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 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 signed 26-year old WR Sam Hurd.  Hurd played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Cowboys last year and he had 14 catchers for 120 yards (8.6 avg).  He has now played in 65 games (5 starts) in his first five years in the NFL and he has caught 45 passes for 630 yards (14.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Hurd could be a nice late bloomer as he was buried on the depth chart in Dallas.

The Bears have signed 29-year old WR Roy Williams.  Williams played in 15 games (9 starts) for the Cowboys last year and he caught 37 passes for 530 yards (14.3 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  He has now played in 100 games (85 starts) in his first 7 years in the NFL and he has caught 356 passes for 5,208 yards (14.6 avg) with 42 TD grabs.  Williams made it to the Pro Bowl one time in his NFL career  (2006 with the Lions) and Mike Martz was the offensive co-ordinator in Detroit that year.  This signing seems like a perfect fit for me as Williams might ascend back to being a true #1 WR with the Bears.

The Bears have signed 27-year old TE Matt Spaeth.  Spaeth played in 14 games for the Steelers last year and he caught 9 passes for 80 yards (8.9 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 60 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has caught 36 passes for 275 yards (7.6 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  Spaeth’s game is run blocking and catching jump balls in the end zone as he is 6’7″.  He will replace Brandon Manumaleuna (he has been released).

The Bears have signed 27-year old punter Adam Podlesh to a 5-year deal.  Podlesh played in all 16 games for the Jaguars last year and he punted the ball 57 times for 2,496 yards (43.8 avg).  He only had 7 touchbacks (12.3%) and he pinned the opposing team inside their own 20-yard line 26 times (45.6%) which is outstanding!  Podlesh has now played in 59 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has punted the ball 229 times for 9,751 yards (42.6 avg).  He has also pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 75 times (32.8%) and he has 19 touchbacks (8.3%) in his career.  Podlesh could be the Bears’ secret weapon when the winds start swirling at Soldier Field.

The Bears have signed 32-year old DE Charles Grant.  Grant played in all 16 games for the Saints last season and he had 44 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 5.5 sacks and 1 forced fumble.  Grant has now played in 118 games in his NFL career and he has 424 tackles, 31 passes defensed, 47 sacks, 16 forced fumbles and 1 interception.  The Bears obviously signed Grant with the idea of starting him soon and he could help them as he still had a lot left in the gas tank for the Saints last year.

UPDATE:  (10/19/2010) – The Bears have released Charles Grant.  He came to the Bears out of shape so they didn’t have any confidence that he could help them any time soon.