Thread: You Just Knew This Would Happen..............

Give it time... this will get done.

Originally Posted by GrizzlyBear91

Give it time... this will get done.

No doubt it will Grizz but it's gonna be just one more pain in the ass deal to map out that they don't need on the table right now. Kegger is right. Forte has almost instantly become the $40 million dollar man and he's taking a big risk with his future and his wealth if he plays for $550k and gets injured. Not sure I'd do it either without something in writing.

I can confirm #Bears RB Matt #Forte IS in camp, just saw him with #Hester & team inside meeting hall. New look for #Forte is bald!

From Peggy Kusinski.

Originally Posted by Jimmors

How is it going to be a pain in the ass deal? They have the money, he will get paid.

You guys are getting ridiculous with all this talk of "botching" something or "mishandling personnel." Its ridiculous. This is one of the shortest off seasons in a long time, where crazy things are going on every day..teams cutting people, chasing others, its a FA frenzy. So instead of focusing on that, you are all concerned about a contract that is going to get done eventually anyway, just because it isnt getting done right NOW? Why is that? Because Forte has said he is displeased about it? Yeah, we get it Forte..youre unhappy, but relax, get in shape and get prepped for the season and wait for the Bears to finish their wheeling and dealing in the FA market, then they will get to your extension.

And if any of you are upset because the contract wasnt signed earlier, then what you are really saying is "we shouldve lowballed Forte when we had the chance."

He's in camp and the deal will most likely get done to everyone's satifaction. It's only a pain in the ass because the timing is poor. We have other issues that need to be dealt with more immediately, like finding blockers for him, and he needs to be thinking about football and not his contract. That's why this stuff usually gets done in the offseason or at the very least later on in the season and this one may not be all that easy to do. That's what I'm saying.

I'm not telling anyone that it should have been done before this or that they should have "lowballed him", as you put it, when they had the chance. And any criticism that I've made about personnel has nothing to do with Forte so I don't know where that came from.

I think you're being kind of cynical 4th. He is in camp honoring his contract and with a $30k per day fine to consider I don't think becoming a holdout was anything more than a passing thought and a bold statement with little to back it up. For quite sometime whenever the Bears have had a player who has outplayed his contract they've moved to extend the guy before his deal was up. I think all Matt wanted was to know that he was on JA "to do" list in that regard. Now the ball is in Angelo's court and as Forte said, "to him soon means soon" and I would take that to mean before the season begins. This is one you don't want to drop the ball on.

July 29, 2011
Forte: Bears will give him extension


By: Larry Mayer | Last Updated: 7/29/2011 10:14 PM


BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Entering the final year of his contract, Matt Forte had thought about holding out of training camp before ultimately deciding to report to Olivet Nazarene University Friday with the rest of his teammates.

Matt Forte ranks fifth in the NFL in yards from scrimmage since turning pro in 2008.The Bears running back told reporters Friday in Bourbonnais that general manager Jerry Angelo has assured him that he will receive a contract extension and that Forte is a priority.
"[Holding out] was a consideration," Forte said. "I had to weigh my options and stuff. I thought about it. But like I said before, it never benefits a player or a team for somebody to hold out. It's not a good deal on either end.

"I kind of got my mind put to ease by Jerry. He had been in talks with my agent since the end of the lockout and even before [the lockout began], and he said that a deal would get done. He assured us repeatedly that a deal would get done. Where I'm from and how I was raised, when somebody gives you their word that goes a long way."

Forte is hoping to sign a lucrative extension sooner rather than later, but he isn't certain about a timetable. "What he told me was that a deal will get done," Forte said. "He said I am a priority of his. What that means … hopefully that means soon. There's no telling with that, but ‘priority' to me means soon."

Bears coach Lovie Smith insisted that he wasn't worried about Forte possibly holding out of camp.
"What I saw was I saw Matt Forte in about the best shape I've seen him in as far as looking at him," Smith said Friday in Bourbonnais. "He's ready to go, as excited as he's ever been.
"Speculation, I don't get into a lot of that. I kind of go on what I see. I see him there with the rest of the guys excited about some of the moves we've made and excited about having a great year."
Last year Forte topped 1,000 yards for the second time in three NFL seasons, rushing for 1,069 yards and six touchdowns on 237 carries. His average of 4.5 yards per attempt was the best by a Bears running back with at least 200 carries since Neal Anderson averaged 4.7 yards in 1989.

Forte was also a threat as a receiver, tying for the team lead with 51 receptions for 547 yards and three touchdowns. The Tulane product became only the second player in franchise history to compile at least 1,000 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving in a season, joining Hall of Famer Walter Payton.

"He does it all for us and I think we are expecting more from him this year, giving him the ball in different ways, trying to get him more receiving," quarterback Jay Cutler said Friday in Bourbonnais. "He's in excellent shape right now. He looks like an animal. Hopefully we can keep him healthy and keep finding ways to best get him the ball

Taylor collected at least $7 mil from us for his lousy season and may not make it through camp and Manu cost us a little more than half that for his lousy season and is now amongst the unemployed. Is this why the Bears are playing it so close to the vest this year? Did an edict come down from Ted Phillips or the McCaskey's to spend less.

Whatever the reason it seems to be preventing our ablity to re-sign Olin Kruetz and once that matter has finished and a few more I's dotted and T's crossed it will be time to extend Matt Forte's contract. If we need to get rid of someone to make room then it should be Ches "the less" ter Taylor and NOT Olin Kruetz. So like Teddy KGB says, pay dat man his money". In fact pay both of them.




Pay that man his money

Posted by Bob LeGere on Fri, 07/29/2011 - 15:22
Matt Forte has decided against a training camp holdout in hopes of forcing the Bears into an extension of his rookie contract, which he clearly has outperformed.

Forte is entering the final year of his original four-year deal that was worth a total of $3.8 million, including a $1.533 million signing bonus. His base pay for this season is $550,000, a pittance compared to the $12.5 million that the Bears wasted on Chester Taylor last year when he was an unrestricted free agent.

Taylor’s four-year deal featured $7 million in guaranteed money, including a $2 million signing bonus and a $4 million roster bonus, which he has already collected. For their money, the Bears got 267 rushing yards from Taylor on 112 carries, for a 2.4-yard average, one of the lowest in recent NFL history. Taylor also caught 20 passes for 139 yards, a 7.0-yard average.

Forte, who made a base salary of $470,000 last year, rushed for 1,069 yards on 237 attempts, for a career-best average of 4.5 yards per carry. Forte also tied for the team lead with 51 receptions and was third with 547 receiving yards. As soon as the Bears finish re-signing all their own unrestricted free agents that they want back, the next order of business should be to take care of Forte.

As Teddy KGB said in "Rounders," "Pay that man his money."

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I personally have no problem with extending Forte's contract. Better to do it now than to wait and have him go out on the open market where some ball hawking team like Dallas, Washington, or Philadelphia can grab him.