2013 will be McCown’s third year with the Bears, having originally been signed in 2011 when Jay Cutler went down injured.

Although he did not appear in a game in 2012, he played in three games in 2011, starting two of them. Across those appearances he completed 35 of 55 pass attempts for 414 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions, with a QB rating of 68.3.

McCown, 33, will be entering his 12th season in the NFL this year, he was originally selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2002 Draft.

The 6’4″ 213-pounder played in Arizona for four years, before moving to the Detroit Lions in 2006. He spent a year in Detroit and then moved to the Oakland Raiders for another year.

In 2008 he signed with the Miami Dolphins, only to be traded to the Carolina Panthers in pre-season, where he would stay for another two seasons. He then a brief stint with the San Francisco 49ers at the beginning of the 2011 season before eventually joining the Bears.

McCown has played in 50 games in his career, starting 33, and has an overall pass completion percentage of 58.0, and a QB rating of 71.2.

Jay Cutler has always spoken highly of McCown so he will be pleased he is returning. The Bears may still look for another backup in free agency or the Draft though, with Cutler, McCown and Matt Blanchard (on a reserve/future contract) the only quarterbacks on the roster.

Lance Louis had impressed at right guard for the Bears last season, but he opted to join the Miami Dolphins earlier this week, leaving the Bears to look to free agency for a replacement.

Slauson, 27, had been with the New York Jets for the past four seasons having been selected by them in the sixth round of the 2009 Draft out of Nebraska.

The 6’5″ 315-pounder has been the Jets’ starting left guard for the past three years, and started all 16 games in each of those seasons.

The Bears have reportedly not told Slauson if they want him to play left or right guard but he can already be pencilled in as a starter at one of those positions.

It leaves the Bears with three senior guards on the roster – Edwin Williams, James Brown and Slauson, although that number can probably be upped to four with Gabe Carimi looking more and more likely to be competing for a spot at guard in 2013.

Hayden, 29, joined the Bears last year as a free agent and impressed at nickelback, eventually taking the job from DJ Moore.

He played in all 16 games last season, starting two, and recorded 37 tackles, one interception and four fumble recoveries (the joint-most in the NFL).

The Bears missed out on signing cornerback Captain Munnerlyn from the Carolina Panthers last week, a player who could well have been the Bears’ new nickel, but the signing of Hayden should secure him the job in 2013.

The 6’0″ 195lb Hayden will be entering his ninth year in the NFL, he was originally drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round in 2005.

He spent six years with the Colts before a one year stint with the Atlanta Falcons in 2011, he then joined the Bears as a free agent just before the 2012 season.

Hayden is a Chicago native and was a Bears fan as a child, he was born in the city and attended Hubbard High School before going on to play his college football at Illinois.

In other news, the Bears will be looking for a new backup quarterback after Jason Campbell signed a two-year deal with the Cleveland Browns yesterday.

Scott, 30, was originally signed by the Bears as a free agent on September 10 2012 and went on to play in 12 games last season, starting the last seven at right tackle after Gabe Carimi was benched.

The move suggests that Carimi may be competing for a place as a guard in 2013, he performed adequetly at the position at the back end of last season. It seems as though Scott and J’Marcus Webb will battle it out for the right tackle job, with Jermon Bushrod pencilled in at left tackle.

The 6’6″ 318lb Scott will be entering his eighth season in the NFL after originally being drafted out of Texas in the fifth round by the Detroit Lions in 2006.

The Bears are his fourth NFL team, he spent two years with the Lions (2006 and ’07), two years with the Buffalo Bills (’08 and ’09) and two years with the Pittsburgh Steelers (’10 and ’11) before joining the Bears last season.

Anderson, 29, spent his first seven seasons in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers after they selected him in the third round of the 2006 Draft.

The 6’2″ 235lb Virginia Tech product has played in 94 games in the NFL (a Panthers franchise record for a linebacker), starting 53, and making a total of 454 tackles, eight sacks, five forced fumbles and three interceptions.

In the two seasons when he started more than 12 games (2010 and 2011) he established himself as a tackling machine, making 130 in 2010 and 145 in 2011.

Anderson is mostly known for playing as a 4-3 strong-side linebacker, meaning he should replace Nick Roach in the Bears’ system. This gives the Bears a projected starting linebacker group of Lance Briggs at WLB, DJ Williams at MLB and Anderson at SLB.

It also opens up what the Bears can do in the Draft next month, there was a lot of talk they could select a linebacker in the first round but the chances of that may be slimmer after this signing.

Zbikowski, 27, was born in Park Ridge, Illinois and attended Buffalo Grove High School in Chicago.

The 5’11″ 200-pounder is a five year NFL veteran, spending his first four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens after they selected him in the third round of the 2008 Draft out of Notre Dame college.

He spent his fifth season with the Indianapolis Colts, where he started 11 games at safety, before being released on March 16 this year.

He has played in 64 games, starting 25, in his NFL career, making a total of 126 tackles, two sacks and three interceptions.

The signing of a safety indicates that the Bears may try to play Brandon Hardin at nickelback.

Safety Hardin spent his rookie 2012 season on injured reserve but there have been talk of him coming back at nickel after both DJ Moore and Kelvin Hayden saw their contracts run out.

Williams, 30, joins on a one-year deal after he was released by the Broncos earlier this month, he is reported to be earning a base salary of $900,000 for the year, but that could reach $1.75m with various workout and roster bonuses.

He missed nine games last season after violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy; in the seven games he did play, he made just one start with 14 total tackles on the year.

The 6’1″ 242lb Miami (Fla.) product was selected by the Broncos with the 17th overall pick in the 2004 Draft. Over the next nine seasons in Denver he played in 127 games, starting 115, he made 824 total tackles and recorded 20.5 sacks.

In 2007 he finished second in the NFL in terms of tackles made with 141, one of four times he has made over 100 tackles in a season, having also achieved the feat in 2004, 2009 and 2010.

Assuming Williams starts at middle linebacker in 2013, that still leaves a hole at strong-side linebacker so expect the Bears to still either draft a linebacker in the first two rounds, or sign another free agent in the coming days.

Another one of the Bears players who was released has found himself a new team today too, as tight end Kellen Davis signed with the Cleveland Browns.

6’6″ 280lb Maneri is known as a blocking tight end, and is a converted offensive tackle that looks to be the natural replacement for Matt Spaeth who was released last week.

He began his career as an undrafted free agent in 2010, spending short amounts of time on the rosters of the Houston Texans and the New England Patriots.

In 2011 he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs and appeared in six games, starting one, as an offensive tackle before being converted to a tight end before the 2012 season.

He played in 13 games with eight starts at tight end in 2012 for the Chiefs, catching six passes for 52 yards.

The 25-year-old played his college football at Temple, where he was a teammate of his fellow Bears tight end Evan Rodriguez.

The Bears also missed out on adding a new cornerback yesterday, they reportedly offered free agent Captain Munnerlyn a one-year deal but he has opted to re-sign with the Carolina Panthers.

McBride, 27, will be enterting his eighth season in the NFL in 2013, and the Bears will be his fourth team; he has previously played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints.

The 6’2″ 278lb Tennessee product was most successful during his time in Detroit, registering 6.5 sacks in 26 games for the Lions.

His play has dropped off in the last two seasons in New Orleans though, he played in only 15 games for the Saints and failed to make a sack in 2012.

McBride may face a battle to make the team if the Bears do re-sign Israel Idonije who had a good 2012. Although they reportedly want him back at a cheaper price, after he was paid $2.5m last year.

In other news, another of the Bears’ released players has found himself a new team, with nickelback DJ Moore signing for the Carolina Panthers.

Bowman, 28, will be playing his sixth season in Chicago in 2013, after being drafted by the Bears in the fifth round in 2008.

He was released by the Bears after the 2011 season but was re-signed during 2012 following a brief stint with the Minnesota Vikings.

The 6’1″ 196lb Nebraska product has played in 57 games in five seasons with the Bears, starting 16 of them. He has mostly been used on special teams, but does have seven interceptions and 126 total tackles in his career so far.

The signing leaves the Bears with five cornerbacks on the roster – Charles Tillman, Tim Jennings, Sherrick McManis, LeQuan Lewis and Bowman. Kelvin Hayden and DJ Moore’s contracts both ended after the 2012 season, Hayden may still rejoin the Bears but Moore has been informed he will not be offered a new deal.

The Bears will need to find a new starting strong side linebacker, with Nick Roach joining the Oakland Raiders.

Roach had been with the Bears since they signed him in his rookie year in 2007 after he was cut by the San Diego Chargers. He started 29 games over the past two seasons, mostly at strong side but filled in well at middle linebacker last season when Brian Urlacher went down injured.

He had been a solid player for the Bears over the past six seasons, recording a total of 234 tackles and 3.5 sacks during his time in Chicago.

Tight end Matt Spaeth, who was cut by the Bears on Wednesday, has rejoined the Pittsburgh Steelers. Spaeth played for the Steelers for four years before joining the Bears in 2011.