Archuleta

So the Bears traded a 6th round pick for Adam Archuleta yesterday. My reaction is tentatively positive. The guy was a stud in St Louis, has experience in a cover-2 system (he played under Lovie the first 3 years of his career) and is going to come over relatively cheaply (3 years $8 million is the ballpark number).

I just hope he isn't viewed by the organization as a cure-all for our issues at the safety position.

We should still keep Mike Brown. When the guy is healthy, he is the emotional leader and backbone of the defense. Some have written that he might be cut for cap reasons, but his cap hit is only about $2.5 million, which to me is a bargain for a solid veteran on a team well under the cap like the Bears. Regardless of who starts, and how that position shakes out, he is too valuable as a presence, and too good when healthy, to cut him for a net cap savings of ~$2 million, when we're $10 million plus under the cap, and there are no premiere free agents left to spend big money on.

We still need to develop Danieal Manning. The guy is the fastest safety I can remember in a Bears uniform, he hits like a freight train when he gets a guy teed up, and he seems to have a good head on his shoulders. I put the blame on him for his blatant blown coverage on Reggie Wayne's long TD in the Super Bowl (he double teamed a guy going over the middle and let Wayne loose deep, when he should have picked him up since the corner released him to play up). But overall, he had a pretty good season, especially considering he was a rookie from a small division II school in Texas, playing in a big, cold, northern city with a huge fan base and media following. He started almost every game, and you almost never heard his name mentioned on passing plays, which is a positive for a defensive back. He seemed to lose a little ground later in the year, but the overload of his first 16 game season plus playoffs, combined with the lack of on-field leadership at the safety position, were the main reasons for that. Hopefully, now he'll adjust well to the longer season since he's been through one, and Archuleta and Brown can provide the veteran leadership on the field that will help him continue to develop.

Chris Harris needs to be moved to special teams, where he can blossom. He has filled in nicely as a spot starter at the safety position, but the fact is he is too slow to be a truly effective free safety over the long haul, and he is too often out of position and too often misses making a sure tackle because he tries to make the highlight reel. Those hits are great the 3 times a year he connects, but the other 10 times he whiffs and gives the opposing offense an extra 5-10 yards. He is not starting NFL safety material IMO, but as a 4th safety, he's pretty good. Additionally, his wreckless, big-hitting style lends itself to action on special teams, where he will be sorely needed now that Todd Johnson and Cameron Worrell are gone, and that Adrian Peterson's role on special teams may be diminished due to his probable increased role on the offense.

So I'm glad we got 'Arch,' but I hope that Jerry Angelo keeps in perspective that this is a great signing to COMPLEMENT out current safety corps, not to replace any one of the 3 remaining parts, all of whom have an important role to play on this team.

MIKE ADDS: Arch will be a nice addition to the team, and Mike Brown is still a keeper. Here's where your man Angelo can earn his ranking on the best GMs list, Pat. He's got to draft well this year to replace the guys who've left - and there's a lot of them.