What position will Kyle Long play at next season?

INDIANAPOLIS - Left tackle is the most important position on an NFL offensive line, and the Chicago Bears have some decisions to make at that spot.

Ideally any move will be made more than a week before the start of the regular season, which is when Kyle Long was switched from right guard to right tackle last year. Long, a two-time Pro Bowl pick at guard, eventually adapted well enough to make it 3-for-3, when he was added to the game as an injury replacement at tackle. He could be moved again this year - to left tackle.

Charles Leno, the Bears' 2014 seventh-round pick, started 13 games at left tackle in an up-and-down season after opening-day starter Jermon Bushrod was hurt in Week 3.

Long's move to left tackle is already being discussed, and he has the athleticism to make it work, especially if he has an entire off-season to prepare. But left tackle is the best fit for Leno, so keeping Long on the right side is an option, considering good teams usually require two dependable offensive tackles in the pass-heavy NFL.

"The main thing with Kyle is we need to make this decision after the player-acquisition period is over and try to leave him at a certain spot," GM Ryan Pace said. "It's easy for him to go back to guard. It would be harder if we put him at guard and then put him back out at tackle. We've just got to put him in a spot and let him grow there.

"We all love his position flexibility. But I'm confident in Leno. I thought he got better as the season went on, and I think Leno is a natural left tackle. Our goal is to acquire the best players and let it all sort out and start the best five."

Moving on:

Coach John Fox doesn't sugarcoat his first season in Chicago, but he's also quick to point out where improvements have been made.

"We were last (in the NFC North)," Fox said. "We were 6-10. That's reality. I think we were competitive. I don't think there were too many off-kilter games.

"We were one of the older rosters in the league and became one of the youngest in one season. We're in good position with nine (draft) picks."

The Bears have one pick in each round with the exception of Round 6, where they hold three picks. They also have in the neighborhood of $55 million in salary cap room.

"We've got way better cap room this year than last, not that that means we're going to go crazy," Fox said. "This is about evaluating and decision-making, and we need to do very well this off-season."

Pace will go into draft weekend with more options than in his first season, when he had just six selections.

Back burner:

Tight end Martellus Bennett wasn't happy last season when his role as a pass-catcher dwindled, and he also missed five of the final six games with a rib injury.

Bennett's receptions dropped from 90 in 2014 to 53 last year, and his receiving yardage plummeted from 916 to 439, his yards per catch from 10.2 to 8.3 and his touchdowns from 6 to 3.

He has a year left on a four-year, $20.4 million contract.

"I talked to him right at the end of the season, (but) I haven't talked to him recently," Pace said. "He's under contract. We have a lot of players that aren't under contract, so that's where our focus is right now."