Dolphins get sacked

Bears rush to complete Ogunleye-for-Booker deal

Adewale Ogunleye had 15 sacks last season -- three fewer than the entire Bears defense. Rick Stewart/Getty Images Career Sacks Dolphins current DEs Player No. T.J. Bingham 0.0 David Bowens 8.0 Ronald Flemons 0.5 Otis Grigsby 0.0 Aaron Hunt 0.0 Josh Mallard 1.0 Jason Taylor 71.0 Jay Williams 21.5

With all that has gone wrong for the Dolphins this offseason, now they have to admit getting fleeced in the Adewale Ogunleye trade. After all, what was the rush to add Marty Booker? Or to pick up a third-round draft pick? Ogunleye is one of the NFL's best sackmeisters since 2002, and there is no one on the Miami roster who can replace him.

And Dave Wannstedt was supposed to have been a bad player personnel guy?

Ogunleye had 24 1/2 sacks during the past two seasons. The seven defensive ends not named Jason Taylor in the Dolphins' camp have combined for 31 career sacks, and 21 1/2 of those belong to 10-year veteran Jay Williams.

The Bears made out like bandits in this deal. Booker's days as Chicago's go-to receiver were over; Justin Gage will be Rex Grossman's primary target, and David Terrell insists he is ready to elevate his game to the NFL level in his fourth season (so what took so long, Dave?). Second-year player Bobby Wade and third-round pick Bernard Berrian are also in the mix. To be sure, the Bears have not repeated the misstep of letting the underrated Bobby Engram get out of town.

"To get valued players you have to be willing to give value," Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said after the robbery, er, trade. And he managed to utter the words with a straight face.

Without giving up anything of tangible value, the Bears addressed the defense's most glaring need: pass rush. Chicago posted an NFL-worst 18 sacks last season, led by Alex Brown's 5 1/2. The NFC North featured three of the conference's top 10 sack totals last season -- Minnesota's Kevin Williams (10 1/2) and Lance Johnstone (10), and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (10) of Green Bay -- and the Vikings drafted Kenechi Udeze, while the Packers signed Kenny Holmes this week.

"Our defense is about four-man pressure and now we feel like we have a 'bell cow' at defensive end," Bears head coach Lovie Smith said. "We feel it will help the defensive line as a whole, not just the pass rush." Given Chicago's woeful line play last season, I think Smith may be on to something here.

I also believe Chicago did more than level the playing field with its Black & Blue division rivals. The Bears now have arguably the best outside rusher in the NFC -- and they locked up Ogunleye with a six-year, $33.4 million deal. He'll be 33 at the end of that contract, the same age that reigning sack champ Michael Strahan turns in November. In short, Ogunleye has youth on his side, and the Bears did not have to mortgage the future to get him in his prime.

The Dolphins must now contend with the league's most prolific pass-rushers with one hand tied behind their backs, which matches how the Miami offense enters the season sans Ricky Williams. Four of the AFC's best sack totals came from players in the East -- Ogunleye, Taylor, Shaun Ellis and Aaron Schobel -- and nine of the conference's top 30 sack totals resided in the East last season (tied for most in the AFC with the North). Is it any wonder why Miami overhauled its O-line in the offseason?

Until Williams' retirement I believed the Dolphins were ready to finally shed their close-but-no-cigar tag. But coupled with the trade of Ogunleye for at best a possession receiver (shortly after signing Antonio Freeman, another possession receiver), it is quite clear that the haze over South Florida is in fact a funk that has engulfed the Dolphins.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel, Dolfans. If A.J. Feeley fails to pan out, and after Jay Fiedler goes down (and you know and I know that he will), Booker's career passer rating is an eye-popping 113.1 -- 2 of 7 for 78 yards and two TDs. ... Then again, maybe that light is a train coming down the tracks.

Mailbag

MAILBAG

I've received more than 2,000 e-mails on the topic of the top five quarterbacks of all-time. That comparison will be coming before the season kicks off. Here are some reactions to the journeyman Steve DeBerg piece:

Great article. I remember feeling bad when the Vikes could not get Scott Mitchell signed! Anyway, keep going -- best non-Pro Bowl RB ever? I don't have data, but backs like Earnest Byner or Terry Allen have to be close to perfect (though they might have made a Pro Bowl or two).
 -- Tom, Minneapolis

Loved your mention of Ken Anderson. I wish more and more that people would realize that the "West Coast Offense" was really born on the Ohio River during Bill Walsh's days as a coach on Paul Brown's first Bengals staff. For being a pretty damn good player, Ken never gets much mention.
 -- Jim, Columbus, Ohio

Several e-mailers took issue with the parameters, arguing that omitting QBs who had made All-Pro or the Pro Bowl was unfair. Maybe, but when you think of "journeyman," grass skirts and luaus don't jump to mind.

What about Jeff George? He by far had the most potential of all those QBs listed. He had a higher passing percentage (if only slighly). He had a higher yards per completion percentage and had a higher TD-to-INT ratio. Given the stats comparison, Jeff George was a much better QB than Steve DeBerg any day.
 -- Chris, Regina, Saskatchewan

True, but the reason George bounced around was mostly his penchant for biting the hand that fed him. DeBerg admittedly had a problem with the bottle, but no one pointed to his drinking as a reason for sending him packing.

How about Jim Harbaugh? He wasn't only a great QB but also one of the toughest. He suffered real injuries, unlike Steve McNair whom everyone enshrines. Also when everyone said Ryan Leaf didn't have players surrounding him, Harbaugh would come in and throw for 300-plus yards and three or four TDs.
 -- Mark, Richmond, Va.

This is a good article if you just want to write about how great Steve DeBerg is. But there is no mention of the best two journeymen QBs of our time, Dave Kreig and Steve Beuerlein.
 -- Rob, West Unity, Ohio

What about Steve Bono? And, yes, Rich Gannon? I think your All-Pro exclusion "clause" masks an effective case for Gannon, who was the classic definition of an NFL journeyman QB until the light bulb flicked on in his head about three years ago. Prior to landing in Oaktown, Gannon would have ranked second to DeBerg on my list.
 -- Jeff, Hershey, Pa.

Harbaugh, Gannon, Earl Morrall, Chris Chandler et al had Pro Bowl seasons, which excluded them from the list. As for Doug Flutie, for whom several readers made passionate pleas -- he has played in only 86 NFL games, and Bono appeared in 88.

The great thing about these kinds of lists and the debates that accompany any best-of list is that fans bring up stories they've heard through the years. A couple of note:

• Yes, Nick of Pacific City, Ore., DeBerg suffered a broken collarbone against Seattle on Nov. 6, 1983. He missed six games before returning -- against the Seahawks -- in a 31-7 wild-card loss.

• Great story, Lisa of New York: DeBerg gets under center and begins his cadence with "Studio ... 54! Studio ... 54!" while looking across at Jets DE Mark Gastineau, who had recently been cuffed and stuffed at the trendy NYC hot spot.

But before I go, what ever happened to Chilliwack? We used to stay up and watch NightTracks on TBS after the Braves games, anticipating the videos for Chilliwack, Martin Briley and Diesel. ... Wow, that was long time ago.

B. Duane Cross is a senior producer for SI.com.