Posts tagged ‘Caleb Hanie’

In a jump start on the free-agent process the Chicago Bears signed former Northwestern quarterback and Big Ten 2005 offensive player of the year Brett Basanez to a two year deal. While Jerry Angelo did come into this off-season saying that adding competition at the quarterback position was his #1 priority, Bears fans are hoping this isn’t what he had in mind.

Basanez spent the last three year with the Carolina Panthers, two of those mostly on the practice squad and 2007 on injured reserve with a wrist injury. He saw action in only one game back in 2006 when he went 6 for 11 for 56 yards and an interception against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Prior to that Basanez set or tied nearly every major school passing record at Northwestern, which he left as the winingest quarterback in school history. His other claim to fame was falling just 4 rushing yards short of being the first QB in NCAA Div-I history to pass for 10,000 and rush for 1,000 career yards.

While Basanez has stated that he intendeds to come out and try and compete for the starting job, he also mentioned that where he fit on the depth chart was not part of his discussion with the team. It’s safe to say that he isn’t here to take Kyle Orton’s job and will more likely be competing with Caleb Hanie for third string, while the other will land on the practice squad. Other rumors persist that the main reason Baz was brought in is because the Bears have moved their off-season mini-camps up to March and wanted to be sure of having 3 QB’s on the roster at the time.

That said the Chicago Tribune reported that Basanez did draw interest from Jacksonville, New Orleans, Minnesota, and San Francisco. More than likely though getting a call from his hometown team was the deciding factor for the Arlington Heights native.

None-the-less Brett Basanez will get to live out the dream of so many other Chicago Bears fans, young and old. And from there who knows, if he make it on the field it wouldn’t be the first time a 4th string quarterback ended up playing for the Bears.

While a lot of key decisions were made as the Bears cut down to 53 players over the weekend, the biggest one in fans’ eyes was the decision to keep Caleb Hanie on the active roster. Hanie’s preseason play made it hard for the Bears to cut him. The Bears had planned to carry two quarterbacks because of uncertainty at so many positions, but given the attention he would’ve drawn from other teams, and the riot that would’ve ensued had they Bears lost him, they found a way to make the numbers work.

Other interesting roster moves include the cutting of several recent draft picks. Most notably where Dan Bazuin and Michael Okwo, both were high picks (2nd and 3rd round respectively) but became expendable when they guys they were tagged to replace (Alex Brown and Lance Briggs) signed extensions with the team. Given the current woes on the offensive line one has to ask if the picks might have been better use there.

Speaking of the offense, outside of Hanie’s inclusion on the roster there weren’t many surprises. The Bears insisted on keeping Garrett Wolfe, despite the fact that he’ll impact on at most a dozen plays this year. The most startling roster decision was to cut both Anthony Oakley and Tyler Reed who I thought were competing for a back-up guard spot. But that position was secured when the Bears acquired Dan Buenning from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers yesterday for a sixth round pick.

There was one additional unexpected roster move made this weekend that is beginning to make a lot more sense. Instead of keeping defensive ends Ervin Baldwin or Dan Bazuin, both were cut in favor of defensive tackle Matt Toeaina. Considering the performance of rookie Marcus Harrison and Israel Idonije’s off-season bulk up to take more time at DT the move was more than a little curious.

Now the reasoning for that move may be coming clear as it has been reported that Tommie Harris has not practiced since the third preseason game and he may be doubtful for Sunday’s opener. Harris has a growing history of injury issues and this rumored knee issue is especially concerning because it may be a continuation of an injury he played through last year.

Harris is the most integral member of this defense. His penetration in the middle of the offensive line draws continuous double-teams and frees up the rest of the line to make plays one on one. If this injury is going to slow him down it’ll make things harder for everyone. Not what you hope for after signing someone to a 4 year $40 million contract.