Let me start this by saying, I LOVE Devin Hester. He is my second favorite player on the Bears. That being said, he is getting paid like a #1 receiver, while producing like a #4. At his age, with his skill-set, and after so many years playing, it is much more logical to assume that he is on the downside of his career than to hold out hope that he is going to develop into a better football player. He will turn 30 this season and has already started to slow down.

The Bears have gone all out to improve this club, and they are essentially out of financial wiggle-room. In order to make any additional moves, they are going to have to cut salary - which means cutting some of our more highly paid players.

Hester is arguably the most easy to replace, highly paid player on the Bears roster. The Bears signed Weems and Thomas, this off-season - two players more renowned for their return skills than their receiving prowess. If Hester is released, the Bears have adequate replacements, and if you believe that Hester has lost a couple steps, you could argue that neither Thomas nor Weems would be downgrade.

This year, Hester makes about $7,000,000 (though he could make more through performance incentives). Of that amount, $5,000,000 is guaranteed, so the Bears would only save $2,000,000 by cutting Hester this year.

However, next season, Hester is scheduled to make over $12,000,000, none of which is guaranteed. Though it breaks my heart, I believe that there is a decent chance that Hester gets cut this year, and even if Hester lasts through this season, I cannot see him being back on the team next year. At this point, I am just holding out hope for one more year of watching the Windy City Flyer.

"We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation, with your T-Formation."  Ok, that lyric is a  such a lie, that it is practically a statistic.  Statistically, what percentage of the fans even know what the T-Formation is, let alone how the Bears used it to thrill the nation?

I can only speak for myself, .000000001% of Bears fans.  I didn't know what the T-Formation was, so I spent an afternoon reading about it online.  I just thought that I would share what I learned to help me better remember and to assuage the consciences of anyone else who always felt a little hypocritical singing that lyric.

Here is a basic T-Formation:

This is the oldest known offensive formation in football, supposedly invented by Walter Camp in 1882.  This formation fell out of favor as other formations were developed that were more effective in primitive smash-mouth football.  Then, in 1933, the forward pass was made legal, and the T-Formation began its comeback (Side Note: Maybe I shouldn't call it a comeback.  Maybe it was always there).  The University of Minnesota implemented the T-Formation to create a fast-paced offense that was able to both pass and run and had a great deal of success during the 30's and 40's.

George Halas and Clark Shaughnessy (Coach of the University of Chicago and the Bears, backup QB) brought the T-Formation to the NFL in the late 1930's and made a couple key innovations: First, they brought men in motion.  Second, they utilized fakes and misdirection (think of this as the neanderthal ancestor to Oregon's offense).

Halas believed that the T-Formation could not work without a solid passing quarterback.  He personally scouted University of Columbia tailback, Sid Luckman, and he came away impressed.  Halas suckered the Pittsburgh Pirates into drafting Luckman in 1939 and trading him to the Bears.  Luckman initially refused to sign with the Bears and opted to work for his father's trucking company instead.  George Halas visited Luckman with a contract in hand and persuaded him to quarterback the Chicago Bears and their new offensive scheme.

1940, the T-Formation changed football forever.  That year, the Bears defeated Sammy Baugh and the Washington Redskins 73-0 (not a typo) in the NFL Championship, running for just under 400 yards (also not tpyo ;).  Following this slaughter, the fight song, "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" was written and referenced the Bears' juggernaut offensive scheme.  The Bears would win 4 championships in the 40's even though they lost 40 players and coaches to military service during World War II, including George Halas. The 1940's Bears are arguably the most dominant dynasty in football history.

The NFL has always been a copycat league, and every team responded to the Bears' success by adopting some derivation of the T-Formation.  The I-Formation and Pro Set are evolutions of the T-Formation.  In fact, Halas frequently brought a running back  in motion out of the backfield into the flanker position, and the Pro Set is the exact same formation, without the motion.

So, what should we remember about the T-Formation?  Here are a few things that I pulled from my little study: 1. The T-Formation Bears were awesomely, awesome.  2. The T-Formation was revolutionary, and modern football, particularly passing, evolved out of Halas' T-Formation (Side Note: I believe that football fans in general have no idea how much George Halas did for the sport.  He was a hall of fame player, recruited several other players such as Red Grange to play football, brought the Chicago Bears to prominence, helped form the NFL, and rescued struggling franchises such as the Packers and Giants.  Without George Halas the organization of football would be very different, and without his T-Formation, the game of football would be very different.)  3. 40 of the Bears' players and coaches gave up their prime football years to serve their country.  One player, Young Bussey, even gave up his life.  The most dominant team in our franchise's history  sacrificed its success for our freedom.  The T-Formation Bears transcend football.

I am really glad that I took the time to read about the T-Formation and the people involved with the T-Formation. Next time the Bears score, I will be proud to sing that I will "never forget" what I learned.  Bear down.

Let me start this by saying that I am a huge Brian Urlacher.  He is my favorite football player of all time, and I would be happy if the Bears paid him $10,000,000 a year until he turned 40.

That being said, he has not been the same player these last couple of years as he once was, and his contract is huge.  I worry that this latest injury could be the end of Brian Urlacher's Chicago Bears career.  His performance has declined. There are legitimate reasons to believe that he will never be fully healthy again and that he will never again be the elite player that he once was.

If the Bears defense performs well without Urlacher, then the front office may take a hard, long look at whether Urlacher is really worth the elite-player salary he is getting paid.  The money owed to Urlacher may be better spent improving other parts of the team (or signing our young players to long-term deals).  

Almost inevitably, the day will come when the Bears decide to part ways with this living legend.  Do you think this day could be sooner, rather than later?

Here is how I see the 53-man roster breaking down:

Quarterbacks (2): Jay Cutler, Caleb Hanie

 - This one is pretty clear

Running backs (4): Matt Forte, Kevin Jones, Adrian Peterson, Garrett Wolfe

 - If one of them is cut I honestly think it will be Jones (surprise).  The coaches are wtaching the same games we are, and Kevin Jones has turned into an inferior version of Adrian Peterson.  The only reason I think he'll make the squad is because running back is a position where you have to anticipate some attrition.

Fullbacks (1): Jason McKie

 - He has surprisingly impressed me this offseason.  He came out like a man in danger of losing his job and he has successfully defended it.

Wide receivers (7): Earl Bennett, Devin Hester, Devin Aromashodu, Johnny Knox, Inglesias, and  Rideau

 - I know the big debate is which one will get cut.  Frankly, I just don't see the Bears willing to give up on any of the young guys.  If I had to pick a guy to be cut, it would be Davis because keeping Wolfe and Peterson already shores up our special teams .  That being said, I have trouble seeing the Bears cutting any of these guys, and after doing the math, I think they may keep them all.

Tight ends (4): Desmond Clark, Greg Olsen, Kellen Davis, Michael Gaines

 - Michael Gaines versatilty saves his roster spot.  He can come in if McKie goes down.

Offensive linemen (8): Josh Beekman, Roberto Garza, Olin Kreutz, Kevin Schaffer, Dan Buenning, Chris Williams,

Frank Omiyale, Orlando Pace

 - This has shaped up pretty clearly.

Defensive linemen (9): Anthony Adams, Mark Anderson, Alex Brown, Jarron Gilbert, Tommie Harris, Marcus Harrison, Israel Idonije, Adewale Ogunleye,  Henry Melton

 - Melton is the only guy who seems to be on the bubble.  The Bears drafted him knowing that he was inexperienced, and needed time to develop.  I just can't see them giving up on them yet.  Toeina (sp?) is the only other guy I see as on the bubble.

Linebackers (6): Lance Briggs, Freeman, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Nick Roach, Brian Urlacher, Jamar Williams

- I'll miss Hunter, but the Bears will not give up on a rookie like Freeman.

Cornerbacks (5): Zackary Bowman, Corey Graham,  Charles Tillman, Nate Vasher, Rod Hood

 - McBride has played himself into contention for a job... at local restaurant.  With Daniel Manning, we do not need 6 corners.

Safeties (4): Josh Bullocks, Danieal Manning, Al Afalava, Kevin Payne

  - Steltz hasn't shown anything, and he hardly has the athleticism for us to worry about untapped potential.  He simply is what he is and that it a slow saftey.

Specialists (3): Robbie Gould, Patrick Mannelly, Brad Maynard

 - Barring some sort of miracle or disater, this is set in stone.

Thank you to JBragg for doing the hard work so I can copy and paste.

I don't know about you guys, but I get awfully whenever I review this roster (or the roster you guys have posted).  I think it would look awfully good on an over-priced "Super Bowl Champions" T-Shirt.

This is pretty neat.  Like quite a few of us, I played high school football and Madden, but I was really blown away by how tough this is to follow - mostly because it is using a football jargon that I simply don't know.

This gave me a new-found respect for what players and coaches have to intellectually go through in order to be ready to play. Glad I don't have to memorize an 800-page playbook.

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2007/0828/cardinals_playbook.pdf