The Bears don’t like to use the word “rebuilding,” but their off-season focus on the offensive line and a running back is as basic as it gets.
The addition of free-agent runner Thomas Jones and offensive right tackle John Tait are familiar moves for a franchise that does a lot of running in place. Jones and Tait arrive because recent high draft picks Anthony Thomas and Marc Colombo haven’t.
A suitable offensive line and running game are a given for any team hopeful of winning half its games. Blockers and runners are the foundation of football regardless of coaching schemes or NFL trends.
So far this off-season, only one other team besides the Bears has signed both a running back and an offensive tackle in free agency. That’s the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who preferred ex-Oakland Raiders runner Charlie Garner over Jones and have added two starting tackles in San Francisco’s Derrick Deese and Carolina’s Todd Steussie.
The Bucs are dismantling the team Bears general manager Jerry Angelo helped build and are restructuring under coach Jon Gruden and new general manager Bruce Allen. Every team rebuilds from time to time. Some of them even win Super Bowls in the meantime.
The Bears continue to pay for their inability to land or develop offensive tackles and running backs over the last dozen years, including first- and second-round picks Stan Thomas, Troy Auzenne, Marcus Spears, Rashaan Salaam and Curtis Enis. Strangely enough, Spears could replace Tait in Kansas City.
When Jim Finks, the Bears’ first full-time general manager, took over 30 years ago, he started by drafting Walter Payton, then tackles Dennis Lick and Ted Albrecht in successive years. Before Payton left, Finks had to add two more No. 1 tackles, Keith Van Horne and Jimbo Covert.
Payton’s successor, Neal Anderson, enjoyed some outstanding years. The Bears got lucky with tackles James “Big Cat” Williams and free agent Andy Heck but haven’t put together much continuity among runners and blockers since Anderson left 10 years ago.
The New England Patriots have won two of the last three Super Bowls without a whole lot of continuity on the offensive line. But they did have high draft choices Matt Light at left tackle and Damien Woody at center or guard. And free agent Antowain Smith was their leading rusher the last three years, just as Thomas has been for the Bears.
The Patriots let Smith and Woody go this off-season, but they kept running back Kevin Faulk, who shared carries with Smith, and they will get injured tackle Adrian Klemm back. They “rebuild” every year. They had two rookies and a young, undrafted free agent on their offensive line in the Super Bowl.
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Chiefs persistent: Kansas City’s Lamar Hunt is a Hall of Fame owner who is getting ignored by his peers. Undaunted by last year’s rejections, the Chiefs have re-entered two proposals for significant change.
They want to expand the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams and change the overtime format to so both offenses get the ball. Neither suggestion is endorsed by the Competition Committee.
No exceptions: Rich McKay, Atlanta general manager and co-chair of the Competition Committee, said he hopes never to see exceptions written into the salary cap for veterans such as former Tampa Bay heroes Warren Sapp and John Lynch, who signed with Oakland and Denver, respectively.
“Any time you create exceptions, smarter minds will prevail and exceptions become multiple exceptions,” McKay said. “The NBA has become a [salary] cap of exceptions.”
Stewart in Buffalo: Kordell Stewart visited Buffalo, where he could be reunited with new Bills head coach Mike Mularkey and offensive coordinator Tom Clements, as well as general manager Tom Donahoe. All three were in Pittsburgh with Stewart.
“Obviously, I know the system,” Stewart said. “I guess you could say I was the guy who christened this offense in 2001. This is, obviously, a situation that is sort of a no-brainer. You want to be where you can land on your feet.”
“He’s probably, if not the best athlete at that position, he’s one of the best,” Donahoe said. “We would like to fill that position with someone who has some NFL experience.”
Stewart said he will continue to explore options. He also has met with Denver.
Although Stewart still wants to be a starter, he’s willing to accept the role as Drew Bledsoe’s understudy if he signs with the Bills.
“It’s not easy, but I think to get where you want to go you have to take a step back sometimes,” Stewart said. “To come in and help Drew out in this system, and being there if need be, would be a good situation.”
Bledsoe said Stewart, a longtime friend, would be a welcome addition.
“I tell you what, if he ends up here, it could be a lot of fun for us,” Bledsoe said. “He’s obviously a very talented guy. He’s a guy who has had a great deal of success in the league. To have him in here would add another dimension to our offense that I obviously don’t bring. We could coexist very easily.”
Chandler back: Chris Chandler has played for so many teams he’s starting over. When he played for the Los Angeles Rams, he visited St. Louis as one of the first Rams before the franchise moved. He was shipped to Houston before playing in St. Louis, but now he’s back with the St. Louis Rams.
In 1993, Chandler was playing in a golf tournament in St. Louis with Walter Payton, who was trying to land an expansion franchise in the city. Chandler met his wife, Diane, in St. Louis during the tournament.
“It’s really fun to look back and see how everything worked out,” Chandler told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Nobody expects the Rams to open the season with three veteran quarterbacks–Chandler, Marc Bulger and Kurt Warner–on the roster, although Warner agent Mark Bartelstein said the Rams have told Warner he will be there.
A Giant difference: They say the little things make the difference. New Giants coach Tom Coughlin will offer players breakfast and lunch during off-season workouts at Giants Stadium, but they will eat only in the cafeteria. No more hauling full plates into the locker room or lounge, as they did under previous coach Jim Fassel.
“Players want organization, they want detail, they want structure, they want discipline,” Coughlin said. “And they are the first ones to react in a negative way if they don’t have it.”