Bears release Alex Brown

How stupid, how cheap and how poorly executed. In other words, how typical of the Chicago Bears.

The Bears released veteran defensive end Alex Brown Thursday, meaning neither of their 2009 starters at the position will be back. While Julius Peppers is certainly an upgrade over either Brown or Adewale Ogunleye, Brown's release means that Mark Anderson, Israel Idonije, Henry Melton and Jarron Gilbert are likely to play in some capacity opposite Peppers.

There's little chance that the Bears made the move genuinely believing that they're a better football team without Brown. Brown isn't flashy, and he's never had more than 7 sacks in a season, but he is extremely consistent and durable and one of the better defensive ends in the NFL at stopping the run. If the Bears get the kind of sack production they're expecting out of Peppers and Tommie Harris, they wouldn't have needed a double-digit total from the other end spot, and Brown's other strengths may have helped make it an elite defensive line.

No, Brown was cut because he was scheduled to make $5 million this season. There's no salary cap this year, but the Bears can't be blamed too heavily for having a budget, especially given the money they shelled out to bring in Peppers and other free agents. What they can be blamed for is their terrible approach to the Brown situation. They let word leak out a week ago that they would try to trade Brown, and if they were unable to do so, they'd simply cut him. Why were they expecting another team to give up anything of value for Brown if they knew they could get him for nothing by waiting a while?

To his credit, Brown handled the situation far better than did his former employers. He expressed initial surprise at their decision, but said he understood that it's a business and refused to blast the Bears on his way out the door. Perhaps Brown — being the classy, hard-working, reliable player that he is — just isn't a fit for this Bears organization after all.