From PFT:

The Bears want to fix a mistake they made three years ago.

Panthers safety Chris Harris tweeted that he is headed back to Chicago in a trade. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune says the move could involve a veteran linebacker from the Bears.  Harris confirms the trade is not official yet.

Harris was dealt in 2007 for a fifth-round pick to open up playing time for Adam Archuleta.  That didn’t work out so well.

In Carolina, Harris had three workmanlike years, missing only four starts.  He may just be league average for a starting safety, but average would be a big upgrade for the Bears.

Expect Harris to start every game this season as he immediately becomes the best safety on the roster.

Is it really time to stop talking about hypothetical talent and start talking about things that might influence the 2010 season?  I think so.

The New York Jets, who released the nine-time Pro Bowl performer on Sunday, owe Faneca $5.25 million guaranteed. That money will have no affect on his contract with his next employer because as Andrew Brandt of the National Football Post reported, there is no offset in the contract. That means that the $5.25 million is pocketed by Faneca now instead of it being applied to his next NFL contract and funded by the Jets.

It’s similar to the big money quarterback Jake Delhomme collected when he was released by the Carolina Panthers and subsequently signed with the Cleveland Browns. Both Faneca and Delhomme are represented by Chicago-based Priority Sports.

Faneca has Ruben Brown written all over him.  We may not get more than a year or two out of him, but they’ll be a good year or two.

With rumors swirling about the possible trade of tight end Greg Olsen, Cutler talked up his good friend’s role in the new offense, too.

“One of (Martz’s) specialties is trying to find ways to create matchups for guys, and Greg is the ultimate matchup guy,” Cutler said. “You can put him on corners, safeties, linebackers. Once we get into this, and (Olsen) sees how many different ways we can use him, he’s going to be excited.”

Sometimes I feel like the lone voice on this issue but I’ll write every day that any efforts to deal Greg Olsen are misguided and will ultimately prove disastrous.  

There is really no point in evaluating the talent selected by Jerry Angelo and company over the last two days because none of us know what these players will become.  But one thing became very clear: the Bears know they need to play better defense.

Will Major Wright, Corey Wootton or Josh Moore step on the field in 2010 and make an impact?  For the sake of their jobs, Jerry and Lovie have to hope one of them does.  After the dismally disappointing 2009 campaign, the Bears have made limited changes to the defensive side of the ball.  Yes they acquired Julius Peppers but they fired Alex Brown’s heart in the meantime.  Yes they changed the coordinator but they decided to promote from within and give the Lovie Deuce one more shot to survive.

The Bears didn’t play bad defense in 2009.  They played the worst defense in the proud history of the organization – allowing teams to move up and down the field often without effort.  The clear holes were the pass rush, the second corner and the entirety of the backline.  If we believe the Peppers acquisition solidifies the pass rush, must we now assume that Wright and Moore have been brought to town to solidify the secondary?

Time will tell.  Camp is just around the corner.  And the question of the 2010 season might just be this: Did Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith save their jobs in the later rounds of the draft?

Terrific pick from the Bears.  Major Wright has tremendous potential at the safety position.

The Chicago Bears don’t have a role in tonight’s overhyped-to-the-point-of-insanity first round of the NFL Draft.  They don’t have a role in tomorrow night’s barely mentioned second round either.  And from the sound of Jerry Angelo, they don’t plan to change that:

”We’re out of that business,” Angelo said. ”I don’t want to get cute and keep borrowing from the future with picks because . . . it’s very difficult to guarantee the present.”

While I have no earthly idea what the hell “guarantee the present” means (and frankly I don’t think Jerry does either), I do believe this approach is the only way for the Bears to maintain any semblance of organizational stability.

Week 1 Sept 12 Lions at Bears

The Bears will open at home against the Lions.  They’ll travel to Detroit on December 5.

Per PFT:

The full NFL 2010 schedule hasn’t been released yet, but a few pieces of news are starting to trickle out, and one of them is the date and opponent for the Buffalo Bills’ annual regular-season game in Toronto.

The Globe and Mail reports that the Chicago Bears will play the Bills at the Rogers Centre on Sunday, November 7.

The report notes that this scheduling could be a cause for concern for the Canadian Football League: It will be the first time an NFL game is played in Canada before the CFL season is over. In fact, the 1 p.m. Bears-Bills game probably won’t be over before the Toronto Argonauts’ game at Montreal starts at 4 p.m. Eastern. 

The Bills played home games in Toronto in 2008 and 2009, but those games were in December, after the Grey Cup. This time the NFL is stepping onto the CFL’s turf before the CFL season is completed.

Addendum 5:39 pm ET  – The Bears will open against the Lions at home and play the Giants on Sunday night during Week 4.

For some of us, the announcement of the NFL schedule is something like an adult version of Christmas morning.  We start making travel plans, coordinate road trips and dissect each stretch of games to evaluate our team’s chances of making a run into the postseason.  The NFL will announce the entire slate of 2010 games on Tuesday evening, April 20th and Bears fans should pay attention.  Why?  Because their schedule is loaded with intrigue. 

I just finished my first player interview with Devin Hester.  I was nervous and took some time to get my feet under me but I’m looking forward to bringing you more of these all season long.