The Chicago Bears claimed their fourth round draft pick from the 2004 draft, linebacker Leon Joe, off waivers from the Arizona Cardinals on Friday. To make room for Joe, the Bears waived defensive tackle Greg Pauly.

Chicago running back Cedric Benson will not be at the Bears training camp today making his holdout official. Fourth-round pick, QB Kyle Orton, is expected to sign on Sunday. "Cedric Benson has not signed, and Kyle Orton hasn't either," coach Lovie Smith said Saturday afternoon. "But I expect with Kyle for us to get it done pretty soon."

The Chicago Bears signed wide receiver Airese Currie on Wednesday. Currie finished his career tied for seventh on the Tigers' all-time list for receptions (138) and sixth in receiving yards (2,030) with 10 TDs and a 14.7 average. As a senior, he was the first Clemson receiver since 1991 to be named first-team All-ACC. He also was a three-time All-ACC sprinter in track and field.

The smokers of Chicago brought in their big guns recently in opposition to a new proposal to ban smoking inside most of Chicago?s public places, a law similar to that of California and NYC. Mike Ditka appeared at a City Council hearing to speak against the proposal on behalf of the hospitality, restaurant and liquor industries. "Don't impose the will of the few on the lives of the many," said Ditka, who drew a strong reaction from the audience when he used an expletive to describe the proposed smoking ban.

The Chicago Bears signed their seventh-round draft choice, linebacker Rod Wilson, to a four-year contract on Wednesday. Wilson had 117 tackles in his three final seasons for the Gamecocks. He is the third of the Bears' six draft picks to sign, joining Mark Bradley and Chris Harris.

Two weeks from today, the Bears will be in 11th-hour negotiations to get running back Cedric Benson to training camp on time. That is, of course, if a deal is not struck before then, but the chances of that happening aren't good for a number of reasons, the first being that the Bears' July 23 reporting date is earlier than any other team's. The Bears already were concerned about this scenario on draft day. That's what they talked about with Benson's agent, Eugene Parker, during the 15 minutes they were on the clock before announcing their selection. As the fourth overall pick, Benson will command about $15 million in total bonus money, and a deal like that doesn't get done easily. Consider also that in many cases, contracts fall like dominoes, and as of Thursday, only two players drafted on the first day had agreed to deals, one of them Bears wide receiver Mark Bradley. Bradley, a second-round pick from Oklahoma, signed for five years at $4.28 million and will count $690,000 against the team's rookie pool of $4,297,580.