By Vaughn McClure
Bears safety Josh Bullocks, a restricted free agent, signed the one-year tender offered by the Bears on Thursday.
Because Bullocks has five years of experience, the low tender for him is $1.226 million.
Bullocks adds depth to a position of need for the Bears. Coach Lovie Smith said the team needed to improve at safety, but the Bears were unable to do so when free agency started. They were negotiating with Antrel Rolle, who eventually signed with the Giants.
Bears safety Josh Bullocks, a restricted free agent, signed the one-year tender offered by the Bears on Thursday.
Because Bullocks has five years of experience, the low tender for him is $1.226 million.
Bullocks adds depth to a position of need for the Bears. Coach Lovie Smith said the team needed to improve at safety, but the Bears were unable to do so when free agency started. They were negotiating with Antrel Rolle, who eventually signed with the Giants.
Bullocks played in 12 games last season, starting four. He had 21 tackles and played well at the end of the season.
The Bears also tendered offers to restricted free agents Mark Anderson, Danieal Manning, Nick Roach, and Jamar Williams. Re-signing Manning would also help add depth at safety, although the Bears still might want to add another veteran or perhaps draft a safety in the third round.
Manning's agent, Russel Hicks, told the Tribune on Thursday that they are in no rush to sign the Bears' offer.
The Bears also tendered offers to restricted free agents Mark Anderson, Danieal Manning, Nick Roach, and Jamar Williams. Re-signing Manning would also help add depth at safety, although the Bears still might want to add another veteran or perhaps draft a safety in the third round.
Manning's agent, Russel Hicks, told the Tribune on Thursday that they are in no rush to sign the Bears' offer.
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No, he's not very good, but he may be the best safety on the current roster. They really need to find two safeties this offseason.
You can fill some needs thru free agency but not all. FS wasn't filled. The third round pick will be tried and free agency will be tried again after the June cuts.
Hahahaha, dream on Joe, nobody is going to offer second or third round picks for any of these guys. The highest rumored offer for Olsen was a 5th. As for Josh Bullocks, he wasn't suppose to ,ake the team last year but Lovie and Angie thought if the wished for it real hard Bullocks would become good. Angelo will wait for camp roster cuts before he does anything with safety.
People forgot what Angelo said about free agency this year. He said right after DePaul was fired that they already had a plan in place for Free Agency. They went after 4 guys and got three of them. But for a team that made a hard push for Rolle to suddenly not be on the market for a safety seems strange. Because Rolle was their plan, when they didn't get him the had no fallback plan which has been a regular problem for Angelo in the past. Bears have not shown the slightest intrest in any safety sense Rolle. Thats pretty strange for a team that doesn't have a first or second round pick and is in desperate need of a free safety. I don't think they know what to do, maybe they don't have enough money for a big name, if they think they are getting a star free safety in the 3rd round they can dream on.
Hopefully this move means they will stick Manning at nickel back since thats where he is best suited. We still have to do one of two things. Either we sign Atogwe to a poison pill front loaded contract that STL can't match. Or we sign the Colts released LG Ryan Lilja which will allow us to move Omiyale to RT to compete with Shaffer. That allows us to take the best corner or safety in the 3rd rd. Its a good year for corners and if they Bears find a good one they could finally move Tillman to free safety. Either way our secondary will get better with a good pass rush. SIGN LILJA so we have a legit left guard and a good 3 man rotation at O tackle.
The front office seems to be basking in the glow of their achievement in signing Peppers and Taylor OR in shock they pulled it off! Don't be surprised next year if the Bears are bottom dwellers in rushing and pass defense!
This is not a free agent signing. Bullocks signed his tender, so he at least has a chance to compete. IDC is right on this one. We offered him a tender as a restricted free agent to ensure we wouldn't lose him without a solution in place, and he decided to sign the tender rather than spend the next 2 months fishing for an offer from another team.
Odds are the rest of the league does not view him as a million dollar talent.
I would expect some of the other RFAs will start signing in the next week or so. Manning will be an interesting one, because of his value as a kick returner. A team might be willing to part with a third round pick for a guy who can return kicks and play any position in the secondary (granted, not at a high level, but when you have injuries, sometimes an athletic veteran is better than a street free agent). Anderson is another one who could get a few sniffs, especially from a team like Tennessee, who need to restock their DL. Odds are none of them will get offer sheets, but they may prompt phone calls to the Bears to gauge trade value. Would you give up a 4th rounder for a Pro Bowl kick returner? Or a 3rd rounder for a guy who has racked up 12 sacks in a season? Stranger things have happened.
The other DB's on the market would not sign the low tender he signed with the Bears. Besides, I thought he did a good job the last 2 games last season. If anything, stick him to special teams.
"Manning's agent, Russel Hicks, told the Tribune on Thursday that they are in no rush to sign the Bears' offer".
LoL why are the offers pouring in? Someone just offered you 1.226 mil to PLAY OUTSIDE. I know a really good mason that can have a brick wall put up for you in to time. I'm sure your agent can direct you towards it.
Why so serious?! Its just for the year and if he sucks at training camp the Bears can cut him and have no financial obligation to him.
Re-signing Bullocks will be one of the worst decision Angelo has ever made, especially at this critical jucture. If this move gurantees Angelo's exit, I'm all for it. It's his funeral.
This does not guarantee he will make the team. it's not a guaranteed contract.
He's coming to camp, and will have to earn a spot. If he plays poorly, he will be cut, especially at that salary.
Quit whining over every move.
I hopes the Bears find or draft a nice safety so SOMEOME can eat theses words: Manning's agent, Russel Hicks, told the Tribune on Thursday that they are in no rush to sign the Bears' offer.
Bullocks...seriously? Wow, for the good moves last week, really have to question this one. There are DBs on the market FAR better than Bullocks...unless you're looking for someone to whiff on a hit or tackle. Nice going Bears.