Chicago Bears sign Tim Jennings and Matt Slauson through 2014

The Chicago Bears were just a fourth down stop away from becoming the NFC North division champions but we all know what happened on that blown play by the secondary.

Now that the team is focused on 2014, they have a decent amount of guys who are preparing themselves to hit the market. Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery was able to lock up a couple players (Robbie Gould, Tony Fiammetta) before their Week 17 match up against the Green Bay Packers.

A huge decision on Jay Cutler and Josh McCown was the key move that fans across the league were waiting to hear about. As we all know, the Bears haven’t had the best of luck when it comes to the quarterback position over the last decade but appear to have their franchise quarterback in Jay Cutler. If you haven’t heard already, the Bears and Cutler were able to agree on a seven year contract that will keep him in Chicago through 2020.

Safe to say he’ll retire as a Bear.

Moving onto the main subjects of this article. The defense took a huge hit with injuries this year, which resulted in one of the worst defensive years this team has seen in it’s franchise history. They gave up a ton of rushing yards and didn’t have nearly as many turnovers as they did last year. Veteran corner-backs Tim Jennings and Charles Tillman entered the 2013 season on the final year of their contracts.

Both men pulled through big time last year, but were somewhat slowed down this year. Jennings still played great, but Tillman was hit with the injury bug and shelved for the remainder of the year just like a couple other key players.

The team announced this morning that they have come to an agreement with Tim Jennings that will keep him signed through 2014. The possible deal could be a four year contract, but the terms haven’t officially been released just yet.

Another signing announced today was guard Matt Slauson. This offensive line was the biggest improvement and I was fairly pleased with them. They had some hiccups along the way, but this offensive line gave our quarterbacks plenty of time to find their targets down field. It’s a group that will become stronger next year and get even stronger in years to come. Very proud of this offensive line. His deal could also be a four year contract.

They still have a handful of players who will be hitting the market. Right now it’s just a matter of who can help them reach the next level.