Bears offseason overview — insider

Polian said he would have handled the Jay Cutler situation the same way the Bears handled it — keeping him as the starter, given the money guaranteed to him this season and the fact that there wasn’t a viable replacement option — but is anyone excited about the status quo at quarterback? Trading Brandon Marshall made sense under the circumstances, but did it make the Bears better? Vic Fangio was a good hire at defensive coordinator, but does Chicago have the personnel to run his base 3-4 scheme? It was an offseason filled with trade-offs, one reason the endorsements carried qualifiers. I guess they did well, Williamson said. Losing Marshall and getting White, adding a center, hiring a good offensive coordinator in Adam Gase — the offense should be pretty good. Going to a 3-4 on defense, I thought they might need 10 new starters, but now I look at their defense and do not think it is awful. They are not contenders, but I give them a B grade. Riddick was the only analyst to give the Bears an A grade. He loved McPhee’s addition and predicted the ex-Raven would rip it up in Fangio’s scheme. The coaching staff is star-studded with a lot of brain power in ‘Fanny’ and Gase, Riddick said. Whether Antrel Rolle can be the jack of all trades at strong safety in that 3-4, that is key. Eddie Goldman, if he can stabilize the nose, that is key. They are building it strong down the middle. I like how they have done it from the top down, GM to coach to coordinators and then strengthening the roster down the middle. Now, we’ll see if it works.