LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Chicago Bears released eight-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers on Tuesday, one of several moves they made to reshape their struggling defence. The Bears also agreed to a five-year contract with former Oakland Raiders defensive end Lamarr Houston, a two-year contract with former Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants safety Ryan Mundy, and one-year deals with linebackers Jordan Senn and D.J. Williams. But the biggest move as they tried to shore up a defence that got shredded by injuries and ranked among the leagues worst last season involved Peppers. Given the way he struggled last season and the fact that his salary cap hit for next season was for more than $18 million, the Bears were expected to let him go or restructure his contract. "We appreciate Julius contributions to the Bears over the last four years," general manager Phil Emery said in a statement. "He was a leader on our defence starting every game since coming to Chicago. His accomplishments over his NFL career place him among the best defensive ends over the past 20 years. The Chicagoland community has benefited greatly from his quiet generosity. We wish him the best." Peppers is the second high-profile player to part ways with the Bears this off-season, joining record returner Devin Hester. Those moves come after they split with Brian Urlacher following the 2012 season. Peppers, who turned 34 in January, finished with just seven sacks, his lowest total in four seasons with Chicago and the fewest for him since he had a career-low 2 1/2 with Carolina in 2007. Three times last year he failed to register a tackle, and the Bears defence ranked among the worst in the NFL. But Peppers has been one of the best at his position during his career. In his 12 seasons with Carolina (2002-2009) and Chicago (2010-13), he ranks second in the NFL with 118 1/2 sacks. He has nine interceptions -- the most by a defensive lineman since 2002 -- and his 39 career forced fumbles are fifth most in the league during that time. On special teams, Peppers has 11 blocked kicks during his career. With the Bears, Peppers had 38 sacks along with three interceptions, nine forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries. But he was inconsistent last season. At times, he showed that old burst. Too often, he was a nonfactor. The defence, overall, was a mess for the Bears last season because of injuries and poor execution. Williams, Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, and Henry Melton missed big chunks of the season. Nickel back Kelvin Hayden and defensive tackle Nate Collins also suffered season-ending injuries. And the Bears couldnt stop the run or get to the quarterback. Chicago allowed a league-high 5.3 yards per carry, half a yard more than any other team, and tied Jacksonville with an NFL-worst with 31 sacks. Houston started all 16 games last season for Oakland and was one of the few playmakers on a 4-12 team. He led the Raiders with a career-high six sacks and got 16 in four seasons with them. Mundy made a career-high nine starts with the Giants last season after spending his first four with Pittsburgh. He had 70 tackles and a 91-yard interception return along with two pass breakups and a fumble recovery. He also had seven special teams stops. Senn has appeared in 83 games with seven starts over six seasons with Indianapolis (2008-09) and Carolina (2009-13). He was primarily a special-teams player last season. Williams appeared in six games and made four starts at middle linebacker last season after signing a one-year deal with Chicago. A ruptured pectoral muscle tendon cut short his season. Jermon Bushrod Jersey . The Canadiens captain, who underwent surgery on his injured biceps in the off-season, had been skating with the team in a non-contact capacity since last week. Kurt Coleman Jersey . Manager Alex Ferguson says the injury was sustained while the player tried to hit a volley toward the end of training on Tuesday. http://www.authenticsaintssportsonline.c...th-gold-jersey/. And on Sunday against the Houston Astros they were pleased to see his work finally pay off with his first win since May 24. Patrick Robinson Jersey . The Toronto Argonauts signed the veteran linebacker to a three-year deal Tuesday, hours after the start of CFL free agency. TreQuan Smith Saints Jersey . TSN platforms will broadcast 75+ live games per season – tripling the networks current slate of MLB games. With the new deal TSN retains rights to ESPNs SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL and, for the first time, acquires rights to ESPNs MONDAY NIGHT BASEBALL and WEDNESDAY NIGHT BASEBALL. MIAMI -- Turns out, the Miami Heat can beat the Brooklyn Nets. And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions. LeBron James scored 22 points, Ray Allen added 19 and the Heat stayed perfect in this post-season by beating the Nets 107-86 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series. It was the first win for Miami in five meetings with Brooklyn this season. "Its one," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But I liked the energy, the activity." Chris Bosh scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Dwyane Wade finished with 14 points and Mario Chalmers had 12 for Miami, which recorded at least one regular-season win against every team except Brooklyn, losing four times by a total of 12 points. This one was a different story. A 24-9 run in the third quarter blew things open for the Heat, who hadnt played in eight days after sweeping Charlotte in the opening round. "It was great that we were able to come out the way we did after being off eight days," James said. "We got a lot of work in. We had eight days off of not playing a basketball game but Spo got us in the gym. (We) got each other in the gym. We made each other accountable throughout the layoff and it proved tonight." Deron Williams and Joe Johnson scored 17 points each for the Nets, who got only eight from Paul Pierce and no points from Kevin Garnett in 16 minutes. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday night. "This is the defending champs," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "Its always going to be at a high level and weve got to find a way to match it." James finished 10 for 15 from the field and Allen -- who had never faced his former Boston "Big 3" compatriots Pierce and Garnett in the playoffs -- was 4 of 7 from 3-point land. "He was focused on the job at hand," James said. Miamis lead was 55-52 early in the third quarter after a 3-pointer by Williams, and every indication was that the Heat and Nets -- who played three one-point games and a double-overtime affair in the regular season -- were heading down to the wire again. Not quite. The Heat took off on the 24-9 run over a 7-minute span, with Bosh scoring the first seven points of that burst to get Miami going. Allens 3-pointer pushed the lead to 14, James and Chris Andersen (who left in the fourth with a riight knee contusion) added two free throws apiece and just like that Miamis lead was up to 79-61.dddddddddddd "Its fun when you win the game and you can at least for a night do whatever it is you do, have some dinner, chill at home and exhale a little bit," Bosh said. "When you lose, you cant sleep, your stomach hurts and its not a very good situation." For Brooklyn, the trouble came at an unexpected time. The Nets had the best third-quarter scoring differential in the East after Jan. 1, but were outscored 33-23 in that pivotal quarter in Game 1. It was a hectic news day long before Heat-Nets, with Oklahoma Citys Kevin Durant being announced as the leagues MVP, the firing of Golden State coach Mark Jackson and the NBA saying that Los Angeles Clippers president Andy Roeser would be taking an indefinite leave as part of the fallout related to the Donald Sterling scandal. James two-year reign as MVP lasted 198 games. "We have a new MVP, but when you talk about the best players in the world, hes 1A, 1B with Durant," Kidd said. Pregame lineup moves by both clubs lent more intrigue. Miami brought Shane Battier -- who played 2 minutes, total, in the first round against Charlotte -- back into the starting five, while Brooklyn reinserted Shaun Livingston into its lineup after using him off the bench late in the Toronto series. After never leading by more than seven points against Brooklyn in the regular season, the Heat led by 11 after a drive by James with 3:32 left in the first half. But the Nets closed on a 14-6 run, and Williams first beat-the-clock 3-pointer of the game sent Brooklyn into halftime down 46-43. Williams did it again in the third, but that one only got Brooklyn within 79-66. "It came down to defence tonight," Williams said. "Our defensive game plan was not executed at all." NOTES: The Heat held a pregame moment of silence for Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay, who died last week at the age of 89. ... David Beckham, who will be bringing an MLS team to Miami, sat next to the Heat bench. ... Livingston was on the court to warm up for the second half with about 10 minutes left in the intermission. Small problem: The rack of basketballs wasnt on the court yet. ... The Nets are 1-9 all-time against Miami in playoff games. ... Miami had not won consecutive Game 1s since the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the 2012 playoffs. 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