ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

The Bears stayed true to their word. They traded Brian Griese to Tampa Bay for a 2009 draft pick. I wonder if the Bucs were dumb enough to give us anything higher than a 6th round pick. Our friendly neighborhood Goose has been crying in his beer all day since getting the news that Griese is back with Gruden and company. The question remains, what does this mean for the Bears?

You can't go far online without running into an analysis of this year's free agent market. I ran into a column by Yahoo! Sports writer Jason Cole. He breaks down the winners and the losers so far in "early free agency". Three guesses what he said about the Bears? That's right kids, we are losers. The loss of Moose, Berrian and potentially Rasheed Davis to free agency will leave the Bears with no one at wide out. Cole says what we are all thinking in Chicago. We're left with Hester, and Hester has never in his career been able to grasp the wide receiver position. He's good for a few deep catches next year, but I don't think we can realistically expect this kid to do much on offense. He can out run anyone on the field, but can he shake anyone off the line if they jam him? Can he adjust to the painfully bad throws both Grossman and Orton will be making to him? I was nervous enough coming into the draft without having to worry about free agency. Now I'm stuck wondering if I should step up the campaign to sign Davis, or worse still Brandon Llyod. I have a better idea, maybe we should go after Javon Walker. Let's hurry before he resigns with the Packers.

Let me get back to Griese. This trade is curious to me. I think he's a good veteran quarterback to have on your roster. Especially if you have young guys like Orton and Grossman on the team. But there is no way Angelo would have gone into next season with the same 3 guys. You have to shake things up, and keep market sobriety in mind too. The Bucs, in my opinion, get a quarterback that can take over for an aging Jeff Garcia and he'll do a better job than the other 10 quarterbacks Tampa Bay seems to have under contract. (Jake Plummer?! Chris Simms?! Really?) As for the Bears, the message to Orton and Grossman is clear. (It took me awhile to admit this)

It is a true open competition at QB. If the 1 year, identical extensions for both Orton and Grossman doesn't ring your bell, then maybe the Bears will have to draft a quarterback to eliminate that fog. I'm just hoping they don't do it until at least the 3rd or 4th round. Bear Down....and almost out.