Fox likes what he's seen of Fuller, Ratliff
INDIANAPOLIS - As the Bears begin the process of switching their defense from a 4-3 alignment to a 3-4 under new coordinator Vic Fangio, they're seeking building blocks for a strong foundation.
With free agency three weeks away and the draft more than two months away, construction has been slow.
Coach John Fox hasn't had a great deal of time to review tape from last season because he was busy hiring a staff, and now he's evaluating college talent at the NFL Scouting Combine. So Fox couldn't provide much of a list when asked for current players around whom a new defense could be built. He mentioned just two players - 2014 first-round cornerback Kyle Fuller and 33-year-old tackle Jeremiah Ratliff.
"I'd say Fuller is a guy," Fox said. "My evaluation is more from what he did in college, where we had him in the draft process, than it is completely on Bear tape. But I'd say a young guy like that (could be) a core guy. I think he has the right kind of tools to be a guy that can lean into that leader spot as he goes.
"Ratliff is still a good performer. He's been in the league for a while at a high level. That's just to name a couple, but we still have a lot more (tape) to look at and see where we put them."
Back in the day:
Two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Charles Tillman and seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs have been cornerstones of the Bears defense for more than a decade.
But both become free agents March 10, both have already played their best football and both finished the 2014 season on injured reserve. Tillman will be 34 next week and has played just 10 games in the previous two seasons - while Briggs is already 34 and has played in 17 games the previous two seasons.
Both have also expressed interest in continuing their careers with the Bears.
"We've talked to those guys," general manager Ryan Pace said. "They're great Chicago Bears. We're still going through that (evaluation period), just like all the other guys. It's a slow process. But we recognize great Chicago Bears, and that's going to be a big decision for us."
However those situations play out, they likely won't be as awkward as the take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum that former Bears GM Phil Emery gave eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher in 2013. That deal was for $2 million, with just $1 million guaranteed.
"I think any time you come to an organization and there's been guys like Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs - they've been great Bears and they've accomplished a lot - you know they've done a lot for our organization, our football team, as well as our city," Pace said. "You evaluate (knowing) they've been great Bears and they've got our ownership's and our organization's deepest respect."
Unfamiliar territory:
Coach John Fox can relate to last year's 5-11 Bears team - at least a little bit. His last Carolina Panthers team won just twice in 2010, the only time in 13 years as a head coach that a team coached by Fox won fewer than seven games.
"There's a lot of reasons that happens," Fox said. "I've been part of a 2-14 season. I think I've been blessed to not have too many of those, but it happens, and it's tough. I'm looking forward to fixing that; not so much how to evaluate what happened, because I wasn't here."