Thread: Sun Times: "Bears best served to run along without Urlacher"

Originally Posted by soulman

Just like McNeil in the Trib, Morrissey is another fringe guy who barely gets the time of day from players or management and is always critical of something the Bears are doing or not doing. These days it's hard to find something negative to write about so this must be it.

Can't bitch about a LT......got one. Can't bitch about a TE......got one. Can't really bitch about losing a decent journeyman LB to a team willing to double his salary when we're struggling to stay under our cap. Can't bitch about Melton......he's tagged. Cutler says he's happy right now. Same with Marshall who not only lived up to is rep as a player but now he's play Boy Scout Leader with the other receivers. Briggs isn't asking for more money again is he.......no I don't think so.

So what's left. Urlacher is about all guys like Morrissey can hit on these day. Do we have an ignore button for certain columnists?

I have almost all of them on ignore.

Originally Posted by BearJim

Well, this is a tough one. On one hand Urlacher has not only been a great player but the face of the franchise & a team leader. On the other hand last year was a difficult one for him whether due to injury or age or a combination of both he lost a step or two. He did get better as the season went on but then pulled a hammy in a game where our D spent way too much time on the field. I guess the big question is has he lost a step or two due to not being in shape last year due to injury & having to rehab from his injury or has he actually lost a step or two due to age & wear & tear over a long career & become injury prone as well?

As fans we can't really be sure one way or another until we see him back on the field healthy & in football shape. I'm sure he's working his ass off this off season to get back to a level he expects from himself. I would find it hard to believe he would come back because he needs the money if he knows he can't play at least close to the high level he is accustomed to. Other teams who might be interested in signing him would probably put him through a workout to see where he is health wise. So should our Bears.

If they do & he looks like a shell of his old shell of himself we do nothing, hoping another team would sign him & relieve us of the imminent PR take or he would retire. However if he looks good we see what the market brings for him & match it, or sign him to a deal with a low base salary full of incentives that would also protect us against injury & allow him to earn a good market salary based on performance. I really don't have a feel for how this will work out but I hope #54 plays for the Chicago Bears for his entire career, however long that ends up being.

Spoken like a wise old sage. I agree.

Do we have an ignore button for certain columnists?

Yes, it's in the top right corner of your browser, looks kind of like a white "X" on a red field....

Originally Posted by TheBaschnagelnator

Well that's one play out of thousands and he wouldn't be the only guy Brady ever made miss either. We're talking about two future HOF players here and they're both gonna win their share of battles. This proves absolutely nothing.

Originally Posted by soulman

Well that's one play out of thousands and he wouldn't be the only guy Brady ever made miss either. We're talking about two future HOF players here and they're both gonna win their share of battles. This proves absolutely nothing.

Yeah, I know. I just like messing with the guy sometimes.

Originally Posted by BearJim

Well, this is a tough one. On one hand Urlacher has not only been a great player but the face of the franchise & a team leader. On the other hand last year was a difficult one for him whether due to injury or age or a combination of both he lost a step or two. He did get better as the season went on but then pulled a hammy in a game where our D spent way too much time on the field. I guess the big question is has he lost a step or two due to not being in shape last year due to injury & having to rehab from his injury or has he actually lost a step or two due to age & wear & tear over a long career & become injury prone as well?

As fans we can't really be sure one way or another until we see him back on the field healthy & in football shape. I'm sure he's working his ass off this off season to get back to a level he expects from himself. I would find it hard to believe he would come back because he needs the money if he knows he can't play at least close to the high level he is accustomed to. Other teams who might be interested in signing him would probably put him through a workout to see where he is health wise. So should our Bears.

If they do & he looks like a shell of his old shell of himself we do nothing, hoping another team would sign him & relieve us of the imminent PR take or he would retire. However if he looks good we see what the market brings for him & match it, or sign him to a deal with a low base salary full of incentives that would also protect us against injury & allow him to earn a good market salary based on performance. I really don't have a feel for how this will work out but I hope #54 plays for the Chicago Bears for his entire career, however long that ends up being.

Not a bad thought but if I'm his agent I probably would advise against it as being too subjective. You can only measure certain things that way and even if his speed is not what it once was his read and react abilities can make up for a lot of that.

I hear a lot of people describe his interception return for that TD as being "lumbering" but nobody caught him did they? And he was still in position and plenty athletic enough to make the pick to begin with. To many people are reading way too much and expecting way too much physically of a guy who played all year last year still rehabbing his knee and playing out of shape.

I would agree that the only way we can even get close to what Urlacher proposed is by using incentives that won't hit the cap this year if he earns them and in his case that's not so easy to do since almost anything you put in there that's attainable has been attained before and may not be considered ULTBE. The easiest to me seems to be playing time based on a number of snaps. He would not have earned it last year because of that hammy if it required full participation for 16 games.

So it may be that's what they trying to work out with him and hopefully they will but the workout thing is kind of a can of worms. That may work for some guys but not for everyone and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he refused it with any team. A physical yes but a workout? I wouldn't.