Ed ReedWith Super Bowl XLVII coming up this weekend many questions surround the game and the players in it.

Many of the players will be free agents once the big game is finished.

One of those players is 34-year old safety Ed Reed.

Reed has spent all of his 11 NFL seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.

He was a first-round pick out of the University of Miami in 2002.

He has played 160 regular season games making 608 tackles, 6.0 sacks, 61 interceptions, 11 forced fumbles and nine defensive touchdowns. He has eight interceptions in 14 post-season games.

He’s well on his way to being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But the question remains to be seen if he will play another season.

Would he retire alongside LB Ray Lewis if the Ravens do indeed win the Super Bowl or will he keep playing?

He mulled over retirement this past off-season as well.

Despite all of those questions, Reed figures to be moving on this off-season to a new franchise.

The Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots are reportedly interested in his services.

Should the Chicago Bears take a chance on an aging superstar like Ed Reed?

Reed ranked just 59th among 88 safeties this season, according to Pro Football Focus. He missed a seventh-worst 15 tackles and allowed 17.3 yards per catch this season.

He won’t demand a big contract if indeed he plays next season, but he will likely want to be a starter on the next team he plays for.

Chris Conte and Major Wright are the current starters at safety for the Bears with Craig Steltz, Anthony Walters and Brandon Hardin providing depth.

Hardin was a third-round pick in the draft last year who suffered a season-ending neck injury in the pre-season. The Bears are very high on him and think he can compete for a starting job.

So with Conte, Wright and Hardin competing for two starting spots would the Bears even consider a guy like Ed Reed?

Reed would be able to be a solid coach on the back end for the young secondary. It just remains to be seen if the Bears are considering adding veteran players to their aging defense.

Some big questions still remain for this Bears’ defense. Will LB Brian Urlacher be back for 14th season? Will up-and-coming star DT Henry Melton be re-signed? Will DE Israel Idonije and LB Nick Roach be back?

With all of those questions up in the air for new head coach Marc Trestman and general manager Phil Emery it will certainly be a tough off-season.

Maybe adding Ed Reed to the mix is another big question. He is a player that could arguably take this Bears’ defense to the next level.

Time will help decide the fate of the Bears’ free-agents mentioned above and possible free-agents brought in this off-season.

What do you think about the possible addition of Ed Reed to the Bears in 2013?

 

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