The Bears have signed 27-year old safety Brandon Meriweather to a 1-year deal.  Meriweather played in 16 games for the Patriots last year and he had 68 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, he recovered 1 fumble, defensed 6 passes and he had 3 interceptions.  He has now played in 64 games in his first 4 years in the NFL and he has 261 tackles, 12 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), defensed 27 passes, has 9 tackles for a loss, 5 forced fumbles, recovered 1 fumble and he has 2 sacks.  This is an outstanding signing for the Bears as players that have made it to two Pro Bowls in their first four years in the NFL rarely become available on cutdown day.

The Bears have released 31-year old RB Chester Taylor.  Taylor played in all 16 games for the Bears last year and he carried the ball 112 times for 267 yards (2.4 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 20 passes for 139 yards (7.0 avg) last year.  Kahlil Bell’s play plus the addition of Marion Barber in free agency pretty much pushed Chester Taylor out the door.  He should have played better last season, instead of sucking, if he wanted to keep his job in 2011.

UPDATE:  (8/29/2011) – Taylor hasn’t been released yet as the Bears are trying to trade him right now.

UPDATE:  (9/4/2011) – The Bears have officially released Chester Taylor.

The Chicago Bears have lost 24-year old DE Corey Wootton for the next 4 weeks due to knee surgery.  He injured his knee in the pre-season opener against the Bills.  The Bears took a chance on DE Corey Wootton who slipped to them in the 2010 NFL Draft because he was injury prone.  He played in 6 games for the Bears last year and he had 5 tackles and 1 sack.  Wootton still has a nice upside but it won’t matter until he can stay healthy for a while.

The Bears have re-signed 34-year old TE Desmond Clark.  Clark played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Bears last year and he caught 1 pass for 12 yards.  Clark has now played in 110 games in his first 8 years with the Bears and he has caught 242 passes for 2,639 yards (10.9 avg) with 18 TD grabs.  Don’t look for Clark to have a big role in the passing game for the Bears but they are still happy to have him back.

UPDATE:  (9/4/2011) – The Bears have released Desmond Clark.

The Bears have re-signed 27-year old linebacker Brian Iwuh to a 1-year deal.  Iwuh played in all 16 games for the Bears last year and he had 26 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and he forced 2 fumbles.  He has now played in 74 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has 109 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.  This was a smart move for the Bears as Iwuh gives them solid depth at linebacker.

The Bears have signed 29-year old center Chris Spencer to a 2-year deal.  Spencer played in 16 games (all starts) for the Seahawks last year.  He has played in 80 games (70 starts) in his first six years in the NFL.  Spencer will be the Bears’ new starting center as Olin Kreutz’ long career with the Bears appears over now.

The Bears have signed 25-year old DE Vernon Gholston.  Gholston played in 16 games for the Jets last year and he had 12 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  Gholston has played in 45 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 42 tackles and 3 tackles for a loss.  Gholston has been a huge bust so far in his career but I don’t blame the Bears for taking a flier on him.  They can just cut him if he doesn’t look too good in training camp.

UPDATE:  (8/29/2011) – The Bears have cut Vernon Gholston.

The Bears have signed 28-year old RB Marion Barber to a 2-year deal.  Barber played in 13 games (10 starts) for the Cowboys last year and he carried the ball 113 times for 374 yards (3.3 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 11 passes for 49 yards (4.5 avg) last year.  Barber has now played in 88 games (41 starts) in his first six years in the NFL and he has carried the ball 1,042 times for 4,358 yards (4.2 ypc) with 47 TD runs.  He also has caught 174 passes for 1,280 yards (7.4 avg) with 6 TD grabs in his NFL career.  Barber will bring a hard nosed power running game to the Bears when he’s on the field.  Look for Barber’s presence to lessen the burden for Matt Forte carrying the full load in the running game in 2011.

The Bears have signed 24-year old DT Amobi Okoye.  Okoye played in 16 games for the Texans last season and he had 44 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks and 1 fumble recovery.  He has played in 62 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 138 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 5 passes defensed.  The Bears hope that Okoye benefits from a change of scenery and I think it was a nice low risk/high reward gamble.

The Bears have re-signed 31-year old DT Anthony Adams.  Adams played in all 16 games for the Bears last year and he had 37 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 52 games in his first four years with the Bears and he has 128 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries and 2 passes defensed.  It was a smart move to bring Adams back as he has been a solid player for the Bears.