The Chicago Bears have continued to be aggressive in upgrading their special teams unit.

In the offseason, the Bears signed Eric Weems to help Devin Hester with returns.

Chicago also kept Jeremy Jones and Patrick Trahan with an eye on special teams.

The Bears assume their offense will be improved, which has caused them to place a greater significance on field position.

The New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints have been the smartest spenders in the NFL over the past five seasons, according to a study by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg calculates how much teams spent per win and added bonuses for playoffs wins and championships.

1. New England Patriots
2. Green Bay Packers
3. New York Giants
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. New Orleans Saints
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. Indianapolis Colts
8. San Diego Chargers
9. Atlanta Falcons
10. Philadelphia Eagles
11. Arizona Cardinals
12. Tennessee Titans 
13. New York Jets
14. Dallas Cowboys
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16. Chicago Bears
17. Jacksonville Jaguars
18. San Francisco 49ers
19. Houston Texans
20. Minnesota Vikings
21. Denver Broncos
22. Cincinnati Bengals
23. Seattle Seahawks
24. Carolina Panthers
25. Kansas City Chiefs
26. Miami Dolphins
27. Buffalo Bills
28. Cleveland Browns
29. Washington Redskins
30. Oakland Raiders
31. Detroit Lions
32. St. Louis Rams 

The Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens have the three oldest collections of starters in the NFL. 

The Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks and Cincinnati Bengals are the youngest.

Former Vikings head coach Bud Grant had a popular saying that "for every young guy you start, you lose a game."

Pete Carroll worked for Grant early in his coaching career, but has had one of the youngest teams in the NFL during his tenure with the Seahawks.

"I was of that mindset in classic fashion until I had to be in charge of calling all the shots and then it just flipped in me that we don't know where we're going unless we find these guys out," Carroll said. "One of the really exciting things about playing guys early is ... by the middle and to the end of the season, you’ve developed players that fit into your rotations now that add to your depth and also add to the opportunity to not over-play your older guys." 

Below is a full list with the rank in offense/defense in parenthesis.

1. Atlanta Falcons (2/5)
2. San Diego Chargers (7/3)
3. Baltimore Ravens (1/15)
4. Chicago Bears (11/4)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (25/1)
6. New York Jets (23/2)
7. New York Giants (9/2)
8. Detroit Lions (3/20)
9. New Orleans Saints (6/13)
10. San Francisco 49ers (8/8)
11. Denver Broncos (14/7)
12. Houston Texans (4/23)
13. Oakland Raiders (13/11)
14. Buffalo Bills (12/17)
15. Arizona Cardinals (16/14)
16. Washington Redskins (21/9)
17. Dallas Cowboys (18/16)
18. New England Patriots (5/28)
19. Green Bay Packers (17/21)
20. Jacksonville Jaguars (24/19)
21. Miami Dolphins (26/18)
22. Carolina Panthers (15/26)
23. Indianapolis Colts (28/10)
24. Philadelphia Eagles (19/25)
25. Tennessee Titans (10/31)
26. Minnesota Vikings (30/12)
27. St. Louis Rams (22/27)
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (20/30)
29. Cleveland Browns (31/24)
30. Cincinnati Bengals (32/22)
31. Seattle Seahawks (29/29)
32. Kansas City Chiefs (27/32) 

The New York Jets have claimed punter Spencer Lanning on waivers after he was let go by the Cleveland Browns.

The Chicago Bears also submitted a claim on Lanning.

The Jets want T.J. Conley to have competition for their punting job.

The Bears are weighing the possibility of signing free-agent Charlie Peprah, according to a league source.

Chicago suffered some injuries in the secondary last weekend.

Peprah was a regular starter for the Packers for the last two seasons. The 29-year-old safety had a career-high 94 tackles and five interceptions last season.

The Bears may have decided that J'Marcus Webb will be their starting left tackle.

Chicago's offensive line didn't allow a sack in Friday night's preseason game against the Giants.

"I got a good nap in, and I'm feeling pretty good now," Webb said after the game. "I have to look at the film, and in addition to the chicken, the shrimp and the pasta [I ate], it really made it a good night.

"Man, that pasta was ... nah, I'm kidding. I would like some resolution, but you know, that's not up to me. I feel like I keep working hard and playing the way I'm playing, and everything will work out on its own."

The Bears have the best uniforms in the NFL, according to Paul Lukas of Uni Watch.

"True, the helmet design is starting to look a tad dated," writes Lukas. "But the striped sleeves, striped socks (now a rarity in the NFL, alas), unique number font, and even the perma-memorial to Papa Bear all score major points, and the Bears may be the only team in the league who look as sharp on the road as they do at home. The cream of the NFL crop."

The Packers, Steelers, Raiders and Eagles round out the top-five.

"Just suit up, baby," writes Lukas about the Raiders. "Silver and black look just as good today as they did when Al Davis came up with them. There's probably some marketer out there who wants the team to dress up like the fans in the Black Hole (and hey, that actually could be fun as a one-off thing), but you don't mess with something this elemental. Also: The Raiders are among the few NFL teams that wisely have declined to adopt the new Nike collar format."

6. Cowboys
7. Bills
8. 49ers
9. Dolphins
19. Buccaneers
11. Chiefs
12. Chargers
13. Jets
14. Colts
15. Patriots
16. Browns
17. Redskins
18. Giants
19. Titans 
20. Texans
21. Rams
22. Saints
23. Ravens
24. Broncos
25. Falcons
26. Lions
27. Seahawks
28. Jaguars
29. Cardinals
30. PAnthers
31. Vikings
32. Bengals 

Mike Tice, Chicago's new offensive coordinator, is committed to the running game.

Michael Bush signed a four-year, $14 million deal with the Bears this past offseason to take some of the load off starter Matt Forte. Tice wants both Bush and Forte to rush for 1,000 yards this season.

"[Tice] said he wanted to do it, and I said, 'Well, you got the right two people,'" Bush said recently.

Only six teams in NFL history have had a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in the same season.

Khalil Bell has been released by the Bears after he refused to take a paycut.

Bell was scheduled to make $1.26 million, which Chicago believed would be too high for a running back behind Matt Forte and Michael Bush on the depth chart.

Armando Allen has been impressive in the preseason, as has Lorenzo Booker.

Julius Peppers has donated $250,000 to the University of North Carolina for scholarships.

The fund will support African-American students.

The donation comes after the Chicago defensive end's transcript was posted on a school website. The transcript showed Peppers was barely academically eligible while he played football in Chapel Hill from 1999 to 2001.