Thread: Brian Urlacher OFFICIALLY a unrestricted free agent

Originally Posted by The Benjamin

Don't forget, we need to sign OL as wel

True, I wonder who we are going to land if we are going to land one now that Long and Andy Levitre is reportedly gone from the FA market.

Originally Posted by The Benjamin

Unless a team thinks he is worth more than the Bears (or what he offered for the Bears)

True. We can't get into a bidding war for him.

There is no reason to start freaking out, just because it's past 4pm eastern on a tuesday. Unless he starts talking with someone else, there's no reason to even sweat this.

Originally Posted by Chi66

His side offered the Bears a contract number, maybe the Bears are just dealing with FA before deciding if they can do that number or want to haggle for something else. Doesn't necessarily mean that it's BU's camp not making the move or refusing to take lower. Could just be awaiting a counter.

I think this is the more likely scenario Chi. I think Roach will sign elsewhere but for the vets like Urlacher and Izzy who want to stay in Chicago there's time. It's possible Emery has told their agents to give him a shot at filling his biggest FA needs (which he did today) and then he can begin to look at cuts and/or redoing deals to free up cap space for our own guys.

And I'm guessing here but I think Brian is asking for more than Emery wants to go. Brian wants $5 mil and Emery would be happier closer to $3 mil and maybe the meet in the middle at $4 mil. The other sticking point may be a two year deal versus one year but if both sides want to get it done it will get done.

Izzy got $2.5 mil last year and by all rights he's earned a little raise but the question is can Emery afford to give it to him. This could be another where Izzy would like two years and Phil would prefer to take it one year at a time but again if both sides want it done it will get done.

Roach is in a little different situation in that he signed for what he feels was a bargain price after the lockout so I think he's looking for his one big longer term deal and if he gets it I think Emery will let him go. We need that cap space for Urlacher and Izzy and I believe both would be harder to replace than Roach in the Bears defense.

There are gonna be all kinds of rumors floating around about Urlacher because he's a high profile guy and articles about him will get attention. Most of them will mean little or nothing. If he wants to finish his career here he will and the same can probably be said for Izzy.

Originally Posted by jackiejokeman

I hope the feeling is with Emery/Trestman doing what they have already done in F.A.,

Urlacher will retire a BEAR since he clearly knows the pressure is coming off of the defense.

Well clearly he wants to retire as a Bear the only question is when that's gonna happen. He's saying he'd like it to be after the 2014 season. So what are the Bears feeling about that? No question that the money and the length of the contract are what has to be worked out and my guess is they're not totally together on that yet.

Like every other smart businessman Urlacher should pursue the opportunity that will pay him the most. At the end of the day, his earning potential plummets once his playing career is over. This is why professional athletes chase the dollar so aggressively. They know their huge earning potential can be measured in days. That's why there isn't much loyalty in sports. There is WAY too much money involved.

Just my .02

I think in Brian's case his post football earnings won't be all that bad. I could see the possibility of him coaching but he's also intelligent enough to possibly end up in front of a microphone somewhere as an analyst on one of the pre-game shows. He has a high enough profile for it. The Bears may even be able to find something for him within the organization.

That said I don't think that money should be no issue but I don't think he's hurting for financial security. If all it came down to was a mil between playing in Chicago and finishing in Chicago and playing elsewhere I hope he'd decide to stay put. His legacy will be worth all that much more in Chicago if he does vs playing out his career elsewhere. This is a city who didn't forgive Bobby Hull for decades, LOL.

It seem to me that Bears fans, elephants and my ex-wife have the longest memories in the animal or humankind.