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More on Forte's extension and other who are also due. Let's discuss this here since Windy already started a thread on this.
Updated: November 10, 2011, 5:32 PM ET
GM hopes to get Matt Forte deal done
By Michael C. Wright
ESPNChicago.com
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LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo expressed excitement about signing center Roberto Garza to a two-year extension, and indicated the team could consummate more deals to bring back its own players by the end of the season.
In an interview with the team's website, the general manager also reiterated his desire to re-sign running back Matt Forte.
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"We always have our lines in the water, so to speak, talking about extensions or re-signing our players," Angelo said. "That's always ongoing. Hopefully, we'll have something to announce at some point. When I say we always have lines in the water, I can't tell you exactly when we're going to be able to initiate meaningful conversations. In Roberto [Garza's] case, it happened in a 24-48-hour span, and you can't really predict it."
Despite the team's struggle to re-sign Forte, and the running back's remarks about the team not showing loyalty to him, Angelo's stance hasn't changed. Looking to debunk the perception that the team isn't interested in retaining Forte's services, Angelo said the team would like the running back to remain a Bear for years to come.
"Matt was the only player we targeted, and we made him what I feel is a very lucrative offer on a contract extension," Angelo told the team's website. "The deal did not get done, but we definitely want Matt to play many more years with the Bears. Any suggestion otherwise simply is not true. We buy into Matt as both a player and a person." (So up the ante if you're serious. He's not biting on what you offered so far)
The Bears signed Garza to a two-year extension worth $6.55 million, including $2.6 million guaranteed, and officially announced the deal on Tuesday. Other Bears priority free agents appear to be receiver Earl Bennett, cornerback Corey Graham, quarterback Caleb Hanie, defensive end Israel Idonije, linebacker Brian Iwuh, cornerback Tim Jennings, safety Brandon Meriweather, defensive tackle Amobi Okoye and offensive lineman Edwin Williams.
Michael C. Wright covers the Bears for ESPNChicago.com and ESPN 1000
Bennett is cinch to get an extension and probably comes relatively cheap. His stats don't give him a lot of bargaining power but he's a natural for Cutler and he wants to remain with the Bears. He shouldn't be much of a problem.
I'd keep Corey Graham around too even if I had to make him one of the highest paid ST Gunners in the league. He and Hurd are two big reasons why we lead the NFL in punt coverage. He's a reasonable backup CB as well.
Hanie, yes but probably only a two year deal. He'll generate some interest in FA if we let him get that far and I would hate to lose him. I feel very confident in his ability to run this offense is Cutler goes down.
Izzy yes, but not a long term deal. Maybe another two or three years with a small bump in pay. He's pretty likely to want to stick around and play opposite Pep anyway. It's helped his career.
Iwuh is a yes if he's cheap enough. He's not a bad WLB and if we trade Briggs, which I think we may, he's in line to replace him if we don't draft another LB to compete.
Jennings, definitely. He showed that he could play in press coverage and stick with his guy in man on man so they need to do it more often. Plus he's a very good tackler and a tough little SOB. He looks like a guy we should replace because of his size but he plays bigger than he is.
Meriweather, maybe depending on how he does over the rest of the year. Okoye, no doubt about it. He's young enough and productive enough to warrant a longer term deal. Lock him up I say. EWill is another one of those guys who's useful as long as he's cheap but he's little more than depth for now.
That's my take on it.
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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Originally Posted by
soulman 
The guy has been a clutch receiver for two years now but his stats as far as yardage and number of catches are limited because of the games he missed with injuries and as a result being underused by Martz. Do you recall that he led the NFL last year by not having one drop on a catchable ball? Didn't we see that same player on Monday night?
So far Earl Bennett's real value to the Bears isn't gonna be found in glowing stats other than the ones that say 1) he gets open, and 2) he catches everything that's thrown at him. What we need to do is give him an extension and go out and find two more WR's just like him.
You're not looking beyond his stats when you say that he's been mediocre bdm. He's been anything but that or do you have another explanation for why we suddenly began to convert 50% plus of our 3rd down passes once we got him back in the lineup. Sorry man but if you don't see that you don't see the true value of Earl Bennett.
I'm looking at much more than his stats. Yes, I will agree that he is coming around and proving to be quite a receiver. Dags mentioned him as a Welker type. I see him as a Marvin Harrison type (only better actually, because Marvin wouldn't go over the middle without aligator arms or fight for the ball) just slower. He runs good routes and catches everything.
The reason I call him mediochre is mainly due to his ability to learn the playbook. Wasn't that the reason he wasn't seeing much playing time? It took him several years to lock down a position. What will happen if Martz is gone next year and a new system comes in?
Look, I'm not saying he doesn't have potential, because he does, and I (the eternal optimist) think he will pan out to be the "True #1" that everyone has been complaining about but isn't willing to wait on anyone to develop. I just think that after one great game it's too easy to claim that he needs a big money extension. I think they should wait until closer to the end of the season to lock him up because we will know better as to his real value.
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Originally Posted by
blinddeafmute I'm looking at much more than his stats. Yes, I will agree that he is coming around and proving to be quite a receiver. Dags mentioned him as a Welker type. I see him as a Marvin Harrison type (only better actually, because Marvin wouldn't go over the middle without aligator arms or fight for the ball) just slower. He runs good routes and catches everything.
The reason I call him mediochre is mainly due to his ability to learn the playbook. Wasn't that the reason he wasn't seeing much playing time? It took him several years to lock down a position. What will happen if Martz is gone next year and a new system comes in?
Look, I'm not saying he doesn't have potential, because he does, and I (the eternal optimist) think he will pan out to be the "True #1" that everyone has been complaining about but isn't willing to wait on anyone to develop. I just think that after one great game it's too easy to claim that he needs a big money extension. I think they should wait until closer to the end of the season to lock him up because we will know better as to his real value.
I wasn't implying that he needs a "big money" extension, just an extension period. The fact that his stats are not so great because of the time he's missed probably means we can get him for less than it may have cost us a year from now if his productivity continues. We're actually fortunate to have an opportunity to extend him now.
He likes the Bears, the Bears like him and his career here with Cutler may be quite a bit better than it could be elsewhere. To me all that adds up to a willingness on his part to agree to an extension without trying to break the bank. I won't make a guess as to what that might be but it'll be a nice up on his rookie deal.
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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Earl Bennett [4 years 14 million/ 4 guaranteed]
Israel Idonije [2 years 6.5 million/ 3 guaranteed]
Cory Graham [ 2 years 2.5 million/1 guaranteed]
Tim Jennings [3 years 10 million/4 guaranteed]
Caleb Hanie [2 years 2 million/1 guaranteed]
Brian Iwuh [2 years 1.8 million/500K Guaranteed]
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Originally Posted by
blinddeafmute I'm looking at much more than his stats. Yes, I will agree that he is coming around and proving to be quite a receiver. Dags mentioned him as a Welker type. I see him as a Marvin Harrison type (only better actually, because Marvin wouldn't go over the middle without aligator arms or fight for the ball) just slower. He runs good routes and catches everything.
The reason I call him mediochre is mainly due to his ability to learn the playbook. Wasn't that the reason he wasn't seeing much playing time? It took him several years to lock down a position. What will happen if Martz is gone next year and a new system comes in?
Look, I'm not saying he doesn't have potential, because he does, and I (the eternal optimist) think he will pan out to be the "True #1" that everyone has been complaining about but isn't willing to wait on anyone to develop. I just think that after one great game it's too easy to claim that he needs a big money extension. I think they should wait until closer to the end of the season to lock him up because we will know better as to his real value.
I personally would rather use Bennett like Wes Welker because he simply doesn't have the speed that Marvin Harrison had going down the field. You can pile up a shit bunch of yards the Wes Welker way, but the problem with that is that Martz doesn't employ a West Coast-style of offense, so he would rendered redundant if used like Harrison.
That being said, Bennett has some of the best hands I've ever seen, and if he can stay healthy long enough to play in a plurality of games, the Bears suddenly have a pretty handy go-to system between Cutler and him.
As for the comment of being mediocre, I can't say that I agree with that. If we say that Bennett is mediocre at his position because he couldn't learn Mike Martz's very complex playbook at the beginning of Martz's time in Chicago, doesn't that mean that Cutler would follow under that halo as well? Cutler didn't learn every last detail of the Martz playbook, yet he produced a pretty decent season despite a porous offensive line. I believe that Bennett, who we should remember is like Cutler and a graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, has to be a highly intelligent person if he were able to cut the mustard at that school, which is one of the most prestigious in the country. The only point I make by bringing up the notion that he, like Cutler, attended Vanderbilt, is that he had to have been intelligent enough to have been accepted into that university, and therefore would give him a leg up in learning a system like Martz's.
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One of the things that makes Bennett so valuable to us is that he can play in both the slot and outside as a flanker. He's got the ability to get YAC when we use him underneath the coverage like the Pats do with Welker but he's also big enough and quick enough to go downfield for throws as well. By moving him around and alternating him with guys like Hester and Sanz we can keep him on the field more of the time.
If we was on the field for the majority of our offensive snaps I don't think there's any doubt that he'd be the Bears leading receiver. Martz just needs to use him more and he needs to stay healthy.
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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High Fives / Like - 2 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
soulman One of the things that makes Bennett so valuable to us is that he can play in both the slot and outside as a flanker. He's got the ability to get YAC when we use him underneath the coverage like the Pats do with Welker but he's also big enough and quick enough to go downfield for throws as well. By moving him around and alternating him with guys like Hester and Sanz we can keep him on the field more of the time.
If we was on the field for the majority of our offensive snaps I don't think there's any doubt that he'd be the Bears leading receiver. Martz just needs to use him more and he needs to stay healthy.
Completely agree.
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Does that mean that Bennett becomes the Bears Marty Booker v 2.0?
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Originally Posted by
Dagan81 Does that mean that Bennett becomes the Bears Marty Booker v 2.0?
I think he'll be better than Booker before his days are done but yeah he's another Marty Booker.
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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Originally Posted by
soulman I think he'll be better than Booker before his days are done but yeah he's another Marty Booker.
Well, there are a hell of a lot worse things or people to be like than Marty Booker, wouldn't you say, soul? lol
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