As he strolled off the practice field one afternoon last season, Bears special teams coach Dave Toub was asked which players could fill Pro Bowler Brendon Ayanbadejo’s shoes.

“Darrell McClover, Nick Roach, Jamar Williams, Rod Wilson … they all have the ability,” Toub said. “Having a guy like Brendon draw double-teams opened things up and allowed each of them to make plays.”

The Bears won’t have that luxury any longer as management has opted not to pursue Ayanbadejo.

The unrestricted free agent was looking for a deal similar to the one for five years, $7.5 million inked by New York Giants special-teamer David Tyree before last season.

Now Ayanbadejo has to take his search elsewhere, and he reportedly visited the New York Jets on Monday. Jacksonville and Green Bay are interested as well.

Losing Ayanbadejo wasn’t the only business matter Monday at Halas Hall. The Bears traded quarterback Brian Griese to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for an undisclosed 2009 draft pick. The team informed Griese last week they would shop him rather than release him.

In completing the trade, the Bears avoiding paying Griese the $300,000 roster bonus he was due Tuesday. The Buccaneers assume Griese’s contract—which expires in 2010—and he was due to make $1.4 million this coming season.

The Bears also have seven days to match the one-year offer sheet the Jaguars signed defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy to Monday. The offer is worth $705,000 including the signing bonus. Kennedy, a fifth-year player, joined the Bears for the final three games of the 2007 season after signing as a free agent. He had two tackles in spot duty but showed enough to at least warrant a second look from the Bears.

Losing Ayanbadejo will have much more of an impact on the Bears than losing Griese or Kennedy. The two-time Pro Bowler was the special teams’ captain and led the Bears in special teams tackles with 26.

But Ayanbadejo expressed a desire to be more a part of the defensive rotation at linebacker, a request that was unlikely to be granted by the Bears.

Ayanbadejo’s asking price probably was a bit too high, too, considering the Bears already have one special teams standout they need to secure: Devin Hester. Negotiations on Hester’s contract are supposed to become serious this week.

The Bears lost two of their three big free agents, with Bernard Berrian going to the Vikings and Ayanbadejo now looking for a new team. They managed to keep linebacker Lance Briggs after he agreed to a six-year, $36 million deal.

Finding an immediate replacement for Berrian is a priority, and the Bears’ options are becoming slim. Free-agent receiver Bryant Johnson visited Buffalo on Monday and spoke highly of the Bills. He said the only other visit he has set this time is to Washington, but the Bears were hoping he would make it to Halas Hall. D.J. Hackett and Javon Walker are still on the market.