Veteran Todd Collins spent last season as a backup for the Washington Redskins. (Getty)
By Brad Biggs
If the Bears cut Todd Collins before the first regular-season game, he will leave with a nice parting gift.
A week after trying to sign him for the veteran minimum with no guaranteed money, the Bears came back to the 38-year-old veteran quarterback and put money on the table. Enough for him to sign a one-year contract without fearing he'll be used as a camp arm and sent packing before the season begins.
It's believed Collins receiving a signing bonus in the six digits and if he makes the team he will earn more than $1 million this season.
Asked how quickly he can pick up offensive coordinator Mike Martz's offense, Collins told the Tribune, "Quicker than somebody that would have no experience. It's a hard offense to learn, especially for a young guy and I probably have seven years in it. It's not exactly the same, but I feel pretty good."
The Tribune reported last week that Collins would have arrived in
Bourbonnais if the Bears had offered a modest signing bonus of $150,000.
Apparently after surveying the action Saturday night against the
Oakland Raiders, the team had a change of heart.
Asked what his role with the Bears would be, Collins said, "It's not defined as of yet. I think we're going to use the next couple of games or practice to see what they're going to do with the quarterbacks in terms of the pecking order."
The Bears tried for four days to sign a veteran quarterback last week before settling on relatively unproven Matt Gutierrez. Backup Caleb Hanie suffered a sprained acromioclavicular joint in his right shoulder in the preseason opener at San Diego. The belief is he will be ready near the start of the regular season. But with the club now agreeing to pay Collins, it's possible Hanie's injury could take a little longer to heal than originally estimated. The team has been tight-lipped about his timetable.
Rookie Dan LeFevour struggled again in Saturday's preseason game with the Oakland Raiders. When the Bears first started looking for experienced help the team tried signing Trent Green, Josh McCown and Damon Huard.
The addition of Collins makes sense because while he has not played for Martz, he does have experience in the system. While Martz was directing the Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis, Collins was on the other side of the state playing for Dick Vermeil and the Kansas City Chiefs. It was the same offense.
It's unlikely the Bears will carry three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster unless Hanie is not healthy for Week 1 or the club reverses its position on Hanie's standing and wants to make him the No. 3. However, carrying Collins on the Week 1 roster would guarantee his base salary for the season, an expensive proposition if he is going to be Cutler's backup for just a week or two. He is a vested veteran and would be due termination pay if he was cut at any point during the regular season.
The Bears hoped to woo Green out of retirement and they also made a run at McCown, who played for Martz in Detroit, for three days. Ultimately, McCown didn't want to break his word with the Hartford Colonials. He signed a contract with the UFL team and did not get the blessing of the Colonials to leave. Those actions make you wonder just how committed the team is to Hanie.
Gutierrez was signed last Wednesday morning. He made previous stops in New England and Kansas City and has displayed a stronger arm than LeFevour in practice. The team is yet to announce its corresponding roster move. Certainly, Gutierrez is an option because someone will have to go to clear a roster spot. More cuts will need to be made to get to the 75-man limit on Aug. 31.
Asked what his role with the Bears would be, Collins said, "It's not defined as of yet. I think we're going to use the next couple of games or practice to see what they're going to do with the quarterbacks in terms of the pecking order."
The Bears tried for four days to sign a veteran quarterback last week before settling on relatively unproven Matt Gutierrez. Backup Caleb Hanie suffered a sprained acromioclavicular joint in his right shoulder in the preseason opener at San Diego. The belief is he will be ready near the start of the regular season. But with the club now agreeing to pay Collins, it's possible Hanie's injury could take a little longer to heal than originally estimated. The team has been tight-lipped about his timetable.
Rookie Dan LeFevour struggled again in Saturday's preseason game with the Oakland Raiders. When the Bears first started looking for experienced help the team tried signing Trent Green, Josh McCown and Damon Huard.
The addition of Collins makes sense because while he has not played for Martz, he does have experience in the system. While Martz was directing the Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis, Collins was on the other side of the state playing for Dick Vermeil and the Kansas City Chiefs. It was the same offense.
It's unlikely the Bears will carry three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster unless Hanie is not healthy for Week 1 or the club reverses its position on Hanie's standing and wants to make him the No. 3. However, carrying Collins on the Week 1 roster would guarantee his base salary for the season, an expensive proposition if he is going to be Cutler's backup for just a week or two. He is a vested veteran and would be due termination pay if he was cut at any point during the regular season.
The Bears hoped to woo Green out of retirement and they also made a run at McCown, who played for Martz in Detroit, for three days. Ultimately, McCown didn't want to break his word with the Hartford Colonials. He signed a contract with the UFL team and did not get the blessing of the Colonials to leave. Those actions make you wonder just how committed the team is to Hanie.
Gutierrez was signed last Wednesday morning. He made previous stops in New England and Kansas City and has displayed a stronger arm than LeFevour in practice. The team is yet to announce its corresponding roster move. Certainly, Gutierrez is an option because someone will have to go to clear a roster spot. More cuts will need to be made to get to the 75-man limit on Aug. 31.
I, too, am a die-hard Bears fan, have been for more than 50 years. Seen the good ('63, '85), and the bad. This team looks just AWFUL. I'm not happy to say that, just a fact. Anyone who thinks this team is capable of winning more than 4-5 games is delusional. Any successful coach (Lombardi, George Allen, Landry, Shula, and dare I say, HALAS) would tell you success begins with the LINES, both offensive & defensive. What's the first thing Jim Finks built when he took over the Bears in the 70's? The LINES. It was the beginning of the Super Bowl run. Angelo should be taken out & beaten with sticks for pretending to be an NFL GM. Hired a coach clearly over his head in the NFL, then failed to provide him with players capable of winning. As long as he & the McCaskeys are in charge, it's a waste of time watching this team.
SuperBearFan that is the best comment EVER!!!!!! i could not have said it better myself, i dont care if they go 0-16 and cutler throws 250 picks i love my team and NOTHING will ever change that i am a 3rd generation DIEHARD! i live in Indiana and i hate the colts, GO BEARS!!
p.s all the whinny haters need to get out of your moms basement, get a life and get rid of everything you own that is orange and blue!! YOU DONT DESERVE IT
WOW, there are some pretty PATHETIC WANNABE FANS ON HERE,Lol!! I have been a Die Hard Bear Fan for 48 years!! You kids nowadays dont know what dedication for a team, really is!! Win or Lose, a team is your team! You Punks are called Bandwagon, or fair weather fans!! A bunch of Sissy whiners that trash talk & jump ship to another team constantly, Whatever! Die Hards like ME, Live, Breath & Die, with the Bears!!! Grow-Up!!! Be the Bears or Leave the Bears!!!! No Pansies allowed on the Bears!! I read some of these responses, and it makes me sick! There are obviously too many young Boys posting these days! These Boys tend to get defensive, but you are what you are, a young Buck! Good for you, but Football fans, requires a commitment! Unless you are a fair weather fan, like so many others on here,LOL!!!! Funny how the Haters always have an excuse, for why they trash the Bears. Like saying they are entitled to their own opinion,LOL!!! WHATEVER!! That is Comical, Really! We are talking dedication to a FootBall Team, Not the Constitution for crying out loud??? I dont comment often, because the responses are ridiculous, seriously!! Go ahead call yourself a true Fan, but You all are NOT Fooling anyone. Who is a Die Hard Bear Fan? We know who We Are!! GO BEARS!!
Dear Ned, Hopefully stupid hatemongers like you "go down early to give this team a chance"...what a jerk! Are you a Packers fan or one of those idiotic Bronco fans? Despite the fact that he spent most of his time running for his life or on his back sacked, Cutler did a pretty good job.
Isn't there enough money committed to the QB position? A 38 year backup who will be running for his life from the time he takes his first snap instead of a genuine blocker. Angelo and Lovie must be delusional . This team needs some NFL caliber linemen more than anything except for maybe a new coach and general manager! This is a 4-12 team if they get some favorable calls during the real schedule. Anyone who supports this slapstick comedy is partially responsible for the outcome. Don't whine during the season.
collins will be starting week 4 with this o line. i don't know who's worse, angelo or lovie.
so we got like 6 QB's and 0 Offensive-linemen. Martz is going back to those championship style Lions....oh wait.
No matter what they do, it's still the Bears, constituted the way they've been for the last 20+ years.
It started with Michael McCaskey making up for the way he was steamrollered by Mike Ditka, sneered at by McMahon and generally ignored by the rest of the team. (Etched in my brain is the image of Mikey holding the SB trophy and spouting "WE did it!". I was embarrassed for him and the City)
The organization is engineered to make ownership look like they're doing something, to move to the next level, yet not allow any decision strength in the ranks.
It's a shame, because Soldier Field deserves better. It's the best stadium in the league and almost makes up for the product on the field.
It's like bad fantasy football, budgeted with 50 cents, but actually playing against REAL football teams.
Sorry DAVE but Orton still out played Cutler thats just a fact no need to redo the trade or wanting Orton back those are just the facts anyone who knows football knows that .
The problem is not jay its you supposedly "real bears fans" with big mouths hyping him up to expectations that he cant live up to .
Last year Cutler supposedly made those Broncos receivers
Last year Cutlers mobility would make our line better and he wouldnt get sacked as much.
The fact is we really didnt have the talent at WR or Oline and we still dont and now weve wasted the youth of a once young,fast, and very good defense so where does that leave us ?
Weve got a ton of work to do and we just spent a lot of money expecting to "win now " . We got some tough decisions to make .
Remember Jerry Angelos comments after the draft when he said Dan LeFlavor was too good to pass up in the 6th round and we need to develope qbs. Well unless Hanie is going on IR what in the ***** are they doing signing Gutzrus and a never was in Collins? This guy Angelo has no clue how to build a winning team. Just last week we saw three former Bears reeking havoc against us while playing for the Chargers.
In the pic above, which is Collins and which is Biggs? The caption does not say.
Did Brett Basanez sign with another team?
Todd Colins? Weren't Shane Matthews, Virgil Carter, or Bob Avelini availble?
Todd Collins?? Weren't Shane Matthews, Virgil Carter, or Bob Availini available?
Five QBs on the roster. This is crazy.
Oh and by the way, Collins is a Good signing. He knows the system, he can step in and atleast get the offense moving if something happens to cutler. Now that the Bears have a good O coordinator, the 5 Cutler haters in Chicago are going to look really atupid after the first couple weeks of the season. The bears will do ok the first 2 weeks but after that and they start to gel a bit we should see an offense like we have not seen in awhile. Good running backs that should be healthy (Hopefully) a Very good QB and Coordinator. The way the D has looked so far (2nd string) Iwe will ne a good offense if we have a few 1 stringers go down with bad injuries.
Iron Mike, No worries a real Bear Fan that KNOWS Football would not rip Cutler. They are either Viking Fans, Packer Fans or My guess Bronco Fans talking CR**. The broncos Have Orton Ha Ha Ha. Remember when the Broncos went 6-0 and everyone was saying I wish we had Orton back and Blah blah Blah? me and a few others here were saying just wait they wont even make the playoffs, Orton and the Broncos fell apart and NO playoffs after that start. Thats with better more proven recievers and a way better O line and they still could not do it LOL! The Packers will be average at best, Maybe 9-7 but probably 8-8 and the vikings Old man will get Pummeled back there and be hurt by week 2 Book it! The few of you Cutler haters will be chewing your words and we will be back here again making sure you dont put salt on them.
Wow Jerry Angelo has basically ran this organization into the ground.We are thin or old or both at every position and are basically teetering on the edge of a total franchise meltdown .
This has to be the worst Managemnent Team in all of the NFL, including Matt Millen.
How can the Bears possibly worry about a backup QB, whn they have been developing Hanie for years? and they have an Oline that is one of the worst in the NFL?.
Collins is a capable backup QB and can start in a pinch, but How many backup QB's have the Bears drafetd the past few years under Jerry? They have drafted sooo many Defensive players under Jerry and they STILL had to sign a DE cause they simply don't have any idea how to draft and develope players.
And - these Cutler haters....Are you posters really that stuuupid? or are these fake posts? Cause maybe you also thought REX/ORTON etc.....were the problem as well??? and all the QB's the Bearts have had since 1985??? Think about it Cutler haters! How many QB'S havethe Bears had since McMahon that were worth a crad? AND! Cutler was a Probolwer BEFORE he came to the Bears craddy Oline.
Dufus--
The players in league talk with each other and talk about where the good opportunities are. That's what "word around the NFL" means. Sorry, I can't type any slower to make it easier to understand.
It doesn't bode well for more beloved Bears, that's for sure!
Yeah, we need back up for Cutler since we have another year with a crappy offensive line. Cutler is doomed for an injury with that line. Cutler can only do so much. Ridiculous. With this o-line we need a back up for the back up and so forth.
Wow, a quarterback that had more than a cup of coffee in the league chose the Hartford Colonials of the UFL over the Chicago Bears. That means either Josh McCown is the dumbest guy on the planet or word around the NFL is that the Bears are going to be awful and our local media are still sipping the Halas Kool-Aid.
I for one believe in cutlers talent and his confidence.. cant blame the bears for there is only so much money left after the masssive money paid out to peppers, taylor and manu.. glad they got collins and lefevour looks like a HS QB...
not sold on hanie but i trust martzs judgement on that one as stated maybe hanies injury is lot worse then noted..
pre season is not a time to panic folks and with the upcoming season its a win win in my opinion if they make the playoffs great and if they dont the lovie boat and angelo will set sail.. BEAR DOWN!!!
There is no "struggling" Dan LeFevour. He's a rookie who's doing OK, just like all other rookies in the league -but those rookies are given a chance to develop. WRs have dropped about seven of his 20 total passes in preseason play. That's huge.
This move officially means that LeFevour is gone.
I bet Collins wont mind being a 3rd string to Hanie.
Games are won in the trenches plain and simple our problem as it has been for the past few seasons is up front on BOTH sides of the ball. AS for all this Cutler hate mongering Folks were from Chicago we DON'T know what a QB looks like oh we've had some blips on the radar screen. But lets face it outside of the glory years we wouldn't know one if it was sitting right next to us. And Wideouts too!
It's my understanding that the ex San Fran QB, who also had a great year for the Eagles recently is available. His last name is Garcia, drawing a blank on his first name though; however, i'd think his skills are much better for the backup job than Collins are. But, then again, where the Bears are concerned, making smart decisions has never came easy, especially if there's financial concerns involved.
Dear Todd,
Let me be the first to welcome you to Chicago, where as the Bears backup QB, you will instantly become one of the most popular men in the city, adored by thousands each Sunday who believe that it is only by the malfeasance of the Bears management that you are prevented from assuming your rightful place among the pantheon of NFL greats.
For references, please contact Kyle Orton, Mike Tomczak, Peter Tom Willis and Shane Matthews.
Again, welcome.
P.S. I would have been the first, but Ned beat me to it, wishing harm to Jay Cutler so that you can step in and show that all of the team's problems are, as always, the fault of the starting QB.
et me be the first, and maybe we can get a wave going. I've felt for many years as have many that "Mike Singletary would be THE only coach that could bring the Bears back to glory". That's an opinion shared by many. We've endured the Wanny's, Juarons and Lovies but watching the Bears is downright painful for a Bear fan. Bring Mike in here with that intensity, will, and "take no prisoners" attitude and we'll be back. Until then Bear fans, eepect little to nothing. I'm beginning to wonder if they'll win 1 or 2 games this year and see no hope for the future without Mike Singletary.
I prefer to believe Mike Martz about Cutler's potential, as opposed to idiot hate-mongers. On Jay Glazer's Bears training camp special, Martz basically stated that Cutler has the head and the heart to be the best pro QB EVER - that there was no limit to his upside. Anybody who has watched the NFL from somewhere other than the toilet can see this. Give him an O-line that can block, capable receivers (don't have to be All-Pro's), and the slightest semblance of a running game, and Cutler will rank among the best in the league.
Until they get an offensive line, it really doesn't matter who the quarterback is.
As for the D-line, I thought part of the reason they got Peppers and paid him so much was to make Alex Brown even better. Then they released Alex Brown . So all they got with Peppers is ....Peppers.
Get rid of Angelo and Lovie.
At least this is Lovie and Jerry's last year here.
Angelo spends about 1/3rd of his draft picks on the D-linemen, and still can only get pressure on the QB when blitzing. That the D-Line gets pressure on the Bear's QB in practice tells you how bad the Bear's O-line is. Of course going 5 or 6 drafts in a row without drafting an offensive lineman in the first three rounds will tend to do that.
There will likely be several late-round drafted O-linemen, D Backs, and WRs who end up not making a roster. If the Bears really want to stock the cupboard, they can pick up those type of developmental players from other teams' cuts or swipe them from practice squads.
I hear a lot of second guessing of the LeFevour pick, even amoung professional sports commentators, but really it's just a sixth round pick. By their nature, 6th round picks are hit or miss. You roll the dice with a QB, if it works out, great, if not, you're only out a 6th round pick. They'll likely be able to pick someone up off the street who they might have targeted in that spot anyway. Pro scouting this time of year can be very important.
bring the cattle in because the awfensive line is going to get someone killed a world class sprinter has no chance back there, someone stop the maddness dumb and dumber need to go
What a waste of a valuable draft pick last Spring on LeFevour
There are so many things this team needed to stock up on, O Lineman to develop, D Backs, WR's
Hanie is the only project this team needs at QB right now Glad they have an NFL seasoned pro to be the backup with Collins
No QB has a chance back there if the O-line doesn’t pick it up. You could put Tom Brady back there and it won’t work if the o-line can’t block.
This signing makes me wonder a couple things...
1) Is the Hanie injury worse than what they originally thought?
2) Are they finally realizing how bad the O-line is and that Cutler and maybe not even Hanie are going to survive back there all season?
It's the same old story year after year ... QB controversy, sub-standard NFL quarterbacks, cheap team management. I just hope that the Bears will sign an upper end quarterback in my lifetime.
what difference does it make? if Cutler goes down the Bears have no chance whether it's Collins, Hanie, LeFevour, or the other dude... the Bears might as well have saved the dough and just kept praying Cutler can remain healthy again this year. if the Bears wanted a viable backup they should have gotten Jeff Garcia before camp started.