Bears Blitz

Published by Bob Warja on September 6, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Bears, like all teams, had to get down to a roster of 53 players, so they were forced to make some tough decisions about who to cut and who to keep. But did they make the right decisions?

Dan LeFevour

The Bengals picked up Dan LeFevour off waivers from the Bears. LeFevour was picked in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Bears.

As I wrote earlier in the week, the Bears should have either kept three quarterbacks or they should have kept LeFevour and cut both Todd Collins and Caleb Hanie. But no, they thought they could sneak the Central Michigan quarterback by and place him on the practice squad. Well, no such luck.

Look, I realize that Mike Martz prefers a veteran as the backup to Jay Cutler, but Collins is 38 years old and LeFevour is a kid who allegedly lacks arm strength but looked good in the preseason and who set records as a college quarterback.

In short, the Bears chose the short term over the long term. Meanwhile, what has Hanie ever shown anyone that justifies Lovie Smith’s confidence in him? Nothing, yet the Bears seem to like him over LeFevour and this may come back to haunt them.

This is a really bad move by Chicago, in my opinion. Why couldn’t they have placed Hanie on injured reserve and kept LeFevour?

Al Afalava

Among the 21 players cut Saturday by the Chicago Bears were their top draft picks from 2009, including safety Afalava. But with all of the injuries and question marks facing the Bears at this position, you would have thought that they could have found a spot for him.

Afalava started 13 games last season, recording 70 tackles and one forced fumble. and now he’s looking for work.

Meanwhile, with all the injuries to Major Wright and Josh Bullocks, you would have thought that the Bears would have wanted some depth at the safety position.

Further, Afalava is not practice-squad eligible, making this choice even more questionable.

Juaquin Iglesias

The Bears cut the 2009 third round pick but have signed him for the practice squad.

Iglesias looked good in limited play this offseason, but they risked losing him because of the depth at the wide receiver position.

Tim Shaw

The Bears also had depth at linebacker, but this one may come back to haunt them, as Shaw was picked up by the Titans.

Shaw is a good special teams player and with the way the special teams played this preseason it would seem that Dave Taub’s unit could have used him.

The Jets also submitted a claim for Shaw, but Tennessee has a higher position in the waiver process.

As the Chicago Sun-Times reported, “Shaw set a team record with 30 special-teams tackles last season despite playing in only 15 games. He lost his roster spot to Brian Iwuh.”

Offensive Line

These aren’t cuts, but they feed into other cuts that the team had to make. The Bears decided to keep five unheralded offensive linemen for Mike Tice to work with.

As the Chicago Tribune reported, “Johan Asiata and seventh-round pick J’Marcus Webb made it through final cuts, and guard/center Edwin Williams, guard/tackle James Marten and tackle Levi Horn were signed to the practice squad, giving the Bears 11 linemen out of 61 spots in the locker room.”

Tice has had success working with young linemen in Minnesota.

Jarron Gilbert

Gilbert is another 2009 draft pick who was cut by the Bears on Saturday, though he may be added to the practice squad, since one spot is still open.

As the Chicago Tribune reported, “Gilbert was claimed on waivers by the Jets, according to a league source, but they were awarded Cowboys defensive end Marcus Dixon, who they had a higher priority on. That made Gilbert, the 68th overall pick last year, a free agent. Both Iglesias and Gilbert are owed money by the Bears in the form of future base guarantees.”

Josh Beekman

As the Chicago Sun-Times reported, “In less than a year, the Bears’ fourth-round pick in 2007 went from Olin Kreutz’s heir apparent at center to the most logical candidate to start at left guard to being released in what might have been the most surprising move. Guard Roberto Garza will assume the backup center job.”

Perhaps the main reason is that the Bears kept both backup running backs Kahlil Bell and Garrett Wolfe.

Wolfe was kept for his special teams skills, but really, do the Bears need two backup running backs in a Mike Martz offense?

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