Linebacker Brian Urlacher hasn’t spoken to the Bears yet this offseason, but he doesn’t need to have direct contact with them to know what it is going to take to have any shot at remaining in Chicago in 2013.
He’s going to have to take a serious cut from the $7.5 million that he made in 2012. That would probably be true based on his age (35 in May) alone, but the fact that he dealt with a variety of injuries last season only makes it more of a necessity. Urlacher has no illusions about his need to make less money next season and it sounds like he’s fine with it.
“When you look at my age and everything, it’s going to be hard to not give them a discount,” Urlacher said, via the Chicago Tribune. “I’m not going to make what I was making in the past, how about that? Does that make sense? That’s fair.”
The fact of the matter is that this isn’t just about a “hometown discount” for the Bears. If Urlacher’s going to play anywhere in 2013, he’s going to need to agree to play for a lot less money than he’s accustomed to making. Maybe he’d sign with the Bears for less than he’d be willing to sign for in another city, but it’s a new financial reality regardless of the uniform he winds up wearing.