Basanez excited about opportunity with Bears

Two days after the regular season ended, general manager Jerry Angelo said the Bears were "fixated" on getting the quarterback position stabilized.

On Tuesday, they made their first off-season move at that position, signing Arlington Heights native Brett Basanez to a two-year contract.

"It's a great opportunity," Basanez was quoted as saying on the Bears' Web site. "It's a good system, and I really feel like this organization is giving me a shot to come in and fight for a (roster) spot, and that's really all you can ask for."

Basanez, now 25, was the USA Today Illinois player of the year in his senior season at St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, when he threw for 39 touchdowns and 2,876 yards.

He started 46 games at Northwestern, including 40 in a row, and was the Big Ten offensive player of the year in 2005.

Basanez broke 32 Northwestern career records, including career passing yards (10,580), total offense (11,576 yards), completions (913) and passing touchdowns. He came up 4 rushing yards shy of becoming the first quarterback in NCAA Division I-A history to finish his career with 10,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder was rated the ninth-best quarterback in Pro Football Weekly's 2006 draft preview, one spot behind the Vikings' Tavaris Jackson and one spot ahead of the Browns' Bruce Gradkowski.

But Basanez went undrafted partly because he lacked ideal size and arm strength, although he signed as a free agent with the Carolina Panthers and spent the previous three seasons there.

Playing behind Jake Delhomme and Chris Weinke in Carolina, Basanez spent most of the 2006 season on the practice squad but played in his only NFL game, completing 6 of 11 passes for 56 yards with an interception and a passer rating of 30.9 in a 37-3 loss to the Steelers on Dec. 17.

He spent all of the 2007 regular season on injured reserve after suffering a torn ligament in his wrist in the preseason, and he was on the Panthers' practice squad last season.

"It really is about being patient," Basanez said. "You've got to look at someone like Tony Romo (undrafted out of Eastern Illinois in 2003). No one hears about him for four years, and then all of a sudden he blasts on the scene, and now people argue that he's one of the best in the league.

"It's about the opportunity and just a bit of luck trying to get that shot, and when you get that shot being ready to take advantage of it."

With Rex Grossman's departure imminent, Basanez, for now, will be competing with Caleb Hanie for the backup spot behind Kyle Orton.

But the Bears are still expected to add a veteran quarterback in free agency, which begins Feb. 27, and/or in the draft, April 25-26.