THANK YOU!!!
I just love how all these dudes get on here and start up with all this nonsense about how “It’s a passing league” & “There has not been a top paid running back in the Super Bowl for a while now”!! As if Running backs who sign big contracts prevent their teams from going deep in the playoffs?!?! GMs who write stupid contracts to one guy (QB, RB or Nosetackle for crying out loud)!!! They prevent the ability to better their team at other positions!! What Forte is asking for will not cripple the Bears ability to continue improving the roster!! He’s not being greedy, he’s simply trying to get paid market value AND have the team commit to him..

Being that Forte has fairly realistic figures in mind concerning salary & guaranteed money, I honestly don’t know why the Bears’ Brass is hesitant to give him the longer term he’s asking for.. It’s not like the team couldn’t just cut him late in the deal if need be and suffer nothing but a small cap hit!! Think about it this way, if they give him the type of deal he wants and his production increases at all, in any way, they are right back to a great deal, underpaying one of the best backs in the game… They won’t be getting away with robbery like these past 4 years, but still, they’ll be paying him less than the market says he’s worth! And history tells us that he would play out that contract!! If they wait until he can no longer be franchised then they’ll have to compete with other suitors and likely have to overpay for his services or simply let one of the best in the game slip away!!! UNACCEPTABLE!!

*** Who is gonna wanna trade for this guy? He s clearly said he wants a long term deal. What s stoppng him from holding out on the next team ***

Forte has been very clear about wanting a long term contract, “Long Term” meaning that he likely wouldn’t hesitate to sign a 5 year deal, he would probably prefer a 6 year signing but at 5 years he has the type of commitment he’s been looking for. I would go so far as to say that if the Bears put together a 5 year deal with an annual salary right around what his Franchise tender is ($7.7 mil), and they gave him a decent guaranteed amount then Matt would likely sign it without hesitation!! Heck, it would probably be an amicable solution to make it a bigger signing bonus, smaller salary and an incentive laden back side!

The point is that he’s not trying to be the highest paid RB in the game, he’s not asking for unrealistic numbers & he’s not asking for something that the organization hasn’t been telling him they would give for the past 2 years!! **** Forte has never held out of a single practice, while he is currently voicing his displeasure with the run around he’s been getting, he shouldn’t be looked at like some kinda greedy player who will hold out every time he has a stellar porformance!! He’s a hard working, UNDERPAID Elite Level RB with reasonable expectations! As a fan I’m rather disappointed that the Bears are even willing to play with fire and risk loosing Forte the first chance he gets!!

The writing is on the wall because they brought in Michael Bush?!?! Each of the last three years they brought in a new “Short Yardage” back… Was the writing on the wall when they picked up Chester Taylor then proceeded to run the entire offense thru #22?!?! Was the writing there last year when Marion Barber was picked up and the Forte spent the first half of the campaign as the leading offensive yardage getter in the universe?!?!

Bottom line, it they could easily get another Matt Forte, they wouldn’t even think about giving him the $7.7 mil franchise offer!!

I’m really saddened that the owners were able to keep the franchise tag in place thru the lockout without at least modifying the parameters! If a guy gets franchised it should be married to a necisary long term contract. That would at least live up to the name “Franchise player”, but they just wanna skate on whichever is the most inconvenient contract at the time and owe the guy nothing but a swift kick in the a$$ after the “use me ,abuse me” franchise season is done with!!

***Wow! 1 whole year he out produced Adrian Peterson. All it took was for Peterson to miss a game and half with a high ankle sprain and miss another game and half with a torn ACL. ***

Yes Forte Did out produce Peterson… AP missed how many games? 3 total.?.? Forte missed about twice that many games and YES he out prouduced him!!

I know that your point was that it’s the first time it’s happened outright, but my point is that Forte has been hot on APs heals every year but one in total yardage!! Forte doesn’t want to be the highest paid RB in the game, he wants to be paid top 3-5 RB money!! And he wants the team to commit to him just a little, not like they’re gonna be held to it, if they wanna cut him in 2 years they will.. He’s really only asking to be paid what he’s worth!!

Oh and by the way, AP was paid top draft pick money for his first ; years in the league, then the team was falling all over themselves to throw a sweat deal at him!! Forte was paid like a special teamer his first 4 seasons & the team just kept saying year after year “this offseason we’re gonna work you a new deal Matt”,”We’re gonna take care of you” and they Never Did!!! THEY NEVER DID!!! Why shouldn’t he be bent?!?!? He loves his team and wants to offer up his services to them for the rest of his career!! The BEARS SHOULD BE FLATTERED AT THAT NOTION AND PUT A SERIOUS OFFER ON THE TABLE!!! Any other team that had his attention for 20 minutes would throw him the bone he’s been begging for for almost 3 years now!! ANY OTHER TEAM!!!

***On one hand Forte has had some significant injuries. On the other when he’s healthy, he’s a beast.***

Last year Forte was injured for the first time in his football life!!! Sure he had bumps & serious bruises along the way but he never left the field!! And that is why most say not to pay him any more than they have to, because RBs don’t last and because they’re to easily replaced!! Well do me a favor, find me one RB in the game who could replace him not named Arian Foster & I’ll sell you a dozen chitty running backs over the next 5 years that will end up costing you twice what you would’ve paid to have the services of Forte!! Trust this, you give him a serious contract for 5 years that ranks his pay in the top 3-5 RB and you will have a stud back who will make that offense tick & tock like a clock all the dam& way down the field… And sometimes on a 2 play drive!! PAY THE MAN!!! Give him another 5 years in a bears uniform & He Will Be Mentioned Among The Greatest Bears Runners Of All Time!! That’s pretty good company for a dime a dozen dude!!

I don’t typically agree with paying players for what they did in the past but in this case, the way they’ve strung him along, they owe him a little bit for past performance and a lotta bit for what he’s about to do for your offense!! Add Brandon Marshall and subtract Forte,, and the Bears offense is no better than they were the other way around!!

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Wow! 1 whole year he out produced Adrian Peterson. All it took was for Peterson to miss a game and half with a high ankle sprain and miss another game and half with a torn ACL.

Peyton Manning would love a talent like Matt Forte…
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peyton manning needs a talent like Matt Forte. It won’t take defenses long to see that Greedy Swamp Boy is done.

This guy deserves Star money plain and simple.

Furthermore, neither New England nor the NY Giants had a cornerstone RB – but won with a running back by committee scenario.

I also don’t think the Bears could trade him, as he’s franchise tagged. He has to sign a long term deal with the Bears, THEN they can trade him …or they’d have to rip up the unsigned tender (which the Bears won’t do).

With Ryan Grant, Cedric Benson, etc. still available in free agency – why would a team want to overpay for a guy (with a draft pick) for a guy who will hit 27 this year, and see his production more than likely go down?

The Bears are making the smart thing – and I AM a huge Matt Forte fan. He should have sat out last July, when he had much more leverage – as he knew the offense, and Marion Barber did not – and there were no OTAs whatsoever.

Why would he sign anything else? He deserves to get paid
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He had his chance to sign a long-term deal with the Bears not once but twice and he tried to milk it for more.
Whatever bargaining power he had is gone now and the more he complains about being “insulted” by a $7.7 million deal for one year the more he looses the fan support as well.
If you can play for what you made last year then you surely can play for this huge pay raise.

He should have taken their original offer, which was long term and more than enough money.

LMAO! Eggerin James and Jerome Bettis?!? They were over the hill RBs on the last year of their careers averaging about 3.5 yds per carry! LOL

The only legit example you gave was Marshall Falk, and that was 10 YEARS AGO!!!

Like I said… The game has changed and top level RBs are virtually irrelevant when it comes to winning Super Bowls…

How can anyone feed their family on a measly 7.7 million dollars? That’s pretty damn good for being the 2nd best back in your division.

7.7 million this year, and take the 10% raise would be 8.4 million. Call me crazy I’d take 16.1 million at my job the next two years. Heck I’d even transfer to Boise, Idaho for that pay.
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Umm. I dont think is the money, I think it has more to do with the fact that you lose a year of wear and tear on your body. Just look at Drew Bress and the reason he wont sign his. When he played for the Chargers, HE signed he’s franchise tender and then, HE got hurt the last game of the season. Only two teams was willing to take a chance on him. The Saints and the Dolphins.
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I hope Bears management stays strong on this issue and offer realistic contracts to him. I do not want to see what happened to the Titans (Chris Johnson crazy contract and no production) to the Bears.
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IF your a BEars fan you should be tired of the way they treat their star players. Well, On Offense. They pay their defense, thats for sure. But come on. I dont care how fast Chris Johnson is, HE is no where near better than Forte. HE cant catch like him or pass protect. BEfore he was put on the shelve last year he was the most productive player in the game. HE lead the league in total yards from scrimmage. Thats rushing and receiving. So, For all of you that think he is easy to replace. Look back at last year and get use to it. It will be more of the same this year without him.

I do believe that Emery gets this deal done in the end. With all the moves they have made this off season, it wouldn’t make much sense to alienate one the most productive backs in the NFL over the past 4 years. It’s obviously a very complicated situation that non of us can pretend to know about or understand.

The Bear’s aren’t cheap (anymore at least). They’re certainly not classless. Nothing in their 92 year history says classless…

Michael bush.

Chicago is not a team with deep pockets? Except for last year, the Bears always spend up to the salary cap. If they don’t have deep pockets how did they sign free agents like Peppers and trade for Marshall with a $9 salary number? Please, feel free to back that up with something factual instead of pulling crap out of your arse.

The reason they let Thomas Jones go is they had Cedric Benson behind him making a ton of money. They had to see what they had in Benson, which was nothing. You don’t know that unless a player gets on the field.

On one hand Forte has had some significant injuries. On the other when he’s healthy, he’s a beast.

On one hand Forte is a RB in a league where RB’s are disposable. On the other he is in the upper half of #1 backs in the league.

On one hand getting 7 mil for one year is more money than some make in a lifetime. On the other he probably knows his days are numbered and needs a solid pay day to feel comfortable (which leads to lack of productivity)…

But in a league where teams complain about primadona’s while they’re quick to cut any player whose cap number doesn’t fit their squad, I hope he sits til week 10 and plays out the rest of the season. He will soon find that nobody wants to give him a “long term deal”. Maybe (I stress MAYBE) he’ll get a 3 year deal with heavy performance incentives.

Bears suck anyway.