Bear fans may finally get something they’ve been dying to see for almost a decade now: GM Jerry Angelo opening the team’s wallet.

According to a report by Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times, Angelo has been authorized to spend up to $25 million in guaranteed money this offseason. That kind of loot would certainly be enough to lure Julius Peppers to Chicago, if the free agent defensive end wants to play for the Bears that is.

Angelo has a history of being thrifty in free agency and building his roster almost solely via the draft. But after trading their first round pick in this year’s draft to Denver for Jay Cutler and their second round pick to Tampa Bay for the late Gaines Adams, the Bears don’t have a selection in this year’s draft until the third round. It’s hard for a team to fill voids along the offensive and defensive lines when they don’t make a selection until midway through the third round.

The problem for Angelo is that even though he’ll have the money to spend in free agency, there aren’t many attractive offensive line options. Bobbie Williams (Bengals), Kevin Mawae (Titans) and Chad Clifton (Packers) are all 33 years or older and wouldn’t offer Chicago long-term solutions. The real value at the position lies in the restricted free agent department. Jahri Evans (Saints), Logan Mankins (Patriots) and Jared Gaither (Ravens) are all young and productive players, but depending on what each player was tendered at, the Bears won’t be able to put a decent trade package together because they don’t have any draft picks.

Angelo has a long history of shopping in the clearance section during free agency and until he proves otherwise, I’m not buying that he’ll all of a sudden become Daniel Snyder of the 2010 offseason. That said, it’ll be interesting to see if the Bears do make a strong run at Peppers and what they’ll do to address their needs along the offensive line. Either way, it looks like it’ll be an interesting offseason in Chicago.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

If anyone can explain to me the direction the Chicago Bears are taking this offseason, then I’ll donate a week’s salary to your favorite charity. And “backwards” doesn’t count.

The Bears began the offseason by firing offensive coordinator Ron Turner and relieving head coach Lovie Smith of his defensive play calling duties. GM Jerry Angelo’s first choices as candidates to replace Turner and Smith were USC offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates and former Bills defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. But he lost out on both when Pete Carroll hired Bates to run the offense in Seattle and the Giants hired Fewell to run their defense in New York.

It’s an understatement to say that Angelo settled for Mike Martz in early February. Angelo had Rob Chudzinski, Hue Jackson and a host of others atop his wish list of offensive coordinators, but nobody wanted to come to Chicago with the possibility of Smith and his entire staff getting axed a year from now. Angelo was desperate, and so too was Martz.

Out of options again, Angelo promoted defensive line coach Rod Marinelli to defensive coordinator on February 5, despite the fact that Marinelli had no previous experience in that role. When the Bears hired Smith in 2004, he tired to bring Marinelli (his former staff member in Tampa) to Chicago to be his new defensive coordinator but the Bucs didn’t release Marinelli out of his contract. Seven years later, Smith is getting his wish.

With the coordinator roles finally settled, Angelo thought it would be wise to fire director of pro personnel Bobby DePaul on Monday. This is significant because DePaul was the man that orchestrated the Jay Cutler trade and had been with the Bears since 2001. That’s nine seasons of experience that Angelo just fired, not to mention the person responsible for pulling off the franchise’s biggest trade.

The timing of DePaul’s firing is perplexing. Most teams fire personnel people in May because at that point, the draft is over and free agency has settled in. Teams rarely fire the man responsible for evaluating players, managing scouting and preparing the club for free agency right before the NFL combine and the free agency period begins. It just doesn’t make any sense because scouting free agents and prospects is a yearlong process – a process that should be almost completed in mid February.

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