Captain Angelo still setting Bears' course

INDIANAPOLIS - The reasoning behind the Bears' front office shakeup that began with last week's firing of pro personnel director Bobby DePaul remains murky, as does the new direction of the team.

"I haven't nailed anything down," general manager Jerry Angelo said Friday when asked about DePaul's firing after nine years. "Obviously I want to restructure. That's why I made that decision. I haven't cemented anything. I have some ideas. I'm really not focused on it right now because our focus is on the draft and free agency."

Speculation has been that Tim Ruskell, a long-time Angelo friend who left the Seattle Seahawks near the end of the 2009 season, will have a major role in the new-look front office. It was even erroneously reported on the Internet that Ruskell's hiring was a done deal. The Bears and Angelo aren't saying Ruskell won't be hired, but they're not ready to say that he will be.

"There's been a lot of speculation, wrongful speculation about a lot of things, particularly these last few weeks," Angelo said. "No decision has been made because I don't have a definitive direction yet on where I want us to be. I just know that we're going to do some restructuring, and when you make that decision, then obviously changes are warranted."

The timing of DePaul's ouster, two weeks before the start of free agency, seemed curious to many.

"There's never good time when you make changes," Angelo said. "I just felt like this was the right time, and that's what I did. It's about my comfort level, and I feel that where we're at going forward I felt this was in our best interests."

Pressed on the status of Ruskell's candidacy, Angelo would not be pinned down. Although the move may not be imminent, it still appears likely.

"I'll address it at the right time," Angelo said. "Tim Ruskell is a professional friend. I worked with him for many years in Tampa, so that obviously is going to be a logical connection. He's unemployed. When the time comes, we'll announce what we're going to do."

In the meantime, Angelo did not rule out a big splash in free agency, even though team president and CEO Ted Phillips said earlier in the week the Bears "would not go hog wild."

The biggest splash for any team this off-season would be the signing of Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers, an acknowledged difference-maker. That might require $35 million guaranteed in a multi-year deal that averages $16 million per season.

"We'll determine based on who the players are, how aggressive we'll be," Angelo said. "I think we've done that every year we've been here. Some years we maybe felt like we really had a need, and you're hostage to the position, and we did whatever it took and so be it some years. We've certainly targeted potential players, if they became available. Muhsin Muhammad was one, we said we'd make a run at it, he was waived and we were able to do that.

"We have the resources to do what we want to do."