Bears boost defense with Harris' return

A lot of people have said for a long time that the Bears never should have traded safety Chris Harris to the Panthers during 2007 training camp for a fifth-round pick.

And now the Bears have seen the error of their ways.

Harris, 27, announced on his Twitter account early Tuesday that he would be traded back to the Bears, who drafted him in the sixth round in 2005.

The Bears confirmed the deal by midafternoon, giving up backup linebacker Jamar Williams to reacquire Harris.

"I'm excited. Chris was a good player for us when he was here last time," Bears coach Lovie Smith said on the team's website. "We know what he brings to the table."

In the past three years, Harris started 44 games, forced 12 fumbles, including a league-best 8 in 2007, intercepted 5 passes and made 184 tackles.

Williams, a fourth-round pick out of Arizona State in 2006, started three games for the Bears, including two last season.

Against the St. Louis Rams on Dec. 6, he filled in for Pro Bowler Lance Biggs and had a career-high 19 tackles. Williams also was one of the Bears' top special-teams players with 40 tackles in the past three seasons.

The Bears actually did well with the pick they acquired for Harris, using it to take cornerback Zackary Bowman in the 2008 draft. Bowman started 12 games at cornerback last season and led the team with 6 interceptions, nearly half the team total of 13.

The 6-foot, 205-pound Harris is expected to claim the starting job at strong safety, where he has become well known throughout the league for his physical play.

The Bears hope third-round draft pick Major Wright will compete for the free safety position, which has numerous contenders but no standout.

"This kind of completes our overhaul of our safety position," Smith said.

Harris started 20 games in his first two years with the Bears, including 13 at free safety as a rookie. He had 70 tackles, 3 interceptions and 8 pass breakups.

Harris was limited to 11 games and seven starts in 2007 because of injuries. He began the season at free safety but started the final five regular-season games and all three playoff games, including Super Bowl XLI, at strong safety, where he had an interception of Peyton Manning.

Since Lovie Smith became the Bears' head coach in 2004, there have been a total of 40 lineup changes at the two safety positions.

Harris is the fourth player the Bears have added to the secondary this off-season. They also signed free-agent cornerback Tim Jennings after he was cut by the Colts, and they drafted Wright in the third round out of Florida and corner Joshua Moore in the fifth round out of Kansas State.

"We're excited about some of our young players like Major Wright coming in," Smith said. "But we wanted to get a veteran player who has been around and who has played at the highest level.

"The last time Chris played for us, we were in the Super Bowl. Hopefully he can help us get some of that magic back."

The off-season additions leave the Bears with a glut of safeties.

In addition to Wright and Harris, the current roster includes five other players who have started games for the Bears at safety: Danieal Manning (38 starts), Kevin Payne (21), Al Afalava (13), Josh Bullocks (2) and Craig Steltz (2).

There isn't room for all of them on the roster, so at least one or two will have to go.