Urlacher: Holdout wouldn't hurt Forte

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears

CHICAGO -- While Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson benefitted financially last summer thanks to a lengthy holdout, he still serves as a cautionary tale when it comes to tailbacks boycotting training camp over a contract dispute. A 2,000-yard rusher in 2009, Johnson posted career lows last year in rushing yards (1,047) and rushing touchdowns (4) after he inked a four-year extension that reportedly included $30 million in guarantees.

Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte could be headed down the same path in terms of a holdout unless he agrees to a new extension before the July 16 deadline for teams to lock up franchise tagged players to long-terms deals. Unlike Johnson, who negotiated last summer with two years left on his original rookie contract, Forte would be unable to sign a new deal with the Bears after July 16 and be forced to play this upcoming season for $7.74 million when he officially signs the franchise tag tender.

The fear would be that a lengthy training camp absence would cause Forte's on-field performance to dip in a similar fashion to Johnson's, a scenario Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher describes as unlikely.

"I don't know Chris Johnson, I don't know what type of workout (routine) he has," Urlacher said Wednesday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "But I know one thing about Matt Forte: Matt Forte will bust his butt until gets there. He'll be in great shape. He'll be ready to play. That's what I know about him. I can't speak for Chris Johnson, but I can speak for Matt Forte and say he'll be in football shape ready to play football.'

"That's not going to be an issue for him. Whether he misses training camp or not he keeps himself in great shape, he's one of the (best) conditioned guys on our team. He takes care of his body. He'll (report) in great shape. Whenever he gets there, he'll be ready to play football."

If, as many expect barring a new deal before the deadline, Forte is a no-show when the Bears officially begin training camp on July 26, Urlacher believes the all-purpose back will join the team by the start of the regular season.

"I would be very surprised if he wasn't playing for the Bears on September 9 (against Indianapolis)," Urlacher said. "That would surprise me. But if he misses training camp ... he's a veteran who knows how to take care of his body. He'll figure the offense out and I don't think he'll lose any of his running skills by not being at training camp.

"The faster you learn it's a business the better off you'll be. We're a veteran team so we realize it's a business. Matt is going to do what he has to do. The Bears are going to do what they have to do. It's a game, we know that. There are no hard feelings either way, at least not from me."



This is something a lot of fans needs to remeber also.

Btw, I again will state for most positions missing TC is huge, but not so much for RB's. And like Url said, he's one of the best conditioned guys on the team. I hope it doesn't come to that; and I don't think it will. I'm not backing off the idea he'll sign the tag 1 week before camp, or have a long term deal.

I agree completely. Urlacher is saying what a number of us on this message board have been saying. We have zero worries here. He's a seasoned vet who is a conditioning freak. And frankly, he's been making most of his own holes without much help from the oline for years (before last season).

Franchise tag or long term deal - either way - Forte is going to have a great year for us.

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I again will state for most positions missing TC is huge, but not so much for RB's. And like Url said, he's one of the best conditioned guys on the team. I hope it doesn't come to that; and I don't think it will. I'm not backing off the idea he'll sign the tag 1 week before camp, or have a long term deal.

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If they tag him, and he does his usual thing (see: kick the other team's ass), hopefully they could give him a deal, mid year...

I hope that Forte portended a long term deal when he said last year we were worlds apart and we're much closer now. I'm guessing it's the Bears are at 16 to/or 18 and he's at 18 or 20(guaranteed, don't care about the rest of the "money" he'll never see). that's 2-4 mil for a 4-5 year period or less then or = to 1 mill a year. That seems very doable from when the Bears were at 14-15 mil and he was at 20.
If that doesn't get done, I doubt he resigns w/the Bears unless they tag him again; and I doubt they do that b/c of the 9.3 FT/cap hit next year.

Last year = Angelo
This year = Emory

Just throwing it out there, (pure speculation) when dumbass decided not to resign him before last year, it showed he has an absurd view on the value of runningbacks (Chester Taylor, drafting Wolfe in the third when many had him much lower in the draft, and signing oft injured Marion Barber), but at the end of the season, with making the Pro Bowl, despite missing several games, he probably low balled him. Emory comes in, gets Michael Bush (who has missed only 3 games in his career, and had more YPC at 11.3 than Forte's 9.4 last year) who may just be good enough to be a starter, and changes Forte's tone to the point where he's admitting they're "closer" and that he won't miss a game....That's my take on it.

EDIT: Also, about Chris johnson, the team lost its best WR before the season began, so of course opposing D's weren't worried about getting passed on. Different situation here.

Henry no doubt Bush is the best backup we've had, but if you think he's a potential starter you're not paying attention to the fact no one was interested in him at that; and the price was definately right for them to grab him if they could. 8 mil in 4 year's is pittance for a rb, let alone a starter.

Again remember last year 15 mil tops, if they are closer no doubt the Bears moved up to the 16-18 mil area(that's one that both Soul and I agreed on). The real question is if Forte is moving down, which if they are at 16-18 he needs to.

Starter in a rotational system. Kinda like Ahmad Bradshaw, James Starks or Ryan Matthews. But that's just me throwing **** at the wall to see what ideas stick/make sense...I mean, if we got rid of forte, we'd prolly spend a 4th on a RB next year to go with Bush & Bell (BTW, didn't the teams he was with have RB by committee, anyway?)

no he was in Oak, they drafted him as their starter, and next year they drafted McFardden. Mc was the starter no committee(unless you think of Chicago as a committee). Mc has also been a ginormous disappointment, cap issues or not I cannot imagine they couldn't have brought him back at 8mil over 4yrs.

and don't be fooled by what we've done to the O. Tice and Smith still want to run the ball and get the ball into their playmakers hands(forte is the 2nd best at that now). When Tice was in Minny, he went from a 60-40 pass run to a near 50/50 ratio w/only a slight advantage to the passing...and his QB/WR combo was much better then their RB was.
Forte's role is not going to be reduced(he'll still touch the ball 300+ times, it's just going to be a fact that the passing game is going to be more effective which is going to change his % of O.