Jerry Angelo, you need to be gone along with the rest of the front office. I don't like Lovie Bear, but the problem lies well above his head.

As a Packers fan that lives in the Chicago area, I could not be more thrilled with the course of events.

The word "dysfunctional" comes to mind when I think of the Bears front office.

Olin shouldn't have had his agent go public with the $500,000 figure...Trying to embarrass the front office like that was wrong, not to mention the precedence it sets if the front office had acquiesced to it..especially when it was reported that the guy didn't even have an offer from another team..Olin overplayed his hand... doubt he gets 4.5 from some other team now.

Having said that, I agree with you Matt that at this stage of his career Olin was worth more than his play dictated especially to the Bears...too bad it went down like this I enjoyed watching Olin but his play has really dropped off the last couple of years.. hope he comes back strong with another squad...

I have disagreed with JAs moves before but I actually think the rest of his moves this off-season have been good...we shall see if the $500,000 goes to some other good player or Virginia's pockets, not to mention I am sure they saved a couple of bucks on Spencer's deal... How bout putting those extra bucks plus a few more and draft pick towards Carl Nicks ? I bet that would make folks forget fairly quickly about Olin.. GO BEARS !!

The Bears are done. Time for them to start rebuilding that D - because any more than 6 wins would be a shock this year.

Hey Matt,

You don't really think the Bears let Kreutz go because of half a million dollars, do you? Sure, I can understand the leadership argument and all, but the guy had to be replaced eventually, and his leadership didn't help much last year, IMO. All the bobbleheads called Chicago's OL the worst in the league last year so it's not like Olin was irreplaceable. At the very least, you're putting 20 more pounds between Suh, Raji, and your QB. I'm not a JA fan at all, but I can't knock a move they have made this offseason.

As a long time Bears fan, I don't see what's the big dea. He was obviously on the downside of his career. They gave up a boat load of sacks under his "leadership." Worst case scenario...another boatload of sacks. Made it to the conference title game with the worst line in the NFC. I'll take my chances.

Kruetz is well past his prime. The Bears had to do what they had to do - the inmates don;t run the asylum. Guys have to step up...

I don't think this is a big questionable move...

Come on Matt, the guy is 34. He's a center. He'll play against Raji, Suh, and Kevin Williams. Be honest, what are the odds he makes it the full season at his age?

The only questionable thing was why did they offer 4 mil.

They should have kept him as he is better than anyone they can bring in.
However they did offer him $4 million for one year and he should have accepted it.

I've taken a few minutes to digest this beyond my initial protest and maybe the Bears are just going to suck it up and coach somebody to play the position.

Being a Packer fan, I wasn't happy to see Jenkins, Barnett and Tauscher go either but you can't sign everyone and the GM's job is to protect the nucleous for the future. At least Kreutz was given an offer.....and he turned it down so I can't feel that badly for him then

As a long time Green Bay fan, I couldn't be more happy w/the moves Chicago has made this off-season although cutting Chester Taylor was a good move even though it was a year too late.

Who is replacing Olsen? I see that his numbers went down significantly in the 2nd half of '10 although he had a big game v. Seattle in the playoffs. He seemed to give Green Bay a bit of a fit just about each time they had played too. Curious transaction none the less.

Chicago better hope that Knox continues to progress the way he has been so far & that Williams will actually be an upgrade too because Hester is nothing more than a #3 wr & i'm not sure if Bennett will be anything more than a #2. I guess what i'm trying to say is that, i'm certainly not expecting "The Greatest Show In The Windy City" anytime soon.

As a long time Green Bay fan, I couldn't be more happy w/the moves Chicago has made this off-season although cutting Chester Taylor was a good move even though it was a year too late.

Who is replacing Olsen? I see that his numbers went down significantly in the 2nd half of '10 although he had a big game v. Seattle in the playoffs. He seemed to give Green Bay a bit of a fit just about each time they had played too. Curious transaction none the less.

Chicago better hope that Knox continues to progress the way he has been so far & that Williams will actually be an upgrade too because Hester is nothing more than a #3 wr & i'm not sure if Bennett will be anything more than a #2. I guess what i'm trying to say is that, i'm certainly not expecting "The Greatest Show In The Windy City" anytime soon.

As a long time Green Bay fan, I couldn't be more happy w/the moves Chicago has made this off-season although cutting Chester Taylor was a good move even though it was a year too late.

Who is replacing Olsen? I see that his numbers went down significantly in the 2nd half of '10 although he had a big game v. Seattle in the playoffs. He seemed to give Green Bay a bit of a fit just about each time they had played too. Curious transaction none the less.

Chicago better hope that Knox continues to progress the way he has been so far & that Williams will actually be an upgrade too because Hester is nothing more than a #3 wr & i'm not sure if Bennett will be anything more than a #2. I guess what i'm trying to say is that, i'm certainly not expecting "The Greatest Show In The Windy City" anytime soon.

While Spaeth is a decent player, he is not Greg Olsen. That was a poor move, but no less than we would expect from Martz. The point is, why bother to improve when you know much of your time and effort will be spent changing Jay Cutler's diaper.

Matt, seriously? Spencer isn't an upgrade over Kreutz? Did you even watch the Bears O-line play last year? Everyone criticizes the Bears for not improving their line, then when they try to, they get criticized for that? I'm not a big Angelo fan, but let's face facts--the Bears had their best draft in, what, a decade?--they finally got more talent at wide receiver (and big guys, at that)--and they are starting to address their offensive line issues. Still, everyone, especially football media folks, are piling on Bears management. It's very strange.

i am wondering if some of you actually understand what you're watching when you watch football on sundays. olin was a great leader and player for several years, but he is way past his prime and is a liability. he should've taken 4mil and ran with it. he must be insane. time after time last season he was too slow to pick up his man and that either led directly to the sack, or forced cutler to change positions and led to a sack by a different guy, or forced a bad pass/interception because of the pressure. he is not capable of playing at an elite level anymore. i will agree with one of the earlier comments though: with or without him the line is terrible so it probably wont matter too much.

and because it wont matter too much, play a younger guy who could become a legit NFL center and pay him a lot less. i love Olin and respect the hell out of him for his time in chicago, but it is time to move on.

Loved Kruetz but dude was getting pushed around. He and his agent made a bad move too 4mil was a decent offer for an ancient lineman. Now he contemplating retirement and no $? Would have loved to pick up a guard to make us forget about him leaving like Harvey Dahl, Davin Joseph or Carl nicks. Too late on the first two but Nicks might move if Saints persuaded how bout that draft pick we got for Olsen. This needed to happen at some point and prob a blessing in disquise cuz Kruetz is done. Locker room leaders are hard to replace tho. Get a deal to Forte soon to get some faith from the players back in the front office and now time for Cutler to step up locker room presence and maybe learn to make some line calls to protect his own ass.

cj and bob: +1. Kreutz was getting manhandled, shoved back into the pocket like he was on roller skates at times. Now I just want Blalock or Dahl or someone like that .. please JA please!!

Hey AB99

Dahl signed with the Rams

The only Dahl that the Bears have a shot at is Steve (now that his contract to CBS has expired)

Hey AB99

Dahl signed with the Rams

The only Dahl that the Bears have a shot at is Steve (now that his contract to CBS has expired)

This is becoming a sports media generated argument. Olin, a great Bear in his day no doubt, had declined. He is not worth $4M let alone $4.5M. It's not like the Bears did not offer him anything or offer him the veteran minimum....they offered him a nice contract.

And to the Packer fan from Chicago. I recall about 90% of Packer fans wanting Ted Thompson tar and feathered for dumping Favre. How did that work out for you? At times the Front Office does know what they are doing. Let's let this Olin/Spencer thing play out and see what happens.