Thread: Forte Gets a Slap Down by Chicago Sportswriter............

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Soul, I'm not saying it's the only reason, Forte doesn't have the power of some other RB's. I'm not saying he should get 20 mil; but I will say that if you are looking to get around dwill money that it's the natural position to take when the team is at 13mil. MJD I would agree has no real talent outside of him; and although I haven't compared the two, I do know that both account for 40+% of their teams O, so in that aspect yes they are very similar.

Jimmors, I would expect Forte to have similar yards, and more TD's on less total touches w/Marshal, another WR(2nd or 3rd round), Davis stepping up(and w/out Martz's outdated O I think he can), and a better OL around him.

I think we can all agree that the percentage of the Bears total offense Forte produced in 2011 was an anomaly that had more to do with Angelo's consistent failures to add offensive weapons. As a result the ball got put in Forte's hands too much by default. But as a result that's exactly what's hurting him in his negotiations and he said it himself. "They're working me to death".

We know that Forte won't be anywhere near 40% of the Bears offense this season but the damage has been done at least in theory. The guy has anywhere from a year to two more on his body than other backs because he has been such a workhorse but he needs to realize that he won't be rewarded for that in this system. Maybe that's a bitch but it is reality and he needs to accept that.

In the two comparisons I posted both MJD and Foster made far less than Forte did while playing under their rookie contracts and it appear that neither of them is being over compensated today as a result. If that's what Forte is expecting it won't happen. I can't see anyway that he will get an offer commensurate with what DWill or Foster got right now. Something in the area of what MJB got is more realistic and if it's security he wants he'll agree to a deal.

I don't believe the Bears are stuck on guaranteeing him just $13-$14 mil unless that's all upfront money but I do believe they are totally opposed to a 5 year deal. If he can get a total of $17-$18 mil guaranteed over two years and $28-$30 mil over 4 years he should grab it.

I don't think we gave Bush a $14 mil contract to only carry the ball 7 or 8 times per game in short yardage or goaline plays. Ideally he'd be on the field for 30%-35% of the offensive plays and hopefully giving Forte more rest so that he'll be more effective as the game wears on. To me the whole idea of having a back like Bush is to use him early enough to wear out a defense from stopping a guy with his size and allow that to benefit your speed backs later on.

If Forte would look at the bright side of things instead of acting insulted he'd see that pairing with a guy like Michael Bush should prolong his career and allow his body to catch up from some of the overuse he's been experiencing. This contract dispute of his is like being stuck in quicksand. The more he struggles against it the faster he submerges himself in the eyes of fans who have been supporting him from the start. Not many of us were questioning his position until this last outburst. Now he's beginning to look more like the reason it's still unresolved than the Bears.

Unless I miss my guess the Bears passing game will take off this year like it hasn't in years. Marshall is capable of hauling in 70-80 passes and Bennett won't be all that far behind. Now add in the fact that we'll be throwing to Davis maybe Adams as an HBack which Tice likes to use in his offense too and with Forte sharing carries with Bush his touches may be reduced quite a bit. I don't agree that he should be punished monetarily for that but his role won't be as great as it was. To me the great thing about that is it gives him an opportunity to be more productive when he does get the ball.

Originally Posted by motownbear

One thing noone is bringing up cause they are too busy giving praise to emery is the past two seasons we have barely used any up front signing bonus money. Maybe they are just saving their resources on a big cutler contract which could be a 50 mil guarantee type deal.

But this year we've used up a significant amount of the cap by putting $$$ into salaries and not signing bonuses. The only difference is whether we write them one check now or sixteen bigger checks beginning in September. The cap accounting is the same and it means zero dead cap space if we cut the guy.

RB should be a position with bargains. Have them cheap until they want the big payday. If you found an elite back, you pay him. If you don't you trade him and do this again.

When will Cutty be a Free Agent?