Loyalty Rewarded With Securrity

No that's not a typo, you just have to know how to say it. While the Bears have yet to get anything accomplished with their three most coveted upcoming free agents (see Where Do We Go From Here? which, yes, is named after a Yung Berg song that does NOT feature Tony Loco), they have shown their gratitude to Desmond Clark on Sunday in the form of a two-year contract extension. This means that Des will be around at least until 2010. He deserves it for a couple of reasons. First, he has been one of the Bears' more productive receivers over the last few years. Secondly, and more importantly he has been loyal. When the Bears used their first round draft pick on tight end Greg Olsen last year, Des could have seen it as an insult. He could have seen Olsen as a threat to take his position. Instead, he noted the work ethic that Olsen brought to the table and became a mentor to him. Clark has been pivotal to the development of Olsen, and signing this extension means that he will continue to be. Another reason why he wasn't threatened by Olsen is because they are two different kinds of tight ends. Olsen does not have the size that Clark does, but has incredible speed. Because of this, he's not expected to be the greatest blocking tight end. Clark on the other hand, has more size and less speed. While he's not the best blocking tight end in the league, he does a better job clearing some lanes out front for the RB. The combination of Clark and Olsen worked well last year. They were one of only two pairs of TEs to each have over 350 yards receiving. This year they may be one the field together, as the Bears should use some two TE sets. Whether they will both be lining up in on the line, or Olsen is brought out wide to the slot, these two will cause some mismatches. when they're on the field together. With Grossman most likely going to be taking the snaps next year, he will look to get the ball to Clark a decent amount. He has yet to really click with Olsen, but with the Bears returning a solid pair of TEs this year, he should be looking over the middle more often than he has in the past.


The Bears also rewarded the loyalty of Kyle Orton today by signing the neckbearded QB to a one-year extension. Orton could have bitched and moaned by being replaced after going 10-5 as a rookie, but he kept relatively quiet about it. My guess is he realized he didn't actually earn those wins, but rather was along for the ride. Now while I'm not a Kyle Orton fan by any means (I mean he did go to lame ass Purdue), and I'm certainly a big Rex Grossman lobbyist, I think this extension is a good move by the Bears. It lets him know that Bears are serious enough about giving him a chance to be the QB of this team without locking him down in a long-term contract. If Grossman has the year I expect him to, he will be rewarded with the long-term deal, and Orton won't be stuck being a backup past 2009 (unless he's moved into another backup job on a different team). PAB-it-up-arm Brian Greasy is due a decent-sized salary bonus in March, which he doesn't deserve, and will likely be cut by the Bears within the next few days. So if Orton somehow outshines Grossman during camp (fat chance) and goes on to have a solid year, then he will likely be offered a longer extension. Regardless, if Grossman ends up injured again this year, I'd much rather have Neckbeard come in than a guy who looks and acts like Bill Lumbergh.