Bears sign veteran cornerback Hayden

Even though Charles Tillman was voted to his first Pro Bowl last season, and Tim Jennings was re-signed last month as an unrestricted free agent, cornerback was still a position the Bears wanted to upgrade.

While Tillman has been a nine-year starter, he recently turned 31. The 5-foot-8, 185-pound Jennings has started 28 games for the Bears over the past two seasons, but he was benched late last season (although he regained his starting spot after one game).

Thursday afternoon the Bears fortified their secondary by agreeing to one-year contracts with veteran cornerbacks Kelvin Hayden and Jonathan Wilhite. If nothing else, the team has added depth and maybe created an interesting training camp battle between Jennings and Hayden, who were teammates for four years (2006-09) in Indianapolis.

Hayden, 28, is a Chicago native with 47 NFL starts. He spent his first six seasons with the Colts after being selected in the second round of the 2005 draft out of the University of Illinois. He spent last season with the Falcons, where he had 2 interceptions, giving him a career total of 11, to go with 41 pass breakups, 4 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. He also has 25 special teams tackles.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Wilhite spent his first three seasons with the Patriots (2008-10) after they drafted him in the fourth round out of Auburn. Last year the 28-year-old was with the Broncos and played in 15 games with two starts, making 26 tackles with 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 2 sacks and 3 special teams tackles.