Bears' UDFAs.

[SportsWorld]

Free Agents:

QB Nick Hill (Southern Illinois)

[SportsWorld]

I like the Nick Hill signing. I got a chance to watch some Southern Illinois games this year and he really impressed me. I don't expect much out of him in the NFL though.

[Howling Mad]

I like Hill as well, but from what it sounds like, Hanie is the favorite to win between the two.

In other news: The Vikings are really making some good pickups. Besides their obvious pickups of Allen and BB, there are also some other impact guys. Madieu Williams and Michael Boulware should make some decent productions for them this year, plus Derrick Pope isn't too shabby.

Their only key loss in my eyes is at safety with Dwight Smith.

Now after all that, they nabbed the O-lineman I wanted, Drew Radovich. I really think he's going to be something good. Of course playing with the rest of the Viking offensive line will make him look better, not to mention he's going to be tutored by Steve Hutchinson, which he will eventually replace at LG.

Man o'man what a miss he was. I can't believe nobody drafted him.

Another UDFA they picked up, one of my favorites(I think SW as well), is UofI's Jeremy Leman. The guys is a machine. Good tackler and a no-nonsense type of football player.

I'm really really really scared of the Vikings.

[CBS7]

What a name for a placekicker.

[Howling Mad]

Plus its a adj that describes his kicking ability. Lol.

[Chewie]

Free Agents:


PK Shane Longest (St. Xavier)

[Friend_Of_Haley]

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I don't recall the Bears ever employing a kickoff specialist. Unless he's hitting it deep in the endzone consistently, I don't see the Bears using up the roster spot for someone in that role.

Yea, that seems like it'd be a pretty big waste of a roster spot. Still its good to bring in competition.

[CjayC]

Supposedly the winner of Hill,Hanie will be the 3rd QB,and the loser will go to the practice squad.

I've heard that Hanie was the favorite to win of the two,but you never know.

[Icness]

I prefer Hill to Hanie but truthfully I only saw CSU play once the last two years.

Joe Clermond also has the ability to long snap, or so his agent was selling. That might help him stick on a practice squad. He's real undersized and he lacks the explosion that undersized DEs need.

I heard they actually won a bit of a bidding war to sign Longest. Good luck to him--I met him in Indy and he's a good guy.

[Chewie]

Supposedly the winner of Hill,Hanie will be the 3rd QB,and the loser will go to the practice squad.

I've heard that Hanie was the favorite to win of the two,but you never know.

I wouldn't be surprised if the winner of that duel goes to the practice squad, either.

[CjayC]

Yeah you are right.

Somebody might get cut or the Bears might sign somebody so heh.You never know

[Cliff Levingston]

Good thing we signed a couple DE's and a couple CB's since we're so thin at those positions.

[blumeany]

Good thing we signed a couple DE's and a couple CB's since we're so thin at those positions.

Hey, it's not Bears season unless management unnecessarily makes Alex Brown feel like they don't need him, only to hang onto him anyway and for Alex to show up whoever they put in his place.

[Howling Mad]

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Hey, it's not Bears season unless management unnecessarily makes Alex Brown feel like they don't need him, only to hang onto him anyway and for Alex to show up whoever they put in his place.

So true.

[Ruben Douglas]

I like the signing of Longest. Gould is saying that he wants a new deal. To tell you the truth, I don't even like Gould. The guy can't hit anything past 49 yards. Bringing in competition is a good thing.

[TNBT]

I don't know about the other positions, but I like that we're bringing in some competition for Gould. I like the guy, and he's good at what he does, but he's far from irreplaceable.

[Howling Mad]

I don't mind Gould.

He's proven to be accurate as hell. Have you seen his pregame warmup? He lines the ball up in the spot of one of the pile-overs, then he doesn't quit until he hits the goal post 20 times. Its pretty impressive.

I'm sure you've seen it if you've been to a game.

I wouldn't mind that extra leg strength to cut through the wind, but Gould is doing just fine. Hopefully the competition puts him over the top.

[Chewie]

Yeah, I'm fine with Gould. Longest is there in case Gould prices himself out of the Bears range and to provide competition. If he provides Gould-like production on FGs and is better on kickoffs, it'll be an interesting training camp.

[Chewie]

More on Hanie from today's Sun-Times :

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/927523,CST-SPT-bear02.article

Free agent Hanie made wise choice

It would've been easy for Caleb Hanie to stay close to home and sign a free-agent deal with the Dallas Cowboys.

The native of Forney, Texas, grew up a Cowboys fan, after all, just on the other side of Dallas from the team's headquarters in Irving.

But like every other free agent with a dream of following the path taken by Tony Romo after he was undrafted out of Eastern Illinois, Hanie realized he needed to pick a trail that isn't blocked by Romo.

That brought him to the Bears and the three-day rookie minicamp that begins today, the first chance the team has to work with top pick Chris Williams. Hanie will be in competition with fellow free agent Nick Hill of Southern Illinois.

''I really weighed all the options,'' said Hanie, who started the last two seasons for Colorado State after spot action his first two years. ''Although it would've been nice to stay close to home, I just felt Chicago was the best situation for me with only two quarterbacks on the roster, and they're both on short contracts. The Bears told me they were only bringing one other free-agent quarterback in.

''Really, that's it. Just the opportunity to make the team this year, possibly, and advance my career as fast as I can.''

The Cowboys would've thought long and hard about drafting Hanie if they had a seventh-round pick. Instead, they put on a full-court press to sign him when the draft ended, but about an hour after it was over, he concluded the Bears were a better match.

Hanie passed for a career-high 2,455 yards and 18 touchdowns last season, completing 64.2 percent for a Rams team that stumbled to a 3-9 record. The issue most teams had was that he offset his 29 touchdown passes the last two seasons with 27 interceptions.

Scouts recognized what he had to work with, though. Colorado State's offensive line struggled last season. His junior year, top running back Kyle Bell went down with an ACL injury before the season started. He never had a running game to lean on.

''He did throw quite a few interceptions, but we thought that he was on a bad team trying to make plays more than making poor decisions,'' one NFL quarterbacks coach said. ''He didn't have a great team around him, and it looked like he was just a competitor, trying to make plays and give his team a chance to win more than having a chronic problem making bad decisions.''

While some analysts have criticized the Bears for not drafting a quarterback high, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. has raved about their pickup of Hanie.

[SLCceltic]

i just saw a replay game of hanie's jr year against colorado
big time rivalry game----hanie played very well, and looked like a serious prospect
i had never heard of him until we signed him

he is big and tough, with a laser arm-----not real athletic running or avoiding sacks
but i love this guy------he had no blocking/running game help at all and still made it happen


his game should translate to nfl very well
240 lb game managing qb with a dam good arm--------and plays passionately


i love the signing--------i can see this guy starting if rexy doesnt get it together
ill be surprised if he doesnt pass orton pretty quickly