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INDIANAPOLIS – John Tait has informed the Bears that he plans to retire, and while he has yet to officially file his paperwork with the league, the team is preparing for life without the veteran offensive tackle.

Tait, who turned 34 last month, started all 73 games he played in during five seasons with the Bears after appearing in 75 games with 66 starts in five years with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Veteran offensive tackle John Tait started all 16 games for the Bears last season.

“I think after you’ve played as many years as John has you get to the point where you’ve had enough,” coach Lovie Smith said at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

“I think he can still play. He has more years left in him, but I guess as a football player you know when . I tried to talk him out of it, but for the guys that know John, you know that he doesn’t come to decisions overnight. He put a little bit of thought into it, so we wish him the best and we’ll go from there.”

Minus Tait, the Bears don’t presently have an offensive tackle under contract who has started an NFL game. Last year’s first-round pick, Chris Williams, is expected to start at left tackle in 2009 after his rookie season was derailed by a back injury that required surgery during training camp.

The Bears also hope to re-sign versatile veteran John St. Clair, who is due to become an unrestricted free agent on Friday. St. Clair started all 16 games at left tackle last season.

“It’s something we want to do,” said general manager Jerry Angelo. “We’re not going to run desperate on any position at this point. [But] we certainly want to keep as many players that have been Bears as we can. That’s always been our philosophy and we’ll be consistent with that with John St. Clair.

“John’s been a fine player for us and a great person in the locker room; a professional in every sense of the word, and [there’s] no reason you wouldn’t want a John St. Clair on your football team.”

Regardless of whether St. Clair returns, the Bears are expected to address a deep tackle position at some point in the draft. NFLDraftScout.com ranks six tackles among the draft’s top 34 players: Virginia’s Eugene Moore (3), Alabama’s Andre Smith (5), Baylor’s Jason Smith (7), Mississippi’s Michael Oher (12), Arizona’s Eben Britton (30) and Connecticut’s William Beatty (34).

Other tackles who could interest the Bears include Oklahoma’s Phil Loadholt, South Carolina’s Jamon Meredith, Oregon’s Fenuki Tupou and Florida’s Jason Watkins.

“We still need to continue to bring in young offensive linemen and develop them,” Angelo said. “We’ve gone through a big changeover with our offensive line in the last few years. Some of it had to do with the age and players moving on and we have to replenish it.

“It’s no big deal; it happens with everybody at some point in time. Every year you’re having to look at a few positions where that’s going on. Right now it’s with our offensive line.”

The Bears, who took Williams with the 14th overall pick last April, haven’t spent first-round choices on offensive tackles in back-to-back years since selecting Dennis Lick at No. 8 in 1976 and Ted Albrecht at No. 15 in 1977.