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The Chicago Bears are moving forward without Brian Urlacher after both sides were unable to reach an agreement on a free-agent deal, the team announced Wednesday.

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PHOENIX -- Four days at the NFL owners meeting has helped clear up a portion of Brian Urlacher's continuing contract standoff with the Chicago Bears.

We know that chairman George McCaskey wants Urlacher back with the team but won't influence the final decision of general manager Phil Emery.

It's now overtly clear that the Bears' coaching staff wants Urlacher back as well, a topic we've discussed generally but was confirmed Wednesday by coach Marc Trestman. In discussing the issue at the NFL owners meeting, Trestman said: "We all understand I think that he can help us on the field. I've said that, and I've said that to Brian."

Given the current state of the Bears' roster, I understand why the coaching staff would want Urlacher back. Neither of the players who have started at the position over the past three years -- Urlacher and Nick Roach -- are under contract. (Roach signed last week with the Oakland Raiders.) There really isn't a viable starter on the roster, and it's never ideal to enter a draft with a desperate need for a starter at any position.

But in addition to providing continuity at middle linebacker, I also wonder if Urlacher could provide Trestman an essential service during his rookie season as coach. Assuming Urlacher bought in to Trestman's program and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker's scheme, he could serve as a locker room salesman and messenger to help smooth the transition from the previous regime.

At a time of uncertainty, many Bears players would be looking to Urlacher -- who has long been the face of the franchise -- to set a tone and take the lead. If Urlacher enthusiastically embraces Trestman and Tucker, chances are better that the rest of the locker room would follow suit.

If Trestman wants Urlacher back, my guess is he thinks there is a good chance of buy-in. And Urlacher's interest in returning suggests he feels the same way. Here's what Trestman said when I asked him about Urlacher serving in the conduit role:

"There is no doubt that the No. 1 thing is he can help our football team on the field. Everything else certainly brings great value to our team. No doubt about it. I'm just hopeful it will be resolved. And it will be resolved. As a coaching staff, we've just got to trust the process."

That process, to be clear, is financial. The Bears have removed emotion from the equation and have acknowledged the on-field aspect. So now we wait.

CHICAGO -- The rule change passed by NFL owners on Wednesday that will penalize offensive and defensive players for crown of the helmet hits outside the tackle box did not sit well Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte.

Forte called the potential rule change "absurd" on Sunday but his pleas fell on deaf ears as the rule change passed 31-1, with only the Cincinnati Bengals voting against it.

Within an hour of the decision, Forte again took to his Twitter account to voice his displeasure.

"Wow so they really passed that rule …. last time I checked football was a contact sport," Forte tweeted. "Calling bank now to set up my lowering the boom fund."

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The Chicago Bears and free agent defensive end Turk McBride agreed to a one-year deal on Tuesday.

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PHOENIX -- The Chicago Bears' new regime has been signaling for a while that it considers Devin Hester to be primarily a returner at this stage in his career. On Wednesday, coach Marc Trestman revealed how serious the team is about narrowing Hester's duties.

Speaking at the NFL owners meeting, Trestman said that Hester will spend most of his time during the Bears' offseason program with special-teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis. Asked if Hester will even practice with receivers during organized team activities (OTAs), Trestman said: "I don't know yet. We're going to talk about that next week. Most of the time he will be with Joe, meeting with Joe and spending time with Joe."

Trestman also reiterated general manager Phil Emery's expectation that Hester will "compete" for the returner's job, although I think we all know that Hester's skills would have to decline significantly for him not to be the best returner on the Bears' roster.

I tossed Trestman's sentiments onto Twitter a few minutes ago and your collective and overwhelming response was this: "It's about time." Real or imagined, many of us have wondered if the Bears got too greedy after Hester revealed his elite open-field running skills as a returner.

It was worth finding out if he could extend it into a full-time receiving role, but his 49 receptions and two touchdowns since the start of the 2011 season isn't enough production to merit a splitting of duties -- and presumably a watered-down impact. That has been especially clear since the team traded for Brandon Marshall and drafted Alshon Jeffery last year; Trestman spoke Wednesday as if he expected that pair to be his primary starters in 2013.

Hester didn't have a touchdown return last season but had three as recently as 2011. He will turn 31 in November, which is middle age for a receiver but probably not a multi-purpose threat. The Bears had reached the point in his career when it was time to make a choice, and it makes perfect sense to pick the part of his skill set that is Hall of Fame worthy.

Although he hasn't made a direct public comment about the situation that I'm aware of, it's fair to assume Hester is on board. As we noted earlier month, a post on Hester's Instagram account said he was "a bear 4 life."

More to come from the meetings in a bit.

CHICAGO -- Cornerback figures to be an area of need for the Chicago Bears when the NFL draft rolls around late next month.

With the club already down at least one cornerback with D.J. Moore signing with the Carolina Panthers coupled with the uncertain status of free agent Kelvin Hayden, the Bears could stand to benefit from adding a younger player or two to the secondary. It's also worth mentioning that Pro Bowlers Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings are each entering the final year of their respective contracts.

One draft prospect to monitor is former Miami Hurricanes cornerback Brandon McGee, whom the Bears recently put through a private workout on the Miami campus.

McGee, who started 24 straight games to close out his collegiate career, is viewed by some analysts as a potential mid-round pick. He had a strong showing at the East-West Shrine Game in January after he tallied 54 tackles, two interceptions and seven pass break ups his senior season at Miami.

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CHICAGO -- The Carolina Panthers signed former Chicago Bears nickel back D.J. Moore to a one-year contract on Tuesday, Moore confirmed to ESPNChicago.com.

"I don’t know my exact role but I think it’ll be nickel back to start off with," Moore said. "After that, who knows? I’ll play anywhere they let me. You know me, I take the mentality out there that nobody can do my job better. That’s how you have to play. If I play the entire year at nickel, I hope to have six picks and six sacks. Why not think like that?"

Moore traveled to Charlotte on Tuesday morning to visit the Panthers before he agreed to the deal.

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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bears and Houston Texans are the frontrunners to land former Kansas City Chiefs blocking tight end Steve Maneri, a league source told ESPNChicago.com.

The Chicago Tribune first reported the Bears' interest in Maneri.

Maneri started eight games and played over 400 snaps for the Chiefs last season.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys have also expressed interest in the 6-foot-6, 280-pound tight end, but the Bears and Texans have been the most aggressive suitors, the source said.

Maneri, a college teammate with Bears second-year tight end Evan Rodriguez at Temple University, did not receive an exclusive rights free agent tender from the Chiefs.

The Bears are looking to replace blocking tight end Matt Spaeth who signed a two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday after visiting the Bengals last week. Another ex-Bears tight end Kellen Davis is now believed to be under consideration by the Bengals, who are clearly interested in adding a blocking tight end in free agency.

CHICAGO -- Free agent defensive end Turk McBride is scheduled to visit the Chicago Bears on Wednesday, according to a league source.

He originally was going to visit Tuesday, but his travel plans were pushed back.

McBride played in only 15 combined games for the New Orleans Saints the past two seasons but started eight games for the Detroit Lions in 2010 when he had a career-high 5.0 sacks. McBride spent his first three seasons in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and has 9.5 career sacks.

The Bears could be looking at McBride in the event the club does not re-sign veteran free agent defensive lineman Israel Idonije. Bears general manager Phil Emery said at the NFL combine the team wanted to talk with Idonije about coming back, but possibly at a reduced price.

Idonije signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Bears last offseason. While Idonije had another productive year for the Bears, the free agent market has proven tough for many veteran players because of the salary cap constraints some teams are facing due to the new collective bargaining agreement.

CHICAGO -- Former Chicago Bears linebacker Nick Roach signed a four-year, $13 million contract with the Oakland Raiders that included a total guarantee of $5 million, according to documents obtained by ESPNChicago.com.

Roach received a $3.185 signing bonus when he signed with the Raiders on Friday.

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PITTSBURGH -- Matt Spaeth is coming back to Pittsburgh.

The Steelers signed the free agent tight end on Monday, reuniting Spaeth with the club that selected him in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. The 29-year-old Spaeth spent his first four seasons with the Steelers before moving on to Chicago, where he caught just 13 passes for 78 yards and three touchdowns in 31 games.

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PHOENIX -- We've passed through the first week of NFL free agency, and league news probably will come at a slower pace over the next few days here at the plush Biltmore Resort. But one of the biggest news stories of the offseason still hangs over us: The future of Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher.

The sides are in enough of a contract stalemate that word leaked last week that Urlacher had discussed his status with the Minnesota Vikings, whose 2012 middle linebacker -- Jasper Brinkley -- has departed via free agency. While I don't expect Urlacher to join receiver Greg Jennings as NFC North defectors, I do think it's far from settled that he will return to the Bears.

The issue is important enough that I figured it was worth speaking to Bears chairman George McCaskey about it. As he walked the Biltmore halls, McCaskey said he personally hopes Urlacher returns but made clear the decision lies with general manager Phil Emery.

"As a fan," McCaskey said, "of course you want him back. He's been the face of the franchise. He's been an outstanding player, a Hall of Fame career. But I've tried to assure Bears fans since I became chairman that I don't involve myself in player personnel decisions unless there is a question of character. Of course, there is no question about Brian's character. So you have to leave that to the pros, the guys that make the evaluations, and hope for the best."

Urlacher's future isn't just a "player personnel decision." It's a franchise decision, and one that needs careful handling from all angles -- perhaps even a rare involvement from ownership. But I understand why McCaskey isn't inserting himself. If he makes an exception and orders Emery to re-sign him, he would leave Emery and the rest of the front office wondering when the next exception is coming. To maintain the wall he has advertised to fans, McCaskey has no other choice.

If I had to guess, I would assume the Bears have attached a value to Urlacher's return and are sticking to it. That financial figure is almost assuredly much lower than the $7.5 million he earned last season, and that's why the sides are where they are. This one is too murky to call. Stay tuned.

Jeff Dickerson enters the Bears chat room at 1 p.m.

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PHOENIX -- For the first time, the NFL's ongoing efforts to emphasize player safety have targeted offensive players. Owners are set to vote on two rule proposals this week that restrict potentially dangerous acts by offensive linemen and running backs. And in the latter case, at least, you can expect the running backs to fight back.

Chicago Bears tailback Matt Forte is the first active running back that I'm aware of to take a strong stance against the applicable proposed rule, which would penalize backs 15 yards for lowering their heads and initiating "forcible contact" with the top/crown of the helmet. League officials have said they would instruct officials to call only the most obvious examples, but Sunday morning, Forte tweeted:

"The proposed rule change for running backs might be the most absurd suggestion of a rule change I've ever heard of. In order to lower ur shoulder u obviously have to lower ur head. It's a way of protecting ur self from a tackler and a way to break tackles. U can't change the instinctive nature of running the football."

What Forte wrote makes a lot of rational sense. I look forward to hearing from other prominent running backs as well, including the Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson, but my informed guess is that their breath will be wasted.

I ran into a few team officials Sunday morning as they began gathering at the Biltmore hotel, and they expressed varying opinions about whether the rule will pass. My feeling on these issues hasn't changed. Whenever the NFL attaches player safety to a proposed rule change, as it did two years ago when it altered kickoffs, the rule usually passes in some form, even if it is tweaked a bit.

Player safety rule changes are as important to the outside perception of the league as they are to actually increasing player safety. Rejecting those efforts by dismissing a rule change would send a mixed message about the league's intent. I don't think the league wants to do that. More to come, I'm sure.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte called the NFL's proposed rule change that would penalize ball carriers who lower their heads to deliver a blow "absurb" in a series of messages he posted on his official Twitter account Sunday morning.

The new rule would penalize a runner 15-yards if he initiates contact with the crown of his helmet outside of the tackle box. Incidental contact with the crown of the helmet would not be a penalty.

"The proposed rule change for running backs might be the most absurd suggestion of a rule change I've ever heard of," Forte wrote. "In order to lower ur shoulder u obviously have to lower ur head. It's a way of protecting ur self from a tackler and a way to break tackles."

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