Bears president Ted Phillips announced the firing of general manager Jerry Angelo today.

Also, head coach Lovie Smith met with offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who wasn’t under contract for next season.

Martz and Smith had a disagreement and Martz ultimately resigned.

QB coach Shane Day was also let go today after what unfolded with Caleb Hanie during the Bears meltdown.

Change is good for the Bears at this point. Like Lovie said, they have a nice core of players in place.

Moves need to be made and these changes will only benefit this team in the short term.

Positions of need heading into the draft are, WR, CB, DE, LB and OL.

A big reason why Jerry Angelo was canned today was his failure to hit big on early round draft picks during his tenure in Chicago

The talent the Bears had behind key positions was pretty mediocre.

Wide receiver, quarterback, tight end, linebacker and safety were way to thin.

If you look at teams around the league many teams have young quarterbacks succeeding in their systems.

Andy Dalton, Matt Flynn, T.J. Yates are just a couple of young quarterbacks that stepped up when their number was called.

The Bears clearly thought Caleb Hanie was someone else because they put all their trust into him after Cutler went down.

Hanie turned out to be as bad as perhaps Jonathan Quinn or Craig Krenzel.

The Bears need to weigh all of their options. Getting the right general manager will be key for the Bears success next season.

With the division only getting tougher, the Bears time to bring in better talent is now.

Green Bay is dominant, Detroit is on the rise and Minnesota has talent.

The Bears can compete next year, but they need to make the right moves.

President Ted Phillips is currently searching for a new general manager and Lovie Smith is searching for a new offensive coordinator.

Free agency and the NFL draft will be a way for the Bears to improve their talent level.

A general manager might not be brought in until February according to Phillips.

A main reason for that is, the Bears want to look at all of their options including options on playoff teams.

These changes are the start to an improved Bears team that Bears fans will like a lot more in the 2012-2013 NFL season.

Despite the Bears blowing a 7-3 record and finishing the year 8-8, right now fans should feel much happier than a couple weeks ago.

The Bears aren’t that far off the track of the Packers or the Lions when their completely healthy.

Improvements need to be made with talent and that’s what the new general manager will be used for.

More articles on what the Bears biggest needs are heading into the offseason will be coming soon.

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. He is also the Chicago Bears writer for NFLTouchdown.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.