Comments on: Report: Forte is believed to have a torn MCL

By: mashoaf

mashoaf — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:06:06 +0000

Joe Jurevicius says, “He’s seen worse.”

By: KIR

KIR — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:04:27 +0000

Forte doesn’t have to sign the Franchise offer. He can wait until the day before the first game if he wants to sign it at all. Devin Hester held out and got paid. That’s the only way to deal with teams who do not want to pay rookies who have outperformed their contracts.

Who are you all to determine what’s enough. HE’s 50% OF THE OFFENSE. He has value and leverage. He should fire his current agent for letting him show up this year.

By: philtration

philtration — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 01:45:28 +0000

ramal1dw says: Dec 4, 2011 5:12 PM

That sucks for Forte. Bears organization screwed him by refusing to pay him and now he gets the worst possible outcome. Should have sat out thru training camp until they decided to take care of his contract.
=================================

For the millionth time… the Bears offered Forte a fat contract and he decided to turn them down.
He walked away from $15 million guaranteed and he rolled the dice because he felt that he could get more.

It was Forte’s gamble since the Bears could just franchise him if he refused their next offer after this season.

By: juniorak715

juniorak715 — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 01:02:13 +0000

Forte was offered ENOUGH money. He got greedy. Plain and simple. The Bears did all they could to get the deal done. They shouldn’t overpay cuz other teams are stupid enough to do so. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot.

And I bet any money the Bears still tag him. The man ain’t going anywhere!!

By: chadinkc30

chadinkc30 — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:37:45 +0000

If the Bears gave Forte the contract extension, it would be all of you saying how its dumb to pay running backs big money because they are always a risk to getting hurt. Looks like the cheap Bears look like the smart ones to me

By: colinsnooks

colinsnooks — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:37:20 +0000

So when a talented player is holding out, that means the team is cheap, the player is greedy and should be thankful he plays a game for a living, and just get out there and play. When the talented player plays out his contract, the player is stupid for assuming the injury risk and the organization is classless and screws the player by refusing to pay.

How does a good rookie get a respectable second contract without someone being the bad guy?

By: KIR

KIR — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:34:04 +0000

Matt Forte is the best runner and receiver ON THE TEAM. He is 50% of their offense. 50%! The bears offer was insulting

Again, consider these contracts. What is it that you all don’t understand about production and proven talent?

UnProven Contracts
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 6-year, $59 million
Matt Cassel 6-year, $62.7 million
Kevin Kolb 5-year, $63 million contract

By: sweetmike7

sweetmike7 — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:33:18 +0000

It definitely looks like now the bears will put the franchise tag on forte
for the next few years

By: fearnlothin

fearnlothin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:14:43 +0000

To say that the Bears did some how did something wrong is flat out untrue. The Bears did offer Matt Forte a contract, and it was a competitive offer. Forte turned down that contract extension, choosing to bank on the fact he would make it through the season healthy, and make much more money on the open market. Forte decided to take the risk, and it did not work out well for him. I feel terrible that it worked out this way for him. He has been playing phenomenally, and to see him go down was tough.

The Bears made the right call here, though, they owned all the cards. Forte was still under contract, therefore they did not need to sign him. Not to mention the franchise tag is available for him next year. Had the Bears signed him to Deangelo Williams money, people would have been up in arms, saying that was the wrong thing to do. The Bears played this the way they should have.

By: jonesjack

jonesjack — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:56:37 +0000

Really sad day for a quality player.

By: pudgalvin

pudgalvin — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:45:17 +0000

Could be wrong here, but isn’t any sprain of the MCL a tear? And then the degree of the sprain is just how bad the ligament is torn. I think that’s what I learned after Cutler’s MCL injury last year. They vary from coming back that day (Julius Peppers has been playing on an MCL sprain for a month) to being out 4 weeks.

By: ha5ko

ha5ko — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:32:51 +0000

Thank you Chicago, for another fine example of how to treat a player.

Forte deserved better

By: chorn

chorn — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:23:05 +0000

The Bears offered Forte a decent contract, Forte passed on it.

Running backs have a short shelf life, things like this are the exact reason you don’t pay one big money.

By: johnnyjagfan

johnnyjagfan — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:17:09 +0000

I hate it for Forte, been waiting all year for this moment. Just was hoping it wouldn’t.

Now I think I know why they hold out. I don’t like it anymore than anyone who’s bitched about CJ this season. But CJ can hurt his knee tomorrow and doesn’t have to worry about how he’ll feed his family or provide housing. Forte didn’t have that kind of salary and now, has those kind of problems.

By: kingjoe1

kingjoe1 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:59:19 +0000

Well this certainly will give Desean Jackson more reason to do nothing for his 600 thousan dollar salary.

By: jimmysee

jimmysee — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:57:52 +0000

I’m a Packers fan — I want to beat the Bears when they’re at their best.

Very sorry to hear about this.

Missing Cutler and Forte when the Pack meets the Bears later this month at Lambeau is a bummer.

By: ryanw411

ryanw411 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:54:02 +0000

This may be a blessing in disguise for Forte. With a torn MCL it should be enough to prevent the Bears from franchising him and get him to the open market, but not serious enough that teams won’t be willing to sign him to a big deal. Forte is young and a hard worker that strives to be a better player, if you are going to pay a RB big money it is to a guy in Forte’s position age and development wise.

By: perno13

perno13 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:49:46 +0000

Sprained MCL, not torn MCL.

By: doe22us

doe22us — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:46:29 +0000

MCL’s are not that bad if its a sprain no biggie, a tear of the MCL in terms of the lesser of two evils with an ACL, i will take an MCL.

By: KIR

KIR — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:44:27 +0000

@freedomispopular

This is why you don’t pay top money to runningbacks. They’re a dime a dozen with short life cycles. I feel for the man, not getting the contract he wanted, and now getting hurt, but I don’t like to pay a lot of money for a product that I know isn’t going to last very long, and neither should any NFL team.
______________________________
You don’t know what you’re talking about.

UnProven Contracts
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 6-year, $59 million
Matt Cassel 6-year, $62.7 million
Kevin Kolb 5-year, $63 million contract

Who would you rather have on your team? Those Quarterbacks or these running backs? Case Closed

Proven Underpaid
Arian Foster, Matt Forte, Fred Jackson

By: kyleortonsarm

kyleortonsarm — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:41:41 +0000

Thankfully this is happening before they go to Denver. If Chiefs hold them to 3 I guess we’ll see if it’s possible to get negative points against Denver.

By: vision415

vision415 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:41:36 +0000

Honestly I was praising Forte for handling his contract (or lack thereof) with class while really talking trash about DeSean Jackson. I have to say after this I am on the side of the players all the way. I truly hope he’s OK.

These teams stiffing these guys like this and then applying the franchise tag like pouring salt in the wound is just too bad. I think teams have WAY too much leverage on this subject. If a team can simply ‘cut’ a player and void a better part of the contract, why can’t players ‘cut’ teams?

What’s really sad is that these owners come out and trash talk players that hold out trying to make it look like they (owners) are somehow getting screwed. Give me a break.

By: spacincasen

spacincasen — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:38:43 +0000

People, the Bears offered Forte a pretty fair deal… this is why it is risky for teams to pay a RB the kind of contract that Chris Johnson and Deangelo Williams received. I love Forte but you can’t blame the franchise for not being able to get a deal done during a time period where the market for RBs seems to be badly skewed. Hope he comes back soon….

By: 1265lombardiave

1265lombardiave — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:36:51 +0000

If Chicago doesn’t want Forte please ship him up to Green Bay. Packers would be off the charts with a pass catcher like Forte at RB.

As a Packer fan I still respect the hell out of Chicago..the tradition,history,rivalry and Chicago is my fav. city by far. But Angelo sucks and is a disgrace to that fan base and franchise.

Every other team would have paid Forte ages ago.

By: ducksnbears

ducksnbears — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:35:21 +0000

ramal1dw says:
Dec 4, 2011 5:12 PM
That sucks for Forte. Bears organization screwed him by refusing to pay him and now he gets the worst possible outcome. Should have sat out thru training camp until they decided to take care of his contract. Now he’s lost a TON of leverage. Just another shady move by a shady GM to get what he wanted without treating anyone around him with respect. I’ll continue to root against the Bears until they get rid of Jerry Angelo.

___________________________________

I wish people would stop saying this. They did make him an offer of around $30 million, with about $14 million guaranteed, but he decided to hold out for more because of what he saw Gore and Johnson get. I’m not saying it was the best offer but they did make him a pretty good one, and $14 mil guaranteed is a lot of mula.

Best wishes Matt, get well soon.

By: ravenspit

ravenspit — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:32:37 +0000

I hope Forte is out for the rest of the season, fully heals, then gets a big pay day some where else. The bears do not deserve him.

By: effjohntaylornorelation

effjohntaylornorelation — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:30:59 +0000

Hopefully ownership realizes that Angelo and Smith did everything in their power to destroy a mans ability to earn a living. I understand the NFL is a business but does any business really want to be thougt of in the light most football fans think of the Bears GM and coach. Eventually the bad press catches up with you. Good luck with your rehab Matt. Your performance this season was incredible!

By: freedomispopular

freedomispopular — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:30:23 +0000

By: lilrob10201

lilrob10201 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:30:06 +0000

Wow.The Bears offense lose their main peice of their offense.That has to suck.

By: austin2720

austin2720 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:27:22 +0000

even as a lions fan i think matt forte is awsome. The bears are a cheap organization that wont pay their good players and look what happens to the player doing his part. NO CLASS, just look at that draft day debacle they had recently not finalizing a trade screwing over the other team. BEARS ORG. SUCKS A BIG ONE!!!!