Bajakian first to bolt staff
The first to be officially leaving is offensive quality-control assistant Mike Bajakian, who will become the offensive coordinator at Central Michigan. Bajakian, who has been on the staff for three seasons, was organizing a stack of play cards Thursday morning at the Airport Hilton during the media availability.
''Obviously, this is going to be hard to leave,'' he said. ''It's been a great experience, but I am ready for something else. I've learned a whole lot.''
Bajakian came with Terry Shea in 2004 through their Rutgers connection and was able to stay on under Ron Turner after Shea was fired. He was the quarterbacks coach under new CMU head coach Butch Jones when Jones was the Chippewas' offensive coordinator.
He will be recruiting the Chicago area, so he'll be back often and said home visits ''will probably be the only time'' he wears a Super Bowl XLI ring if the Bears win.
Assistant offensive line coach Harold Goodwin also is coming out of contract. He hopes to stay with the Bears.
NUMBER IS IN: The players association released franchise and transition numbers for 2007. It will cost the Bears $7.206 million to put a franchise tag on Pro Bowl weak-side linebacker Lance Briggs. The figure is the average of the top five linebacker salaries.
The Bears are reported to be more than $23 million under the $109 million cap, meaning Briggs could fit in easily at that figure. Of course, he could strike a long-term deal with the team.
''Lance and I have agreed he's going to play out the year, and wherever the chips fall, we'll make it work,'' agent Drew Rosenhaus said. ''I have a lot of confidence in Lance and a lot of confidence in the Bears organization, and we'll sit down at the end of the season and figure something out.''
It's unlikely the Bears would use the transition tag. That figure is $6.493 million, but going on the cheap is how the Seattle Seahawks lost All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson to the Minnesota Vikings. With the franchise tag, the Bears would have the right of first refusal should Briggs sign a deal with another team and would receive two first-round draft picks as compensation. The transition tag provides right of first refusal only.
Center Olin Kreutz's new contract gave him the league's second-highest 2006 cap number for an offensive lineman at $10,166,666.
UP-TEMPO WORK: The Bears went through ''third-down Thursday'' practice at the University of Miami in shorts and shells. Pool reporter Ira Miller said the energy level was up, and Smith said that was typical of the way his team's work week progresses.
''It always happens like that,'' Smith said. ''Wednesday you start putting in the initial game plan. Thursday you get a chance to go over it and get some of the kinks out.''
Special attention was paid to punt protection and kickoff coverage, as well as the two-minute offense. The Bears will have a light practice today and will work out at Dolphin Stadium on Saturday. They now have the chance to spend time with family and friends as four team charter flights arrived Thursday afternoon.
''That's the special thing,'' general manager Jerry Angelo said. ''It's very gratifying.''
HEALTH BEAT: Wide receiver Mark Bradley (sprained right ankle) has been removed from the injury report. Smith reported all 53 players will be available.
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999: With Prince performing at halftime Sunday, the Bears played his music on the team bus going to and from practice Wednesday.
''It was very, very funny,'' strong safety Chris Harris said. ''A bunch of high-pitched voices on a football bus.''
Harris was asked if Prince could play in the NFL.
''I think he's 5-2 or 5-3,'' he said. ''I could see him passing out the water, maybe.''
FULL DIVOT: If the Bears are seeking ammunition in their dispute with the Chicago Park District over who pays the $70,000 tab to have Soldier Field resodded for the postseason, the players association provided it. A leaguewide survey ranked the Soldier Field playing surface as one of the NFL's worst.
Nearly half of the 37 Bears who responded to the survey ranked Soldier Field fair on an excellent/good/fair/poor scale, with nine calling it poor. It ranked as the league's fifth-worst natural grass surface.
FINDING HIS RANGE: Special-teams coordinator Dave Toub said Robbie Gould hit 53-yard field goals in both end zones Wednesday when the team used Dolphin Stadium for a kicking and punting workout.
Asked what would happen if the Bears needed a 57-yarder to win the game, Toub responded: ''Then we kick it.''
