The Lockout is Over!

Day 136 of the NFL Lockout is the final day of the lockout. The players ratified the new CBA that extends through the 2021 season. If you don't know what ratify means you should probably go back to high school and take a government class. Anyway, the lockout is over and now the normal moves of the NFL offseason are going to all take place in a week or less. This week is going to be crazy with NFL news. 

The Bears news will be overwhelming. They have 13 Unrestricted free agents and two restricted free agents to sign. They also have five rookies to sign and they need to sign some other free agents out on the market. 

In my opinion, the first thing the Bears need to do is sign the rookies so they can start learning the system. Then, they need to sign their free agents. 

The unrestricted free agents are Garret Wolfe, Rashied Davis, Desmond Clark, Brad Maynard, Olin Kreutz, Anthony Adams, Brian Iwuh, Nick Roach, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Rod Wilson, Corey Graham, Josh Bullocks, and Danieal Manning. Not all of these players will be back next year, but the guys that will be signed need to be signed quickly. I think Davis, Maynard, Kreutz, Adams, Roach, and Manning will be back this year. The restricted free agents are Caleb Hanie and Eddie Williams. I think both of them will be signed. 

After all those signings, the Bears need to sign a wide receiver. They have been looking at Sidney Rice, Plaxico Burress, and Brad Smith. Any one of those guys would be a good addition to the team. I look forward to seeing what Jerry Angelo does. I hope he gets a receiver that actually plays well this season and will work well in the offense and with Jay Cutler. 

When all the signings are done, the Bears have to head to camp and try to get everyone on the same page for the season. The Hall of Fame game was already cancelled, so they don't have to worry about getting the players ready that quickly. They still need to get a lot done in a short time period. This season will be a mess. There will be a lot of pulled hamstrings and other muscle injuries because players aren't fully conditioned and that will make a lot of teams hurt. Hopefully most of the Bears players go to camp in shape and the Bears don't have to worry about that. 

This season will be a mess, but from what Greg Olsen has said on twitter him and other receivers/running backs have been working with Jay Cutler daily and hopefully are going to be better this coming season. I look forward to seeing how the lockout effects the Bears.