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A couple years ago, people seemed to be tying this team's windo of opportunity to Urlacher's career and giving us just a couple three years to get it done while he was in his prime. To me, Angelo's drafting & free agent moves have extended this window. I see this bears team (even with injuries) competing at the top of the NFC for 5 years. Thoughts?

They will have to deal with offensive line replacements almost immediately or the window might close quite quickly.

Like this year if Tait and one other OL should go down with injuries.
And at most of their ages, recovery from serious injuries might be limited permanently.
Even without injuries, they must get some replacements in here within the next year or two.

I think Angelo has a chance of doing that with the roster and salary cap status the Bears have created for themselves.

Other than that, with just a little roster tweaking as they go along the Bears could enjoy a long run of good success.

I'd say atleast the next 5 years sounds about right...

Right now our only real weakness (if grossman and Benson are atleast decent) is the age of the O line.

Therefore that will be the main focus of next offseason, Through draft and Free Agency...

Defense is solid, special teams is solid, offense is solid...

I think we'll get a 3rd round pick if Briggs leaves, and if we somehow keep him that's a major plus.

The only other main FA is Berrian. Lock him up and we're set.

Outside of the O line, we're a pretty young team, that should be together for a while, and of coarse you can count on Angelo to do some Great Drafting along the way, atleast IMO...

Five years works for me, but depending on the moves Angelo makes, it could be longer.

I'm not as worried about the O-line's age. First off, O-linemen tend to play a long time. Brown's up there, but he's a freak of nature. Fred Miller is also older, but he's not exceptionally good and therefore more easy to replace. Tait's 32, Kruetz is 30 and Garza is 28 (though his knees are older). They've got some time on those 3. The Bears have spent 3 draft picks in the last 2 years on the O-line. I look for them to pick at least one OL on day 1 of the 2008 draft.

D-line is young and good.

I'm a believer that winning is all about the lines (our big fat guys moving their big fat guys). I think the Bears are in pretty good shape.

Grossman and Orton are young. Benson's young, as are his backups. Muhshin's old, but Bradley, if he can stay healthy, gives us protection there. Berrian's young, as is Hester. They have a number of interesting WRs in camp. Olsen takes care of TE for years to come.

Urlacher figures to be the man at MLB for the foreseeable future (he's 29). Briggs is gone after this season and I think that Angelo thinks that either Williams or Okwo can cover this. We'll see...this is one of the most immediate causes for concern.

Despite all the injuries, Mike Brown's only 29. D Manning is set to take over for Archuletta when he's officially done. Vasher and Tillman are young and signed long-term. Lots of good looking players as DB backups in camp.

I'm convinced that special teams will always be good with Angelo at the helm. He has a gift for this.

The Bears have a legit opportunity to win it all this season and contend each season for the foreseeable future. It doesn't hurt that the Lions, Packers and Vikings are all in full rebuilding mode.

We'll dominate the NFC North for many years to come. Therefore, we're going to be in the playoffs repeatedly, so I think we'll have a great shot at the Title for the next couple of years.

I'm good with five years.

Angelo and the front office have done a great job of locking up guys to long term contracts at bargain prices. Our future is looking bright, and the rest of the NFC North is looking at least 2-3 years away from becoming true contenders.

It is dependant on the development of Grossman and Benson.

The defense will be solid for many years. The offense still has many question marks (though I am hopeful)

key = rex