Briggs bid farewell to another starting linebacker last week when Nick Roach signed with the Raiders. Losing Urlacher hits Briggs and teammates harder, except perhaps Cutler, with whom he was not chummy despite appearances. Seeing the Bears defense without Urlacher will be like watching a Western without a cowboy.

People will applaud Bears for removing sentiment from the equation. But if Emery evaluated Urlacher based on 2012 game tape, he chose to ignore that Urlacher missed training camp and practiced once a week on a bum knee. If Trestman meant what he said at the owners meeting about wanting Urlacher back, his bosses didn't try hard enough to make that happen.

No, Urlacher wasn't the same player and his limitations last season became obvious. No, the linebacker Chicago saw in 2012 couldn't run like Brian Urlacher. Yes, Urlacher occasionally sparred with media and regrettably insulted Bears fans. But in a production business, the defense played better with Urlacher than without him. Expect the same to hold true next fall. That's not a romantic notion as much as a football evaluation.

What's the alternative, a rookie in the middle such as Manti Te'o or Alec Ogletree? It boggles the mind why the Bears would hire a defensive coordinator, Mel Tucker, who plans to use the same scheme and verbiage for the sake of continuity and then push away the player who represented it. It represents a head-scratching risk for the Bears to discard a locker-room leader that threatens team chemistry for a first-time NFL head coach known to struggle connecting with players.

As one era ends, another begins. Ready or not, this indeed is Cutler's team now. Urlacher has left the building, with the slightest nudge, and the Bears never will be the same.