CHICAGO – The ink had barely dried on his gargantuan contract when Julius Peppers started to feel comfortable in his new surroundings. The Chicago Bears can only hope that means plenty of discomfort for opponents.

If not, they could be in for more changes.

“All I know is this year, we really aren’t in need for much,” Peppers said. “We pretty much have everything we need. I predict great things from this defense, and hopefully, we can live up to it.”

Whether that group comes through will go a long way toward determining whether the Bears get back into contention after a 7-9 season and third straight playoff miss that has coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo down to maybe their last chance.

Patience is running thin in Chicago.

Even president Ted Phillips acknowledged he had seen enough, although not quite enough to get rid of the head coach and GM, when he issued a win-or-else mandate after last season.

The coaching staff got a makeover with two new coordinators and an overhaul on offense. Rod Marinelli got moved up to defensive coordinator, although Smith will still set the tone. The Bears turned over the offense to Mike Martz, hoping he can get Jay Cutler to cut down on his interceptions and deliver the way they thought the quarterback would last season.

The Bears brought in Chester Taylor to beef up the running game alongside Matt Forte and added tight end Brandon Manumaleuna to help protect their quarterback.

The biggest move of all was bringing in Peppers, the five-time Pro Bowl defensive end.

Peppers just might be the Bears’ best pass rusher since Richard Dent. He had 81 sacks in eight seasons with Carolina and ranked third in the NFL over that span, which is why the Bears gave him a six-year deal potentially worth $91.5 million. A defense that tied for 13th with 35 sacks and ranked 17th overall last season needed help in a big way, and reinforcements don’t come much bigger than the 6-foot-7 Peppers.

And on offense, there’s the Martz-Cutler relationship.

“I think that is the biggest thing. You’ve got to see the big picture with Mike. You’ve got to realize that he wants to get the best out of you and he knows how to get the best out of you,” Cutler said of his new boss.

A year ago, Cutler was sacked 35 times when he wasn’t simply making poor decisions.

At least he was on the move.

Forte simply went nowhere, going from 1,238 rushing yards as a rookie to 929 last season while averaging 3.6 per carry. He finally acknowledged after the season that hamstring and knee problems had slowed him, though his blockers weren’t much help.

They still have a six-time Pro Bowl center in Olin Kreutz and left tackle Chris Williams showed some promise last season. The rest of the line looks like this: Roberto Garza at left guard, 2009 seventh-round pick Lance Louis at right guard, with Frank Omiyale at right tackle.

The Bears open the season Sunday at home against Detroit.