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NDIANAPOLIS — Bears general manager Phil Emery was busy meeting with agents throughout the day Friday at the NFL scouting combine.
Emery visited with representatives of Bears players who are set to become free agents, according to sources, and also got together with Todd France, who doesn't have any current players on the Bears roster but does represent a pair of free-agent wide receivers in Dwayne Bowe and Eddie Royal.
Bowe will be one of the prized players on the open market March 13 if the Chiefs do not sign him to a long-term deal or place the franchise tag on him at a cost of roughly $10 million. Emery knows the 27-year-old Bowe well from his tenure with the Chiefs. The 6-foot-2, 221-pound Bowe caught 81 passes for 1,159 yards and five touchdowns last season from quarterbacks Matt Cassel, Tyler Palko and Kyle Orton. The year before, Bowe led the NFL with 15 touchdown receptions.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli said before arriving at the combine his team would have about $38 million, which would leave enough space for the club to secure Bowe and cornerback Brandon Carr and leave room for plenty more transactions. So the chances of Bowe reaching the marketplace aren't good.
Like new quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates, Royal would be a familiar figure for quarterback Jay Cutler. As a rookie in 2008, Royal caught 91 passes for 980 yards playing with Cutler for the Broncos. He hasn't been nearly as productive since the Bears acquired Cutler. Royal is 5-10, 185, though, and the team already has a cast of similar-sized targets.
France also represents draft prospects worthy of discussion — Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon and Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. Both are considered first-round talents, and Blackmon will likely be long gone before the Bears select at No. 19 overall.
The process in Indianapolis, including a night packed with interviews with draft prospects, is one Chairman George McCaskey is exploring. He arrived Friday afternoon and will be involved at least in the background as he experiences the combine for the first time in his role.
It's hard to say what the Bears will have to consider when free agency opens. The deadline for franchise tags to be used is March 5, so that date will provide some clarity. But teams can do deals with their own players all the way through, and there is no guarantee wide receiver Vincent Jackson will make it out of San Diego. The Chargers could re-sign the 29-year-old. If he's off the market, the Bears might be left to consider players such as Marques Colston of the Saints or Reggie Wayne of the Colts.
There are questions that accompany both of those receivers. How effective will Colston be not playing in New Orleans' scheme? He's a possession receiver who has spent his entire career with Drew Brees and has played all of his home games in the ideal passing conditions created by a dome. Wayne is 33, two years older than Muhsin Muhammad was when the Bears signed him in 2005.
Emery has a lot to consider in a short amount of time. The Bears will get a closer look at wide receiver options for the draft beginning Sunday when those players work out at the combine.
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