Bears not expecting big impact from free agency

Don't expect the Bears to make a big splash in the shallow free-agency pool when the signing period begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, even though general manager Jerry Angelo admits there are more holes to fill than in recent years.

"There are going to be more positions that we're going to have to look at this year in the draft and free agency," Angelo said. "We'll just see what we can accomplish. If nothing else (we can) create better depth and/or competition if we can't get a for-sure, front-line player."

Problem is, the Bears need front-line players if Angelo wants to avoid talk of "rebuilding," a word he abhors.

"I'm never going to say 'rebuild,' " Angelo said. "You'll never hear that word out of my mouth. We'll go through transition, we'll retool in some areas, but we're always going to put out a good product. And as long as we stay together as a team, if we don't get an inordinate amount of injuries at certain positions, there's no reason why we can't be a good football team."

With most of this year's marquee unrestricted free agents already re-signed to multi-year deals or wearing the "franchise" tag, the talent is sparse. Considering the Bears need a pass rusher, plus upgrades on the offensive line, at wide receiver and at safety, they can't fill all those holes in the draft. Still, Angelo doesn't appear eager to spend heavily in the free-agent market.

"I don't go into free agency with a sense of desperateness," he said. "We've created a plan. I feel better about what we're doing than I did a week after the season (ended) because we've had the time to evaluate the football team."

Regarding the quarterback situation, Angelo seems to be sending a different message than the one that went out shortly after the season ended. Back then the Bears were "fixated" on improving production at what Angelo called the team's most important position. Now it appears they will sink or swim with Kyle Orton.

"We all believe in Kyle," Angelo said. "We feel very strongly that Kyle's got a pretty good track record as a starter. We need to do some things to help him, and he needs to do some things to get better. (But) when you bring somebody in from the outside to create competition, to have potentially co-starters, that takes away reps from both guys, so that retards the progress potentially of both players."

If Orton plays the entire 2009 season as well as he did before last year's mid-season sprained ankle, the QB position won't be a problem area.

"I'm a big Kyle Orton fan," coach Lovie Smith said. "I like him leading our football team; he'll do that this coming season."

Will the Bears add to or alter the backup group of Brett Basanez and Caleb Hanie?

"We always like to keep our options open," Smith said. "We like what we have at the quarterback position."

There were only two big names among the unrestricted free-agent quarterbacks, and the Patriots franchised Matt Cassel, while the Cardinals are offering Kurt Warner more than $10 million a year to re-sign. That leaves a short list of players who might be able to improve the Bears' situation: the Steelers' Byron Leftwich, the Bucs' Chris Simms and Jeff Garcia, and the Bills' J.P. Losman. Of that group, only Garcia was a starter last season, and he turns 39 today.