FanHouse Corey Graham

Tuesday afternoon, the Chicago Bears announced via press release they have agreed to a one-year contract with cornerback Roderick Hood. In and of itself, this isn't terribly huge news, considering Hood was recently cut from the Cleveland Browns. The issue at hand, though, is the overall health of the Bears' secondary.

Between Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher and Zackary Bowman, the Bears were expected to have their two starting cornerbacks and one solid backup. Instead, both Bowman and Tillman are hurt. Tillman doesn't expect to be ready for the final preseason game and he's even worried he won't be ready for the Week 1 tilt in Green Bay.

While those truly following the Bears' every move this offseason know the defensive backfield is a much greater concern than wide receiver, the masses are left trying to figure out who newly acquired quarterback Jay Cutler will be throwing to (the sheep can now insert, "no one!" and feel good about themselves).

After all, the leading receivers -- in terms of catches -- last season were running back Matt Forte and tight end Greg Olsen. Devin Hester was the top wideout, with 51 catches and 665 yards. Rashied Davis caught 35 balls, but no other wide receiver in training camp caught a single NFL pass in 2008.

With the departure of Mike Brown from the Bears, a hole was left in the Windy City secondary. Adding Josh Bullocks via free agency and drafting Al Afalava in the sixth round of the draft don't appear to be answers. With the roster seemingly set for the 2009 season, the Bears will have to find a free safety starter in-house. They have many cornerbacks, so moving one to safety could work well.

After wrapping up the first rookie mini-camp, Lovie Smith discussed some of the options.

After the Bears made the announcement of their franchise-shattering acquisition of Jay Cutler, they didn't rest. Within a few hours, they announced they had also agreed to terms with venerable left tackle Orlando Pace. I'll admit, I was overly excited about the two new Bears, as were all my Bears fans friends -- which is weird, usually at least one of us disagrees about player movement. Make no mistake about it, though. We aren't delusional. This team is far from complete and the die-hards know it.

With the team still a decent amount below the salary cap and several holes left to fill for 2009, here's what I think the Bears should do.

Jay Cutler is going to the Bears for three draft picks and Kyle Orton. Jay Mariotti has already discussed how much it means to have a good quarterback in Chicago. Still, I bring the voice of the fan, and I've got something to say: I love this move. One thing that's great about sports, though, is there are always opposing fans trying to bring you down.

I've taken time to check out many message boards and comments sections across the internet. What I'm finding, for the most part, is that fans of teams other than the Bears think this is a terrible deal. Their "evidence," though, is usually incredibly flawed. Here are some of the reasons people think the deal is poor for the Bears, followed by my rebuttals.

For the second straight season, it appears Nathan Vasher is not going to play in the majority his team's games. The pro bowl corner for the Chicago Bears missed almost all of the '07 season, and now he's expected to miss this season's final five games with a broken wrist and reaggravated thumb injury -- which was operated on earlier in the year.

The play-making corner has been under intense scrutiny this season from fans and media alike, who believe he's not getting the job done in coverage. That would be a serious problem, considering he's not much of a run-stuffer. My contention has been that he mostly gets beat due to the scheme. When you are being gashed on a quick slant in cover-two, that's hardly the corner's fault. If he tries to jump the route and the receiver is able to outside release, there is no help on the deep outside.

I will grant that he's struggled a lot more than Charles Tillman, and that Corey Graham has been a decent fill-in, so this injury likely doesn't hurt the Bears near as much as outsider fans might think.

UPDATE 11/29: Yep, he's done. The Bears placed him on injured reserve today.