The Pecking Order...

     With the NFL Combine over, teams are now coordinating their scouts to attend college pro days, getting to work on their draft boards, and setting up their offseason strategies. The braintrust of the Chicago Bears have some hard truths to face if their going to compete for a Super Bowl next year...Here's the pecking order:

• Salary Cap
• Free Agency
• Draft Strategy

Salary Cap

     As it stands, the Bears have 12.9 million in cap space. Using the franchise tag on Melton will eat up 8.3 million of it. Without cap relief, Melton's tag would severely limit the Bears ability to look at free agents. If CHI cannot agree on a long term contract with Melton, they should look into some kind of compensation with the Nonexclusive Tag. But with Paea's ability to play the 3-Technique, letting Melton walk would not bother me one bit. Looking at Charles Tillman, he's in the final year of his deal and due $8 million. Extending Peanut 2 or 3 years, converting his base salary into a bonus, and spreading out that number over the life of the contract could increase CHI's cap to16 or 17 million.

Free Agency

     After solving cap space issues, Bears GM Phil Emery can begin to address team needs. With the amount of quality OTs available via free agency, he has to strike fast to obtain the player he likes the most. NYG has set the market for LTs with Will Beatty's 5 year $38.5 million deal. He was Pro Football Focus' 4th rated OT last year and the 3rd best OT entering free agency. Andre Smith, Sebastian Vollmer, Branden Albert, Jake Long, etc...The Bears cannot hesitate, not for a second. CHI has already tendered a deal to DT/Nate Collins and Pro Football Talk reported they are also in talks with extending LB/Nick Roach. DE/Corey Wootton also played well enough for an extension. No news on DE/Israel Idonije yet, but with all the youth on the D-Line, my guess is he's gone. What gets a lot of play in Chicago Sports Media but is actually a minimal issue is Brian Urlacher. In terms of importance, Urlacher barely rings more then a mention in this post. He'll either sign a minimal deal or he's gone.

Draft Strategy

     The Bears have picks in the 1st Round (20th pick) 2nd Round (50th pick) 4th (TBA), 5th (TBA), and 6th (TBA). As it stands, CHI has a chance to draft two starters and s/t players. Reaching for the 6th best offensive lineman in the 1st Round doesn't sound appeasing. WR, TE, DE will be the best players available at 20; the smart move may be to move out of the first round for extra picks in 2nd and/or 3rd. Coaxing MIA to swap their two 2nd round picks will set the Bears up with the 42nd, 50th, and 54th overall picks. Players that should be available to the Bears: TE's: Zack Ertz, Travis Kleece, and Gavin Escobar. OT's: Kyle Long, Terron Armstead, WR's: Markus Wheaton, Justin Hunter, Terrance Williams, LB's: Alec Ogletree, Kevin Minter, DL's Jesse Williams, John Jenkins, and Margus Hunt. SF now has two picks in the 2nd Round, JAX has high picks in 2nd and 3rd round; The 2013 draft could be a banner year for Emery, if he has the nerve and is a little creative.