-
Isis Matt Forte worth as much as LeSean McCoy?
RSSThe Chicago running back deserves a new contract, but should he be paid as much as the Philadelphia Pro Bowler? Joe Fortenbaugh
SHARE
Print ThisMAY 18, 2012, 01:30 PM EST
32 Share
Email0
Step 1: Identify the problem. Step 2: Assess and evaluate the situation. Step 3: Find a solution.
The Philadelphia Eagles understand this process. With LeSean McCoy set to enter the final season of his four-year rookie contract, the Philadelphia front office cleared the necessary cap space and rewarded one of the league’s best running backs with a five-year contract extension worth $45 million with $20.765 million guaranteed on Thursday.
McCoy is happy. The team is happy. 2012 could be a big year for the Birds.
LeSean McCoy landed a lucrative new contract extension after a record-setting 2011 season.
The McCoy deal serves as the most recent example of how the Eagles have done an excellent job of identifying, evaluating and solving potential problems. Disgruntled wideout DeSean Jackson got his big payday back in March and should be nothing but smiles heading into training camp. Defensive woes were addressed with the acquisition of veteran linebacker DeMeco Ryans as well as the selections of DT Fletcher Cox, LB Mychal Kendricks and DE Vinny Curry in April’s draft.
The forecast is looking good in Philadelphia.
But just over 750 miles to the west, a storm has been building on the horizon.
Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte wants to feel the love. Since entering the league in 2008, only five players have amassed more total yards from scrimmage than Forte. Two of those players (Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson) struck gold last offseason and should be financially set for life. Forte wants to join CJ2K and AP in the VIP section, but at the current moment, the Bears don’t appear willing to shell out the paper.
This much we can accept as fact: Matt Forte deserves a new contract. He earned a trip to January's Pro Bowl and during his first three seasons in the NFL, Forte started all 48 games for Chicago and accounted for 33% of the Bears’ total offense.
But does Forte deserve to be paid the same amount of money as LeSean McCoy? He and his agent will vehemently argue yes, but they could run into some pitfalls along the way:
1. Age: Forte turns 27-years-old on December 10 while McCoy turns 24-years-old on July 12. That’s a big gap when it comes to the running back position. Forte also has an additional 436 touches worth of tread on his tires, having played in 14 more regular season games than McCoy.
2. Competition: McCoy is the featured back in Philadelphia and will only lose carries if he’s hurt or needs a quick break during the game. On the other hand, Forte now has to contend with the likes of former Oakland Raider Michael Bush, who signed a four-year deal with the Bears back in March. Bush is one of the league’s most underrated running backs, having amassed 1,395 total yards and eight scores in just nine starts last season due to an injury sustained by starter Darren McFadden. With Bush on the roster, the Bears won’t need Forte to handle as much of the load as he has in the past.
3. Career Production: McCoy is coming off an All-Pro season in which he was named the FedEx Ground Player of the Year while setting the Philadelphia franchise record for single-season touchdowns (20). He’s averaging 5.29 yards per touch for his career vs. Forte’s 5.02. In addition, McCoy has found the end zone once every 24.3 touches during his career, while Forte is scoring once every 42.6 touches.
The above chart illustrates another discrepancy between the two players. In McCoy’s three NFL campaigns, the Philadelphia running back tends to produce at a consistent level throughout the entire season, while Forte’s production tends to decrease during the second half of the year.
Further complicating the negotiations will be the Arian Foster dynamic. The Houston running back signed a five-year, $43.5 million deal with $20.75 million guaranteed back in March. Forte and his agent, Adisa Bakari, will likely point to this extension as well during their talks with the Bears front office, but you have to remember that Foster has produced at a much higher level over the last two seasons than Forte. Since 2010, Foster ranks second in the NFL in rushing yards (2,840), first in rushing touchdowns (26) and first in total yards from scrimmage (4,061). He’s also a year younger than Forte and has 451 less touches worth of wear on his tires.
As it stands, the Bears appear content to let Forte play out the 2012 season under the franchise tag at a value of $7.742 million. That’s a significant wedge of cheese, but it pales in comparison to the $20+ million in guarantees that both McCoy and Foster landed this offseason.
Identify, assess and solve. Chicago and Philadelphia have taken two different approaches to a very similar problem. It should be interesting to see which organization’s approach yields the greater return.
Is Matt Forte worth as much as LeSean McCoy? | National Football Post
"Give 100%. 110% is impossible. Only idiots recommend that." - Ron Swanson
-
High Fives / Like - 3 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
-
-
The real question should be should we offer him as much as LeSean McCoy will actually get of do we paper the back end of his deal with all kinds of money he'll never see just so it looks good in the press.
Is Matt Forte worth the $20 mil in guarantees and about $30 mil total McCoy and most of these other are likely to collect from these deals? Hell yes he is. Is he worth AP or CJ kind of money? No. If the Bears will offer him $30-$32 mil over 4 years with $18-$20 mil in guarantees and he turns that down then he's a way too proud fool.
If he's still a top performer after the 2015 season when he will be 30 years old then he can ask about an extension just like Briggs asked for and received but for now a deal that averages somewhere around what his tag costs is pretty generous as far as I'm concerned.
He's not our only offensive option anymore.
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.
-
LeSean is a better runner between the tackles, but Forte is a better all-around player, methinks. Still I would put their value at a push except for the fact that Forte is more valuable to his franchise than LeSean is to the Eagles.
-
High Fives / Like - 2 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
-
Originally Posted by
lklrlolnlilklsox 
LeSean is a better runner between the tackles, but Forte is a better all-around player, methinks. Still I would put their value at a push except for the fact that Forte is more valuable to his franchise than LeSean is to the Eagles.
We don't know for certain just how good of a runner Forte is between the tackles because he's never had a solid group of collective inside blockers to make things easier for him to move the defensive line back. All we've had is Chris Williams, who has turned out to be a solid LG. Garza is okay, but he is not great by any stretch of the imagination. Everyone else we've tried in the middle since Forte has been with the Bears has been inadequate for the position. If we have a change at LT with Chris Williams taking Webb's place, then I'd say he'll have an easier time running because opposing defensive ends/lines are going to be on their toes trying to figure out whether we're going to run, whether we're going to toss a screen pass, or run a draw or a ball up the gut. And don't forget that with Carimi coming back, we're going to be running to the right side an awful lot.
-
I think you don't look at it per person, but per group. Is his worth the top 2 or 3 RB's, no; but is he worth the next teir yes, he's in the 4-8 range of RB's. AND those RB's are now starting to get that McCoy type money.
And per usual you have to take everything into account. Philly you have to worry about Vick, McCoy, and a WR and TE..and have a really solid OL. Chicago you have to worry about Cutler and Forte; and less of Cutler b/c he doesn't have the WR's/TE's to worry about, and D's know they can bum rush the Bears OL to over power them. Forte is not so great as to overcome being the only true threat; he's not AP or CJ who can(stat wise not win wise).
-
Originally Posted by
lklrlolnlilklsox LeSean is a better runner between the tackles, but Forte is a better all-around player, methinks. Still I would put their value at a push except for the fact that Forte is more valuable to his franchise than LeSean is to the Eagles.
Krony,
Without what we have put on the field yet ...
Forte IS the BEARS.
-
Originally Posted by
jackiejokeman Krony,
Without what we have put on the field yet ...
Forte IS the BEARS.
I think a healthy Jay with no Forte for 16 games takes us to the playoffs.
I think a healthy Forte with no Jay may get us a shot at a top five pick.
RBs are simply, and sadly, expendable in this league. There is definite validity to the claim that Forte was the Bears entire offense, and he really was the only thing worth watching out there a lot of days. I can only imagine how much better he will be with legit weapons out there beside him on the field, but in the end I don't know that I break the bank on him to the tune of elite money simply because of the history of the position in this league.
-
High Fives / Like - 2 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
-
Originally Posted by
lklrlolnlilklsox I think a healthy Jay with no Forte for 16 games takes us to the playoffs.
I think a healthy Forte with no Jay may get us a shot at a top five pick.
RBs are simply, and sadly, expendable in this league. There is definite validity to the claim that Forte was the Bears entire offense, and he really was the only thing worth watching out there a lot of days. I can only imagine how much better he will be with legit weapons out there beside him on the field, but in the end I don't know that I break the bank on him to the tune of elite money simply because of the history of the position in this league.
Exactly. MB III and Bell picked up Forte's slack reasonably well but no one picked up Cutler's. The only absolute need playing behind the LOS is him.
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.
-
Originally Posted by
jackiejokeman Krony,
Without what we have put on the field yet ...
Forte IS the BEARS.
Jackie with the exception of Jeffery those additions on offense aren't unproven rookies you know. They were all NFL starters elsewhere and they all have proven track records. You're clutching at straws here trying to make your point and I don't think even you believe 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.
-
Originally Posted by
Dagan81 We don't know for certain just how good of a runner Forte is between the tackles because he's never had a solid group of collective inside blockers to make things easier for him to move the defensive line back. All we've had is Chris Williams, who has turned out to be a solid LG. Garza is okay, but he is not great by any stretch of the imagination. Everyone else we've tried in the middle since Forte has been with the Bears has been inadequate for the position. If we have a change at LT with Chris Williams taking Webb's place, then I'd say he'll have an easier time running because opposing defensive ends/lines are going to be on their toes trying to figure out whether we're going to run, whether we're going to toss a screen pass, or run a draw or a ball up the gut. And don't forget that with Carimi coming back, we're going to be running to the right side an awful lot.
Oh yes we do and Forte just gave credit to those guys for their run blocking last year. Forte doesn't run well inside because of his running style and his build not because of the blocking. I think Michael Bush will prove otherwise.
Matt Forte is tall, run upright, has a long stride, lacks quick feet, and is more of an outside or cutback runner who needs space to do his thing. He needs a hole reasonably close to where he expects it to be or room to either bounce outside or cutback. He doesn't have a real quick burst to the hole when running straight ahead and he can't chop step to shift his penetration into the line in tight quarters. Once he commits himself that's where he's gonna run.
Despite his size and power in the open field he's not nor ever will be a good short yardage of goaline back. If he was there would have been no need to sign MB III last year or Bush this year. Forte's lack of TD's are tip off to his shortcomings as a goaline back.
Last edited by soulman; 05-18-2012 at 10:30 PM.
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.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
