Grossman not finished yet

INDIANAPOLIS -- Quarterback Rex Grossman will be back with the Bears for at least another season after he agreed Saturday on one-year deal, six days before he was eligible to test the market as an unrestricted free agent.

But, for the first time in four years, Grossman is not returning as the clear-cut starter. Instead, after back-to-back inconsistent seasons, he will compete for the No. 1 job with last year's No. 3, Kyle Orton.

Grossman's deal provides for a 2008 salary of $3 million with incentives that could pay him $2 million more if he wins and keeps the starting job throughout the season.

The return of 10-year veteran Brian Griese, Grossman's top backup the past two seasons, is doubtful.

Griese's release could be imminent, since he's due a $300,000 roster bonus March 4 and has a base salary of $1.4 million this season. The Bears are expected to draft a quarterback in April and also could sign another in free agency, which begins Feb. 29.

But the battle for No. 1 will be between Grossman and Orton.

"He's ready to go, and he's excited and looking forward to the opportunity," said Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner, who was in the RCA Dome evaluating quarterback talent at the NFL scouting combine when he got a call from Grossman early Saturday afternoon.

Grossman had been the Bears' starter, when healthy, in each of the past four seasons, until he was benched early last season following three poor starts.

He was reinstated late in the season and showed significant improvement. A ruptured ACL caused him to miss the final 13 games in 2004, a fractured ankle knocked him out of the first 14 games in '05, and a sprained knee kept out of the final three games last season, which gave Orton an opportunity.

Turner said Grossman had no qualms about having to compete for the job.

"He's fine," Turner said. "Nothing else was ever discussed. I've talked to him several times, and we've talked about (competing for the job). I said, 'Come in, sign with us and compete for a job,' and he said, 'That's great.' "

The 2003 first-round draft choice helped lead to Bears to Super Bowl XLI, but he pingponged between exceptional performances and disastrous outings. He lost the job to Griese last season but played with more consistency and fewer errors when he returned to the starting lineup for four starts late in the season.

Grossman has a 19-11 (.633) regular-season record, including 13-3 in 2006. He has completed 489 of 900 career pass attempts for 5,907 yards, 31 touchdowns and 33 interceptions for a 70.9 passer rating.

Grossman had 4 TD passes and 7 interceptions last season for a passer rating of 66.4, which was 32nd among 33 quarterbacks with enough attempts to qualify for the league rankings. He threw just 1 TD against 6 picks before being benched with a passer rating of 45.2. But he rebounded with an 80.2 passer rating when he returned, throwing for 3 TDs and just 1 pick.

In Grossman's seven best games in the Super Bowl season, he threw 18 touchdown passes and only 1 interception. But in five nightmarish outings, he had a total of 1 TD pass and 16 interceptions.

If he doesn't show that he has moved beyond the mistake-prone games that have hindered his progress, Grossman's days in Chicago will be over before the end of next season.

"The consistency is what you want to see," said Bears general manager Jerry Angelo. "We saw some really great moments in '06 with Rex. He hit a little bit of a tailspin at some point(s). No big deal; (it was his) first (full) year as a starter. That's very understandable.

"We felt it behooved us to continue to take a look, feeling very confident about Rex going into the '07 season. It didn't work out the way he wanted or we wanted.

"When he came back (after the benching) and had time to reflect, he started to show some very good things in terms of consistency. He got hurt at the tail end, but the silver lining is we got a chance to take a look at Kyle, and Kyle showed some pretty good things."

Orton, a 2005 fourth-round draft pick from Purdue who had a 73.9 passer rating starting the last three games in 2007, will be in the final year of his original contract.