Will Bears go after Peppers to solve pass-rush woes?

When the bidding on free agents begins Thursday night at 11:01, five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers will be the most valued commodity.

If the Bears are serious about making a Super Bowl run they'll be a major player in the Peppers sweepstakes.

He's 30 but hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. The biggest knock on Peppers is that he takes plays off, but that's usually when he's double-teamed, which still frees up other defensive line members.

That's why Peppers is so valuable. He has had double-digit sacks in six of his eight seasons, forced 30 fumbles in his career, and his presence makes others better.

For all the talk about improving at free safety, the Bears' greatest potential for improvement is in their pass rush. They had just 35 sacks last season, only 24 from the defensive line. Signing Peppers is the quickest and surest way of improving the pass-rush deficiencies.

"We've determined what we feel our needs are," Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said, regarding the team's preparation for free-agent shopping. "We determine what positions we want to continue to create competition at, and we'll determine based on who the players are, how aggressive we'll be (in free agency)."

However, if a team such as Washington strikes quickly with a blockbuster offer to Peppers, the Bears probably cannot afford to go dollar-for-dollar with Redskins owner Daniel Snyder.

Less expensive options are the Titans' Kyle Vanden Bosch, who may not have much left in the tank, and the Packers' Aaron Kampman, who fits the Bears' 4-3 scheme better than the Packers' 3-4 alignment.

Vanden Bosch is 31 and has a total of 7 sacks in the past two seasons. Kampman is rehabbing from a torn ACL in his left knee that ended his 2009 season in November. He finished with just 3 sacks last season when he was moved to outside linebacker after the Packers switched to a 3-4 defense. But he had 37 sacks in the previous three seasons as a defensive end in a 4-3 scheme.

Failing to add a new defensive end, the Bears could re-sign unrestricted free agent Adewale Ogunleye, who has started for the past six seasons and led the team with 6 sacks last season but will be 33 in August.

At free safety, the Bears have a much better chance of adding an impact free safety in free agency than in the third round of the draft, even with fewer unrestricted free agents available because of the absence of a new collective bargaining agreement. This year players must have six years of NFL experience instead of four to be unrestricted.

"Obviously it's much more restrictive than what it has been in past years," Angelo said. "So it's going to be harder to predict, but we're certainly looking."

The Cardinals are expected to release Antrel Rolle rather than pay him $12 million this season, and he would be a huge upgrade for the Bears, but Arizona could still resign him.

A less expensive alternative would be the Steelers' Ryan Clark, who is also a free safety capable of covering a lot of ground. He had 3 interceptions last season, something that was missing from the Bears' secondary, especially the safeties, who combined for a grand total of 1 interception.

A lot of teams thought Darren Sharper was too old last year at 33, and then he tied for the NFL lead with 9 interceptions, returned 3 of them for TDs and was an integral member of the Super Bowl-winning Saints. Not as many teams will think he's too old this year, but he may be available at a reasonable price.

There are some big names available at running back, but the question is: How much do they have left?

The Jets will cut Thomas Jones rather than pay him $5.8 million next season, despite five straight 1,000-yard seasons. Last season he set career highs with 1,402 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. But there is concern the will start to wear down in a hurry. He'll be 32 in August and has averaged 297 carries over the past six seasons.

Jones, who was acquired from the Bears three years ago, rushed for 3,833 yards for the Jets, and since 2005 he is second in rushing yards to LaDainian Tomlinson, who was cut by the Chargers because his production no longer matches his paycheck.

Tomlinson still wants to be a featured back, but his skills have diminished to the point where he'd be more effective in a time-share. The question is whether he'd accept a contract commensurate with a part-time player.

Brian Westbrook? He's strictly a role player/third-down option and medical risk.

The Vikings' Chester Taylor would be a better move because it would weaken a division rival. Taylor, even at age 30, has plenty of tread left on his tires. However, if "Fast" Willie Parker shows he still deserves that nickname, he would give the Bears a home-run threat and complement to Matt Forte, who is not a game-breaker.

Angelo all but ruled out bringing in a veteran wide receiver because it would stunt the development of the youngsters who showed improvement last year and still have room for growth. So forget about old-times like Terrell Owens, Derrick Mason and Muhsin Muhammad, all of whom can play but are 36.

There isn't much offensive line help on the market. The Packers' 32-year-old Mark Tauscher would be an upgrade for the Bears at right tackle, but they're looking to get younger on the O-line, not older.