Dan Pompei at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions:
“Any chance the Bears make a run at Sidney Rice in free agency? Other than the outside chance A.J. Green or Julio Jones fall to the Bears, their draft picks will be tied up in the offensive line for the first two days. Acquiring Rice kills two birds with one stone: You get a top-flight receiver and the big target [Bears quarterback Jay] Cutler needs, and you take him away from the Vikings. And, you spend your picks to build a strong O-Line. What do you think? — Tyler Coppock
“Interesting thought Tyler, but I think it’s a real long shot. First off, I doubt Minnesota will let Rice go. I think they’ll do what they need to do to keep him. If the Bears are going to make a big splash in free agency again, and that’s a big if, I doubt they will do it with a receiver. They like their receivers. They have bigger needs–at offensive line and defensive line. In fact, Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards might be a better fit. Remember that name. And one more thing–I don’t think Rice would be an ideal fit in Mike Martz‘ offense.”
I find Pompei’s priorities to be interesting.
I’ve talked to a lot of fans and I can say that not many are going to want to hear that the Bears like their receivers after watching them get physically dominated by the Packers. Personally I am not so sure after one game but it is obvious that they didn’t do well against the press coverage. And I’ll say it out right: Johnny Knox just plain gave up. You could see it in his eyes. He was a beaten man.
I’m all in favor of making the line of scrimmage a priority at any time. I am firmly of the belief that is where games are won and lost. Pompei may be thinking that Ray Edwards could dhave the same impact for the Bears that ke did for the Vikings opposite Jared Allen. But with the addition of defensive end Julius Peppers I would have thought that the Bears would continue to try to get by on the defensive line with guys like the ones they have at the other positions. True, if the right guy falls to them in the draft, they’ll grab him. GM Jerry Angelo likes to leave himself flexible enough going in to where he’ll feel comfortable taking any position with the top pick.
But I’m not sure they’re going to spend a lot more money on the defensive line. I would have put defensive back as a higher priority and I’ve a feeling that we’re going to find out just how high that priority should be in the playoffs.