Orton receives 1-year extension

Kyle Orton, who will compete for the Bears' starting quarterback job on equal footing with Rex Grossman this season, agreed to terms on a one-year extension Monday that will keep him under contract through the 2009 season.

Orton, a fourth-round pick in 2005, has a 2008 base salary of $520,000, the last year on his original deal.

He has started 18 games in three seasons, with a 12-6 record, including 10-5 as a rookie, when he was pressed into service after Grossman was injured and Chad Hutchinson bombed as the starter in preseason.

Orton has completed 233 of 448 passing attempts for 2,347 yards, 12 touchdowns and 15 interceptions for a 62.2 passer rating.

He started the final three games last season after two years on the sidelines and completed 43 of 80 passing for 478 yards with 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a 73.9 passer rating while leading the Bears to 2 victories.

"Kyle did some good things at the end," general manager Jerry Angelo said. "I think he deserves the right to compete at the position."

Draft weak for safeties: The Bears may not have as many holes to fill on defense as they do on offense, but there is one position where they'd like to shore up their depth and that's safety.

Unfortunately for them, it doesn't look like they'll be getting any help there from the college ranks.

"The safety position, I think, is anemic," GM Jerry Angelo said of this year's class.

It's so weak in fact that there may not be any safeties drafted in the first round and perhaps just two or three taken on the first day.

"Maybe there's a little bit more concern (at safety) because you have younger players," Angelo said. "You have Brandon McGowan (24), you have Kevin Payne (24) back there, and obviously Mike Brown's still under contract. We feel good about Danieal Manning (25)."

McGowan finally stayed healthy for the first time in three seasons and started nine games last year, finishing sixth on the team with 80 tackles.

Payne missed most of his rookie season with a fractured arm but showed flashes of talent before his injury.

Manning started 15 games but was pressed into duty at cornerback for two games because of injuries, and that seemed to hurt his development at safety.

Brown, an eight-year veteran and a Pro Bowl pick in 2005, has missed 43 games over the past four seasons with a variety of injuries.

"Mike played exemplary football and never missed anything (his first four seasons)," Angelo said. "We gave him a new contract, (and now) it's hard for Mike to get out of bed in the morning and show up (so) we can count on him.

"But we feel good about the players that we have there, and we feel we can win with these players, even if we didn't do anything outside of what we have on the present roster."

More work to do: With a just-signed two-year contract extension through 2010, veteran tight end Desmond Clark will remain a factor in the passing game, even though it remains to be seen who will be directing the offense at quarterback.

"I always try to focus on the tight end position," Clark said. "We really can't be focused in on what the quarterback situation is doing because it's going to take away from my production."

With either Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton in charge, there is a level of familiarity, but that's just a start, Clark said.

"Just being familiar is not good enough," the nine-year veteran said. "We've got to get past that word because, if we just rely on that, then we're going to be in the same position that we ended up last year.

"Everybody has to step up, from the quarterback position all the way through the offense, the defense and the special teams."

The Bears' offense was 30th in total yards last season.

It's go time: Wide receiver Bernard Berrian, scheduled to become a free agent Friday at 12:01 a.m., has made no secret of his preference for quarterback Rex Grossman. Re-signing Grossman isn't enough by itself to get Berrian back, although it could help.

"I'm hoping it bodes well and makes it easier for Bernard to want to come back to us," Jerry Angelo said. "But we signed Rex because we wanted Rex. We want to sign Bernard because we want Bernard. If it works out that that facilitated Bernard wanting to be back even more, that's great."

Berrian's 2 longest receptions last season were delivered by Grossman, but all 5 of his receptions of 24-39 yards came from Brian Griese.

According to one Bears source, getting three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Tommie Harris signed to a contract extension is a higher priority than re-signing Berrian, Lance Briggs or Brendon Ayanbadejo, their three highest-profile unrestricted free agents. Harris has one year left on his original contract.