Thread: Rumor: Bears Shopping Forte [rumor]

Anyone who thinks that it isn't a possibility now that we've gotten, Marshall, tendered Bell, re-signed Davis and now signed Bush, welcome to the Ostrich Club. The sum total of that group as offensive weapons is greater than what Matt Forte alone can provide. He's won't be 40% plus of the Bears offense in 2012 and can't be paid like he will be.

If by virtue of trading him now we could get a top 20 draft pick and a mid round toss in for him I'd think pretty hard about that if it meant getting franchise lineman like DeCastro and Coples or Mercilus with those picks and a mid rounder we can either add depth or use it to position ourselves for the exact guy we want in the first.

You can't deny the wisdom or the possibility of it.

Originally Posted by 4DaBERS

OK, I know this is far fetched (maybe not that much). How about Matt Forte to the Steelers for Mike Wallace? The Steelers have real cap problems, but they are also desperate for RB's and Mike Wallace paired with Brandon Marshall and Earl Bennett would quite possibly take our WR corp from worst to best in the NFCN. With that WR corp, Bush would have MUCH more field to look almost as good as Forte and we could look for another young RB in the draft?

I really don't see how the Steelers could do it, but depending on Matt's perspective, he may be willing to have the long contract that could be made affordable for the Steelers.

I'd rather have a top 20 1st and 3rd round or 4th round picks for him and use those picks on lineman we could use more than another WR. Games are won in the trenches.

No he didn't. 3.9 ypc, once he started after McFadden's injury.
256 rush 977 yards 7 td's, 37 rec 418 yards 1 td. And as a raider fan just gave his 2 cents, not a short yardage back, and doesn't block very well.
Forte
203 rush 997 yards, 3 td's, 52 rec 490 yards 3 td's, and although not good on short yardage, but a great blocker.

2012 NFL free agency -- Chicago Bears sign Michael Bush; Matt Forte unhappy - ESPN Chicago


"On Twitter, former Bears tight end Greg Olsen weighed in on the acquisition of Bush.
'If u have a stud 3 down guy like @MattForte 22 why keep paying backups big $ every yr?'Olsen wrote. 'Crazy !! Matt deserves better'."

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Marshall yes, but the rest are sub tier groups. Davis/Bush/Bell do not equal Forte. Marshal= or > though.

I disagree Ric. Collectively they are. Add up the total yardage and TD's that group can give you and contrast it to what Forte can do. Davis and Bush alone got into the endzone more last year than Forte has in the last two. As good as he is Forte has never been a scoring machine from inside the 10.

We could easily see 1500+ yards rushing and 1000+ yards receiving from that trio and quite a few more scores. The cost of Forte's tag is about equivalent to what all three make combined. If you're looking for "bang for the buck" you need to at least consider that.

EDIT: By all of this and other posts I've made about I'm not saying we shouldn't do all that we can to keep him but if that becomes unlikely over the long term then I would prefer to part ways now when the deal could probably be the sweetest for us.