Angelo; QB situation 'not solved yet'

INDIANAPOLIS -- By giving Rex Grossman a one-year contract, GM Jerry Angelo knows the Bears are still a long way from the solution to their quarterback dilemma.

"We haven't solved it," Angelo said. "With one-year deals, you're not solving anything. You're still in the hunt, so to speak. We certainly feel good about the people that are contending at the position, but it's not solved yet."

That means the Bears, who pick 14th, will be on the lookout for a quarterback in the draft, and it wouldn't be shocking to see them address the position as early as the second round. Boston College's Matt Ryan could go No. 1 overall, and many teams consider Louisville's Brian Brohm a first-round talent. But Michigan's Chad Henne, Delaware's Joe Flacco and Kentucky's Andre Woodson could be available from the mid-second until the mid-third round.

"We're still going to look at that position," Angelo said. "We always look at that position every year. We've talked about four (quarterbacks this year). We're really going to look at the quarterback position as hard as we look at any position. We've got to get the quarterback position stabilized. You can never have enough good quarterbacks."

Still talking: Agent Drew Rosenhaus represents the Bears' three highest profile unrestricted free agents -- linebacker Lance Briggs, wide receiver Bernard Berrian, and linebacker/special teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo -- and he doesn't expect the Bears to re-sign any of them before free agency begins Friday.

But Rosenhaus hasn't dismissed the chances of any of them returning to the Bears.

"I would say at this time I would project that those guys would at least get to free agency, or at least the beginning of it," Rosenhaus told a media throng gathered in a hallway of the Indianapolis Convention Center for an update on his vast stable of high-profile clients.

"But the Bears are going to be in the mix as we continue to talk with other teams. We're going to have a good, healthy dialogue with (the Bears)," Rosenhaus said. "Ongoing discussions is the best way to describe it. I met with Jerry Angelo, (lead contract negotiator) Cliff Stein and (director of pro personnel) Bobby DePaul Thursday. We're working on all those deals."

Longtime fan: When he was the head coach at the University of Illinois, Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner successfully recruited Rashard Mendenhall from Niles West High School, although Turner was fired before Mendenhall enrolled.

Turner wouldn't mind finally getting a chance to have the highly rated running back contribute to his offense, although he's almost a lock first-round pick.

"I liked then what I like now: his size, his speed, his instincts, his feel for the game," Turner said. "He was a great, great player in high school. I think he was rated the second- or third-best back in the country coming out. He didn't get a lot of publicity because he had committed to us so early (as a junior). He has great speed, great power, everything you look for."