married or mourn the loss of a life. I give no more authority to the Catholic Church than I give the local Elks Club and the church doesn’t have the courtesy to sell me cheap beer. What I do acknowledge is the influence of organized religion.

The “problem” – if you choose to believe there is a problem with bigotry towards a large group of human beings – is Sunday. Not the Sunday you’re thinking of. Instead of Jason Whitlock foolishly believing the power to change an individual’s deeply held belief rests with a sport’s commissioner, he might turn his attention to where these beliefs originate: the pulpit.

You won’t find many Bears writers or bloggers around who’ve been as critical of Brian Urlacher. While celebrating his remarkable, sideline-to-sideline athletic ability and impeccable huddle command I have also questioned his ability to shed blocks since Ted Washington and Ketih Traylor were exiled by a defensive regime change and wondered publicly if Urlacher possessed the intimidation factor that has defined the great middle linebackers in Chicago and across the NFL. (I also routinely questioned Urlacher’s Hall of Fame credentials for years – a position on which I’ve since reluctantly reversed course.)

This off-season Phil Emery and the Bears hierarchy need Brian Urlacher as much as he needs them. Yes, the captain is suffering from chronic knee issues that are more than likely never going to improve. And yes, even a healthy 54 might only be a shadow of the player who dominated the league in 2005-2006. But Urlacher understands his physical liabilities will prohibit him from breaking the bank on the final contract of his professional career and thus the risks – should one choose to use that word – to the Bears organization will be minimal.

The rewards? Potentially great.

The Bears offense – designed by Marc Trestman and blocked byAaron Kromer – will be reworked and re-imagined. The system  and scheme will change. The terminology will change. The players will change. Nothing that took place on the field in 2012, other than the success of Cutler-to-Marshall, will play any role in what takes place on the field in 2013.

The Bears defense, barring surprises over the next few months, may not have a single new starter. Think about it for a moment. The secondary – Tillman, Jennings, Wright & Conte – will be there. The defensive ends will be Peppers and a combination of Wootton, McClellin and maybe a new face or two should Idonije head elsewhere. Henry Melton will be back, either on the franchise tag or with far, far, far heavier pockets. Might Emery bring in a new starter in free agency? Doubtful. Might a draft pick break into the starting lineup? It’s possible. But odds are we know the names of the eleven men who’ll take the field on defense the first Sunday after Labor Day. The difference. The man who has directed that defense since 2004, Lovie Smith, is gone. Mel Tucker has arrived.

And Mel Tucker needs Brian Urlacher.

The new defensive coordinator needs a defensive signal-caller in the huddle who already has the respect of the ten men around him. He needs a player with Urlacher’s intelligence to help translate his own concepts into familiar language/terminology. And perhaps less discussed is the notion that Tucker will face far less scrutiny from the fans and media with Urlacher patrolling the middle of the field. Until #54 retires this will continue to be his defense.

But don’t believe it’s a one-sided relationship. While Tucker is keeping the Bears in a 4-3 alignment, he is not staunchly sticking with the Tampa-2 concepts. This means that Urlacher’s physical requirements each and every Sunday could be significantly less. (No longer might he be needed to cover the deep middle of the field on surefire passing downs.) The less pressure put on Urlacher’s knees in 2013, the more likely there will be a 2014 for the superstar. As strange as it is to admit there might be less physical demand on Urlacher in Chicago than many other destinations across the league.

A deal should and will get done in the coming weeks. It is the best thing for Brian Urlacher and the best thing for the Chicago Bears. It will not only make the sixty-one thousand plus of Soldier Field happy come September, it will make the fifty-three on the field more formidable.

Marc Trestman delivered this morning the type of press conference that will come to define the Phil Emery era in Chicago. It was bland. It revealed nothing. It utilized a bunch of a buzz words and corporate-speak phraseology befitting a man known for his football intellect.

Most importantly was Trestman’s answer when asked if Shea McClellin will remain a defensive end in 2013: uh…maybe?  (Side note: Phil Emery later said Shea will remain at defensive end.)

While many around Chicago would like to see Shea McClellin as heir apparent to the Urlacher throne I would prefer to see McClellin given an opportunity to thrive at 4-3 defensive end – a position he’s truly only played for one season. Middle linebacker is a hallowed role in the city of Chicago but the ability to rush the passer is the key to success in the modern NFL. Having a B+ edge rusher outweighs an A- middle man.

So…open debate. Where do you want to see Shea McClellin in 2013?

Sometimes I don’t know what to post or share with you folks. But after finding myself spending the better part of the morning watching video highlights of Marc Trestman’s 2002 Oakland Raiders offense I figured why the hell not see what you think.

Two notes before you see these two videos. (1) Trestman and Gannon’s offense was entirely about timing. There was almost no delay in the quarterback’s mind about where to go with the football once he took the snap. The days of Jay sitting in a pocket and surveying seem to be over. (2) Crossing routes, crossing routes, crossing routes. So many crossing routes.

Walter Payton: A Football Life

It is wonderful. Here it is.

Marc Trestman Introduces Coaching Staff

I sent a pair of Tweets in the lead-up to Trestman’s formal introduction of his coaching staff to the media and fans Thursday. They were:

Marc Trestman introduces his coaching staff today. Couldn’t have less interest. Wake me up when he introduces his offensive line at camp.

And…

Lions stink. Vikings relied upon arguably the greatest rushing season ever. Trestman & coaches have one team to beat. If they do, playoffs.

I don’t need to hear from Marc Trestman again until he’s coaching the men he believes will be primarily involved in the 2013 campaign. Trestman will be given some wiggle room as the new Bears coach but this is not a rebuilding venture. This is a team built for success this coming season and there will be no time for learning on the job.

DaBearsBlog & ChicagoNow

This website’s planner and delayed move away from ChicagoNow is being delayed a second time. I understand that for many of you this will be unwelcome news but my life at the moment – for entirely positive reasons – is not allowing me the time and energy required to launch the site independently. As we progress through the coming months there will be more updates but for now we’ll be living here at CN. As always, direct all complaints to jeff@dabearsblog. I’ll just keep writing the best material I can write.

Devin Hester and Brian Urlacher are not financial decisions for Phil Emery and the Chicago Bears. Neither breaks the economic bank because neither poses a make-or-break impact on the 2013 season. Hester could certainly be a productive kick return and Urlacher would stabilize the middle of the defense but if Marc Trestman is relying on either to return to an All-Pro level for a postseason trip he is sorely misguided in his roster analysis.

Henry Melton is an emerging star at defensive tackle and the Bears can address his future with the organization with one of three approaches:

• Set Melton free and allow him to sign a lucrative contract with another organization. (I would imagine the Cowboys would try to find room for Melton immediately.)
• Sign Melton to an extension that should – based on Melton’s production – exceed the 7 year, $50.5 million contract inked by Tommy Kelly of the Oakland Raiders in 2008. Kelly’s contract surprised many around the league and was met by many fans with a collective, “Who?” Melton’s will surprise nobody.
• Tag Melton. According to Ian “I’m Not” Rapoport of NFL.com the franchise tag number for a defensive tackle in 2013 is tentatively set at $8.306 million.

While Henry Melton will assuredly not want to be franchised, franchising him is exactly what the Bears should do. (Side note: I don’t understand why the NFLPA allowed the franchise tag to stay in place only to have every single player complain once it is applied. What’s the point of having labor negotiators for a worthless union? We had a punter last year complain about the tag!)

Melton is a terrific player. His thirteen sacks over the last two seasons show the promise of a player capable of anchoring a defensive line for the better part of a decade. But how does one know if Melton – whose transition to and development at DT is credited equally to Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli – is truly an emerging Warren Sapp or a product of the system and coaching staff? Until Melton has produced outside the DT/sack friendly confines of the Tampa-2 how can the Bears know whether he is worth the long-term financial commitment he is seeking this winter?

Melton is a terrific player but is he a consistently dominant one? (Look no further than Cincinnati and Geno Atkins to see a player who alters the opposition’s offensive game plan on a week-by-week basis for an example of such.) Melton is not that player…yet. While the statistics are starting to lean in his favor the eyeball test reveals Melton is only occasionally disruptive. But don’t think the Bears aren’t aware that Atkins is entering the final year of his rookie contract and could demand upwards of $10 million per moving forward. If they do not hammer out an agreement with Melton and his production increases in 2013, the price tag could be significantly higher.

Is it a risk? Yes. But it is a risk the Bears should take.

The defensive tackle in the modern day NFL is not a statistic-driven position. As the league has moved to the 3-4 in an overwhelming fashion the best DTs in that alignment – Wilfork, Ngata, Hampton – thrive on their ability to disrupt opposing run games and OCCASIONALLY attack the quarterback. Those three in particular make the most out of limited opportunities to rush the passer. The 4-3, Tampa 2 tackle surges through a gap and attack the quarterback. Melton may be the second best in football currently. But the Bears can’t be swayed to overpay a player based on a dearth of talent at his position.

Melton is a terrific player and he should be a member of the Chicago Bears in 2013. Whether he’s a member of the organization in 2014 and beyond should still be up for debate.

Devin Hester is the greatest kick returner in the history of the NFL. He is not a professional caliber cornerback. He is not a professional caliber wide receiver. He is a returner of punts and kickoffs and nobody has done either better. Hester, to the best of my knowledge, is the first player in sports history not content with being the greatest ever at his position.

Nope, Devin Hester wants a change of scenery. He wants to change the scenery. Many of you may not know this but I make my living writing for the professional theatre so I am quite familiar with scenery changes. Scenery is changed during the course of a play to alter the audience’s perception of time and space. It is not changed because an actor/performer is, well, no longer having fun with a particular tree or house-painted flat or stone (if this were a minimalist production of Waiting for Godot). It is not changed because an actor/performer no longer feels comfortable with the present scenery.

Devin Hester does not want a change of the scenery. Hester wants to leave a scene-stealing role in a classical play at an elite Chicago theatre (let’s say Polonious in a well-received Hamlet at the Goodman) for a more prominent role in a lesser production elsewhere (say Mercutio in the Kansas City Rep production of Romeo & Juliet). He is not comfortable blaming his struggles in 2012 on himself – even though his former coordinator Dave Toub was quite comfortable with that scenario. Hester is blaming, what else, the city of Chicago.

And might I add one more point. And I say this having had the pleasure of interviewing Devin Hester on my podcast and genuinely enjoying that interaction. How dare you, Devin? How about some gratitude to the Chicago Bears organization for mistakenly attempting to appease you these last few years and find a successful role outside of special teams? How about some loyalty to a fan base that has cheered your every return and forgiven your every return mistake for the duration of your career? I know professional athletes are some of the most selfish individuals on the planet but could Hester truly be so willing to leave those thousands of #23 jerseys on the Lake Front behind for a chance to catch a few passes in 2013 from Mark Sanchez or Brandon Weeden on gimmick plays?

Regardless of Hester’s blind selfishness, the Chicago Bears organization should not even consider letting him leave town.

GM Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman (as well as new special teams coordinator Joe D) should be on the phone with Hester before the start of the free agency period. The Skunk may no longer be returning kicks for touchdowns at the alarming rate he did a few years ago but there are still only a handful of return men in the sport that belong in his conversation. He still possesses the ability to score on every return. He still frightens opposing coaches.

Hester does not need to be abandoned by the Chicago Bears right now. He needs to be recommitted to. And while I’m not pleased with his comments I have too much respect for his past achievements to close the door on a legend. If I’m on the Chicago Bears…that success is not leaving town.

You could make a sound and moat-protected argument the Bears off-season began with the firing of Lovie Smith and subsequent hiring of Marc Trestman as his replacement. Both of those decisions will shape the Chicago Bears for the next half-decade and define the tenure of General Manager Phil Emery in the city of Chicago. But around here, on this blog, I have always believed free agency, roster moves and the draft should not be discussed until after the Super Bowl has been played. It is a gesture on my part. A show of respect for the postseason and the clubs in it. And hey, we have seven months to discuss roster decisions now. Seven months until the Packers or Steelers (I’d guess) travel to Baltimore to kick off the 2013 season.

Today will serve as something of a table of contents for the off-season as we take a look at the issues (major and minor) facing this organization. Each will be addressed in a large, long form piece as we move forward. Here are the basic questions:

• Does Devin Hester have a history in Chicago? Hester is a Bears legend and the greatest kick returner of all time but there seems to be a perception that he’s in need of a change of scenery. It makes little sense to me.
• How will Bears address their two most glaring roster needs: offensive tackle and tight end? Both positions should have serious options at the twentieth pick in the draft, especially Ertz and Eifert at the TE spot.
• Jake Long? At one time Long was the finest left tackle in the sport but he’s declined over the last year or two. Would the Bears be willing to overpay to upgrade their franchise QB’s blindside?
• How much will Phil Emery pay Henry Melton? With the Bears deciding to bring Mel Tucker to town and the 4-3 structure remaining in place, Melton’s worth in Chicago is still quite high. Will Phil Emery break the bank to sign arguably the game’s finest young defensive tackle.
• Will Brian Urlacher finish his career at Soldier Field? Urlacher made it clear he’d take a serious pay cut. Will the Bears offer him one?
• What does Marc Trestman need? We’ve evaluated the Bears offensive needs based primarily on the needs of the former regime but does anybody know the specific types of offensive talent Trestman needs to be successful? I surely don’t.

These are just the beginning of what will be a rejuvenating off-season for the Bears organization.