Whenever a new CBA is finalized, clubs are expected to get a three-day window to try and re-sign their own players. The highest-profile Bears free agent is longtime center Olin Kreutz, and he'll gladly re-sign -- for the right deal.
"Olin's spent his whole career with the Bears, and he's turned down a lot of money to stay with the Bears. He loves being a Bear," agent Mark Bartelstein said. "But, the reality is, there was an opportunity before March 1, and [the Bears] chose not to do it, which I understand, because they didn't know what the system would be.
"But if they want to aggressively come and give him a fair deal for who he is - as a player, and a leader and a rock to the organization - then, knowing Olin, he's going to want to get it done," Bartelstein said of the three-day window. "But, he wants to feel good about it. He wants it to be equitable. If not, then those three days will go by fast, and he'll be on the market."
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
Because they didn't pony up earlier, vital free agent center will be expensive to keep
Olin Kreutz at Soldier Field. (Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune / December 12, 2010)
David Haugh's In the Wake of the News 12:09 a.m. CDT, July 20, 2011
Forget about wanting to get the first glimpse of Jay Cutler throwing tight spirals again. Stop lusting after a big-play wide receiver or defensive tackle. Control any excitement over the upcoming Bears season pent-up over four months of the NFL lockout.
All the fun fizzles for the Bears if they blow it by letting free-agent center Olin Kreutz go. Nothing would sabotage their season quicker.
<li class="relatedTitle">David Haugh's In the Wake of the News <li class="columnistBio">
<li class="columnistLinks">E-mail | Recent columns <li style="float: none;" class="relatedTitle">Related <li class="newRelatedItem" sizset="35" sizcache="8">Poll: Is Kreutz worth the money for the Bears?
That gives Kreutz leverage now that continuity and experience carry even greater value because of the compressed NFL off-season. But try telling that to Kreutz, who the Bears should have re-signed before the lockout to remove doubt.
"I am not looking for an advantage, I am looking for a fair deal,'' Kreutz told the Tribune. "I am not looking for an upper hand, the Bears know that about me. But it has to be fair. Whatever the decision is up there, I respect it. I know what they do is hard. They have decisions to make just like anybody in a business. When they decide it's time to move on from me there will be no hard feelings.''
No, but there would be hard times at Halas Hall.
Nobody suggests Kreutz remains in his prime at 34 but, especially in the final five games last year, he has resumed playing at a high level since the removal of a bone spur from his Achilles after the 2009 season. Not having an injury to rehabilitate, Kreutz cannot remember the last time he felt so fit and healthy entering late July.
If only Kreutz knew whose training camp he will enter.
"Everybody knows the way I feel about the Bears,'' Kreutz said. "I've chosen them many times. You hate to toot your own horn but I've left a lot of money on the table to be a Bear. The guys at Halas Hall have to decide what's best for the Bears. That's the decision they're going through this off-season and probably why I'm not signed yet.''
With one more start as a Bear, Kreutz would tie Walter Payton at 184 for the most in franchise history. Yet one of the team's most respected leaders ever has resisted the natural instinct to organize workouts for a team he cannot be sure he still leads. Kreutz sounded almost apologetic saying he only had spoken with first-round draft pick offensive tackle Gabe Carimi over the phone.
"It has been awkward,'' Kreutz acknowledged.
Hearing Kreutz describe the awkwardness of having no team to call his own, I asked if all the unknowns made him apprehensive approaching camp. Kreutz chuckled.
"I've been lucky,'' he said. "I'm at a point after 13 seasons that whatever happens, I'm good with. I just want to play. … Apprehensive isn't the word I'd use."
This wasn't the first time Kreutz has corrected me. Nor will it be the last.
Kreutz has disagreed with me loudly in locker rooms and on live television. He once walked across a field at Bourbonnais during a practice break to berate me over something I wrote. He polices the Bears locker room I occasionally trespass with unwelcome opinions. It's his inimitable, intimidating brand of leadership that earns him immeasurable respect from teammates.
Despite any past personal encounters it's impossible not to conclude professionally that the Bears will have the NFL's worst offensive line unless they dig as deep as necessary to bring Kreutz back.
Consider big money committed to Kreutz an investment in promising young tackles J'Marcus Webb and Gabe Carimi too. Both Webb and Carimi will develop slower without Kreutz. Guard Chris Williams could hit another speed bump. Cutler might spend another season as a crash-test dummy.
The Bears say they want Kreutz but can prove it during the three-day window to re-sign their own players if they offer Kreutz a three-year deal balancing his age and importance. Matt Birk's three-year, $12 million deal with the Ravens last offseason could be a realistic spot the Bears choose to start negotiations.
But remember the anticipated new Collective Bargaining Agreement calling for higher salary-cap minimums will compel some teams to spend more. That reality and as many as four teams ready to throw cash at Kreutz might result in a three-year deal paying the veteran in the neighborhood of the $5.8 million he averaged in the three-year extension signed in 2006. In this market, that sounds fair. But it won't be a snap.
"Olin's personality is such he never has been a guy who will say, 'Let's go create a bidding war,''' agent Mark Bartelstein said. "He wants to be treated fairly and fairly is getting paid like one of the top centers in the NFL. There's going to be a terrific market for him. There's a ton of money out there. That said, he would be thrilled to re-sign with the Bears.''
If Kreutz doesn't, the thrill of the Bears returning soon will be gone.
Just offering some additional info on the imperative of signing Olin Kruetz before FA begins. Both his agent and David Haugh reflect on the same thing. Kruetz isn't trying to break the bank but he does expect to be dealt with fairly and not played cheap. If the will do that he'll sign in a heartbeat.
Despite his age I don't think there's a more important signing that the Bears can accomplish in that three day window than Olin's. We're already adding a rookie OT to a line with another OT with only one years NFL experience and if we're correct we'll have a new OG from another team. Olin Kruetz provides the leadership and cohesiveness to make that all work in a way that assures the Oline will improve.
Get his name on a contract before you do anything else JA.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Olin Kreutz at Soldier Field. (Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune / December 12, 2010)
