Can You Spell Bears Sign Pisa Tinoisamoa?

Linebacker expected to start alongside Urlacher and Briggs

By TOM FORNELLI

Updated 6:37 AM CST, Sat, May 30, 2009

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It seems hard to believe but Bears training camp isn't too far off in the distance, and on Friday the Bears made some moves to get themselves ready for the 2009 season. Their first order of business was to give defensive lineman Israel Idonije a two-year contract extension to reward him for his production since joining the team. Idonije is technically a backup, but with all the injuries the Bears have had on the defensive line in recent years, he's been a pretty invaluable player to have given his ability to play both the tackle and end positions.

Then a few hours after locking up Idonije, the Bears went ahead and improved their linebacking corps as well. While you can write Brian Urlacher's and Lance Briggs' name on the depth chart in ink at middle and weakside linebacker respectively, the Bears did have a bit of a question on the strong side.

Hunter Hillenmeyer started the season as the Bears "other" linebacker last season, but was replaced by Nick Roach during the year. The two were expected to compete for the starting job this summer, but that competition just got a bit tougher. On Friday the Bears signed free agent Pisa Tinoisamoa (pronounced PEES-oh tee-noy-SAW-mo-ah which is just as fun to say as it is to type) to a one-year deal.

"He’s been a real productive player,’’ said Bears general manager Jerry Angelo. "We don’t, at this point, need any position. But any time we have a chance to add a good football player, we’re going to look at all positions.

"We don’t necessarily need more production as much as we’re just adding another good football player. It’s not an indictment on our linebackers. We like our (strong-side) linebackers. If this works, great. If it doesn’t work, we’re still fine.’’

Now while the strong side job probably won't just be handed to Pisa, odds are he's going to win it given his history with the Rams. He led the team in tackles last season, and though leading the Rams in anything is like being the smartest kid in a class of 5, he's still been a very productive player in the NFL.

Along with his 104 tackles last season, Tinoisamoa also had three sacks and is more than familiar with the defensive scheme the Bears use since he played under Lovie Smith when Smith was the defensive coordinator in St. Louis.

Along with writing for NBCCHICAGO.com, Tom Fornelli can also be found contributing at FanHouse, SPORTSbyBROOKS, and his own Chicago sports blog Foul Balls.