If you had visited this site earlier in the month, you would know that there was some speculation the Bears were interested in ex-Lions running back Kevin Jones. In fact, Jones’ doctor even seemed to think the Bears were interested and after Cedric “The Designated Drunk Driver” Benson was waived following his second alcohol-related arrest in five weeks, it appeared the Bears could be in the market for another running back. Not so.

Jones held his workout yesterday in Saline, Michigan and what was originally touted to attract representatives from all 32 NFL teams, drew representatives of only four: Miami, Green Bay, Pittsburgh and Detroit. Also, Cleveland inquired about a tape of the workout.

By most accounts, Jones was fairly impressive but the biggest question is whether he’ll be ready to play come opening day. Jones underwent surgery to reconstruct the ACL in his right knee in January. The recovery period for such a procedure is said to be 10 months.

The Bears’ decision to skip the workout is just another sign they’re comfortable in handing rookie Matt Forte the reigns. Forte will be backed-up by Adrian Peterson, Garrett Wolfe and potentially P.J. Pope or Matt Lawrence if, in the unlikely event, Peterson is designated to Special Teams only.

Last night, I dreamt Nick Hill text-messaged me. Weird, right? 

In the dream, the former Saluki sent me some G-rated pictures – unlike last week; thanks, John McCain — but I really wasn’t sure why. Initially, I was taken aback that he even knew me and vice versa. After my dream evolved to Hill and I throwing the pigskin around, it became clear that I was good friends with a Chicago Bears quarterback. Niiiiiiiice.

Still, I think I’d rather be homies with Kyle Orton. Instead of sending me headshots and playing catch, he’d at least introduce me to vodka and hookers.

For the next couple of weeks, every couple of days, we’ll be profiling the players we think will be the most instrumental to the Bears’ success in 2008. Not in a racist way or anything. Although, one of the guys’ on our list last name is Brown.

What does that even mean?

# 10. Adrian Peterson                                            

No, not our Adrian Peterson. Hey, who said every player on this list had to be a Chicago Bear?

It’s almost a joke, but it’s not. Last year, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson ran wild on the Bears defense in their Week 6 meeting, gaining 224 yards on 20 carries and scoring three touchdowns. Even so, the Bears had managed to tie the game with 1:38 left when, you guess who, returned the ensuing kickoff into Bears territory, setting up Ryan Longwell’s game-winning 55-yard field goal. (more…)

Per sports betting Web site Bodog, the Bears are listed with 40/1 odds of winning Super Bowl XLIII and labeled as a “middle of the pack” team. Other teams with similar odds include the Cincinnati Bengals (40/1), Denver Broncos (40/1), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers(35/1). Not terrible company by any means.

Of the three other NFC North division teams, only the Detroit Lions have worse odds, listed at 65/1. Once again, take that, Jon Kitna!

With 8/1 odds each, the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers are the favorites to be playing in Raymond James Stadium come February.

On Tuesday, the Bears cut ties with possibly the best name on the team with due respect to Adewale Ogunleye.

Punter/kicker Shane Longest was signed as an undrafted free agent from St. Xavier in April. He led the NAIA with 27 field goals last season, but ironically, with 43.2, had only the third-longest yards-per-punt average.

Longest wasn’t just a good last name because of it’s obvious innuendo, it was an excellent last name because the dude was a kicker. Yet, it was not to be.

That’s what happens when a team already employs the highest-paid player at the position you’re trying out for.

Our friend Matt over at The Nasty Boys Sports Blog has tagged us in a blogger’s game, thus signifying that we do exist.

Here are the conditions, as copied from Matt, himself:

The Rules:

• Write your own six word memoir.
• Post it to your blog including a visual illustration if you would like.
• Link to the person who tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
• Tag 5 more blogs with links.
• Don’t forget to leave a comment in the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

It’s a tough thing to write a six-word memoir, seeing as nothing poetic is ever written in sixes. Anyway, here’s my attempt, touching upon the importance of family cohesiveness: (more…)

At a news conference this morning in Halas Hall, newly-signed Tommie Harris called his contract negotiations with the Bears businesslike and “classy.” 

In fact, Harris seemed to make the distinction between himself and fellow teammates Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs.

“I would never go out and talk about the Bears in front of the media or disrespect my team,” said Harris.

Maybe, it was Harris’ decision to keep talks private that eventually swayed things in his favor. If you remember, Harris rejected the Bears’ initial extension offer back in April. That deal was also believed to have made Harris the highest-paid defensive tackle in the league, but it was probably for more years than Harris was seeking. (more…)

Warning: The following content features gratuitous self-promotion, meandering bullsh-t, and a whole-hearted attempt to create any semblance of buzz for this, here blog. But I deserved it, so:

On June 8, proving that news is sometimes definitely slow, our post about Cedric Benson’s disappearing life with the Chicago Bears was featured at The Big Lead and made the front page of Yard Barker (exhibit A) – a site I’ve quickly started to love.

Yardbarker also did us a favor, and front-paged our post about the Bears possibly being a suitor of ex-Lion Kevin Jones three days later (exhibit B). At the same time, the Chicago Sun-Times had our post, calling Ricky Manning, Jr. expendable, on their Web site.

Best of all, I graduated from college on June 15. (more…)

Per ProFootballTalk.com, the Bears have signed defensive tackle Tommie Harris to a four-year extension worth $40 million. Harris will receive $27 million over the first three years, making him the highest paid defensive tackle in the league.

Better yet for Harris, the relatively short length of the extension ensures he will be in store for another big payday once the contract expires in 2012 — ala Larry Fitzgerald. Harris will be only 29 then.

Still, it’s good news for both sides. Harris gets the contract he wanted and the Bears retain arguably, when healthy, the best defensive tackle in the NFL.

If you listen close enough Tommie, you can hear the bank breaking.