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ChicagoBears.com senior writer Larry Mayer sits down with general manager Jerry Angelo to discuss the most pressing issues involving the Bears on the first and third Wednesdays of the month during the offseason. This unique feature will provide you with inside information directly from Jerry that you can’t get anywhere else.

LM: How big of a priority was solidifying the safety position this offseason, and how confident are you that you accomplished that by trading for Chris Harris and drafting Major Wright?

JA: It was the secondary, not just the safety position in particular. We went into the draft saying we wanted to upgrade and create more competition in the secondary, and I feel we’ve done that. Based on what we saw at the rookie minicamp with Major Wright and Josh Moore, we feel we were accurate in our assessments at least from a talent standpoint, and it starts there. Bringing in a veteran like Chris Harris obviously bodes well for the secondary. Again, we weren’t just fixated on safety. We like Craig Steltz, Danieal Manning, Josh Bullocks and Al Afalava. All of those players have been here a year or more and have play history. So we feel we upgraded our secondary, and that really was the goal going into the draft.

LM: Do you see Major Wright as a starter this season, and how leery would you be about starting a rookie at free safety?

JA: It has yet to be determined how fast he picks things up and the comfort level that he has with the system and the coaches have with him. We saw it with Al Afalava last year. The coaches got into a real comfort level with Al. It has been done. We saw it here with Danieal Manning his rookie year and we saw it with Mike Brown. So it’s not foreign. It just depends on the maturity level that the player comes in with. We really won’t know that until we come out of OTAs. Then we will have a pretty good feel for how he picks things up, his command of the defense and what he can do in terms of quarterbacking the defense.

LM: You said after the draft that the Bears have discussed signing a veteran backup quarterback. How likely is that to happen?

JA: We’re still exploring that. Last year we went with Caleb [Hanie] as the backup and Brett [Basanez] on the practice squad. So we’re at least where we were last year. We did draft Dan LeFevour in the sixth round, and we like Dan. So we have some parts in place already and we’ll just see.

LM: How does having Tim Ruskell as director of player personnel make the Bears better?

JA: Tim brings a vast amount of knowledge at all levels. He started out as a scout. He became a director of college scouting and then a director of player personnel, and he helped lead [Tampa Bay] to a world championship. Then he became an assistant general manager in Atlanta and they got to the NFC Championship Game in his second year there. He moved on to Seattle to become their general manager and made some moves in his first year there that I felt were very integral for them reaching the Super Bowl. Tim’s done it at every level; that speaks volumes about who he is and what he brings to our organization. 

LM: Why did you decide to restructure the front office with a director of player personnel being responsible for both the college and pro departments instead of having two different people fill those positions?

JA: Because Tim had done them both and I have a lot of confidence in his ability to do both. It makes the chain of command easier. There are some real benefits to that, and he’s handled those responsibilities for a long time. He’s really done the job of directing and leading both departments with different titles for about the last 15 years.

LM: With Tim joining the front office, will your role change?

JA: It will. It’s going to change. Tim’s going to have more latitude to do things. I’ll still have a role in college. Maybe I’ll have more of a role in the pro. When Tim gets here, we’ll be able to sit down, talk and create a plan to maximize our efforts and expertise in personnel. Having worked with Tim helps because we share a commonality in philosophy that will expedite the feeling-out process that you normally go through when you hire people in management positions. We’ll be able to share ideas and create a relationship needed to lead and grow our organization. 

LM: With only five draft picks, the Bears put a lot of time and effort into signing undrafted free agents. What about the undrafted free agents impressed you the most at the rookie minicamp?

JA: Anytime you go into a minicamp, you first want to determine whether they are what you thought they were from an athletic standpoint, and the free agents we signed did meet that criteria. So that’s a good start. We really put more emphasis on their athletic traits than we did anything else this year. Some years we’ll look more at play history and production, but this year we put more emphasis on a player’s athleticism and traits (as it relates to their potential) knowing that they’re going to need more time to develop.