What's your guys thoughts on weather he stays or goes? Retires? Looks for somewhere else?
Honestly Im not confident he will be back. Between his injuries and being butt hurt over lovie I'm not sure.
That being said I'm sure he wants a ring.
Printable View
What's your guys thoughts on weather he stays or goes? Retires? Looks for somewhere else?
Honestly Im not confident he will be back. Between his injuries and being butt hurt over lovie I'm not sure.
That being said I'm sure he wants a ring.
Speculate? OK I'll say yeah he'll be back and I think we'd be foolish not to have him back especially in view of Marinelli's departure. That defense has an identity and Urlacher is a part of that. Lovie is gone and Marinelli is gone so there's not much left over in the way of leadership and despite his decline he's still a leader and an inspiration that wouldn't be easily replaced. Even 80% of Urlacher is better than no Urlacher.
He's the last in a great line of HOF Bears MLBs who have all hung it up as Bears and it's not time to break that tradition. He's a warrior but I believe he'll know when it's time to call it quits and I believe the Bears should give him that option. In return I think he should agree to a reasonable contract that allows the Bears as much cap relief as possible.
Don't forget... he was super butt hurt when they fired Jauron too...
He'll re-evaluate (if he hasn't already done so) and hopefully realize that this teams best chance to win it all was to switch to a more offensive minded HC.
I predict he comes back for another year or two. I mean, why not at least check the new regime out? Either way he's gonna have to learn a new defense... so why not stay where the whole city is already wearing his jersey? Another off season rehabbing that knee and he'll be back at 100% and ready to whip some ass.
I agree 100% with this being what should happen and I really hope it does.Quote:
Originally Posted by soulman
That's my feeling too. I like to think he'll be back. And while he won't be playing at a Pro Bowl level, I'm hoping he has enough left in the tank to help us another year or two. We'll see.Quote:
Originally Posted by AtomicTommy
Bringing Urlacher back and winning him over might be the easiest way for Trestman to win trust/control over in the locker room. With him and Roach on the UFA market... it would be a smart move to bring one of them back if the new DC wants to play a similar style.
I see Urlacher coming back on some type of performance base contract with a hefty 'signing bonus' to please him, but there will be incentives for % of snaps played, leading defensive stat categories, etc.
I think before Trestman commits he just wants to make certain he has as much of Urlacher's loyalty as Lovie had. You want a team leader like Urlacher in your corner not his former coaches. He's spoken with Cutler and has him measured so that takes care of his offensive leader now he needs to do the same with Brian.
While I'm all for Trestman doing whatever he can to win over the loyalty of his players, at what point do you consider cutting bait with Urlacher and just go out and draft an ILB in the first round? Obviously, this isn't the year for that to happen because Manti Te'o is projected to be a top five draft pick and C.J. Mosley at Alabama is staying in school for his senior season, but do you sign Urlacher to a one year deal with a club option for a second year based on how he performs? He may surprise us all and come out next year and make the Pro Bowl after having the whole offseason to recover from his knee and hamstring injuries incurred over the past two seasons.
Guys, I see it like this: on the one hand, Urlacher was leading this team in tackles when he went down with the hamstring injury and he would have very likely made a ninth career Pro Bowl had he stayed healthy the entire season. On the other hand, at some point, you have to start phasing out your older players in favor of a youth movement. Every Pro Bowler on defense with the exception of Tim Jennings and Henry Melton is now in his 30s and at some point, they're going to start retiring, and then what? Do you stop signing them to contract extensions and start drafting players to take their place, or do you continue to ride a team full of "Old Yellers" until its time to tie them to a tree and put them down? I really don't know what the right or wrong answer is here, but this is a real dilemma facing Emery and Trestman as time goes along. This isn't 2005 or 2006 anymore. These players are dinosaurs now, and they're going to break down sooner or later.
too early to say. We don't know about his health and what Trestman/Tucker want to play on the D
Quote:
Originally Posted by soulman
Exactly. Get him onside and he should be alright. I'd give him 2 seasons max left to play either way, pending injuries etc. On the loyalty side of things, the same has to be said of Hester. If he stays is he going to give everything for the team? If its true he was standing with his papers ready to quit, is he someone you can now trust thats going to put as much effort in as possible?