Bears ILB Brian Urlacher told ESPN 1000 on Tuesday that he hasn’t heard fr0m either GM Phil Emery or new head coach Marc Trestman yet.
“The Bears have been busy,” Uralcher said, via ESPN Chicago. “They have more important things to take care of right now. I’ll let that fall into place and see what happens.”
Urlacher mentioned that he would like to finish his career with the Bears and understands that his salary will be much lower in his next deal.
“Chicago is my home,” Urlacher said, via the Chicago Tribune. “When you look at my age and everything, it’s going to be hard to not give them a discount. I’m not going to make what I was making in the past, how about that? Does that make sense? That’s fair.”
Kevin Seifert believes Urlacher will “make it as easy on the Bears as he can” when it comes to a contract extension that would keep him in Chicago.
Urlacher, 34, is coming off of a pretty tough season in which he struggled to regain his previous form following an offseason knee surgery. The two sides will have a number of weeks to work on a contract extension, but there’s no telling how Chicago will handle this situation.
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So disrespectful, how are you not even going to talk to brian urlacher about an extension?? You’re not even gonna contact a future hall of famer and one of the best linebackers in NFL history!! He wants to come back and you DON’T have a better player on the team but even if you did, you sign him based on your respect level for him. He is a great teammate with great knowledge of the game and is class personified. He also is the vocal leader of your team and has been the face of your franchise for years. I’ve been a bears fan my whole life but these kinds of things really irritate me about the bears
I find this situation to be interesting because Emery appears to be focused solely on the team’s future, but there’s no question that Urlacher is one of the most important players in the history the Bears. He says he doesn’t want a lot in terms of salary, but we still don’t know how much he’s really seeking. They obviously need a long-term prospect in place at ILB, but these types of situations are delicate given what great players can mean to a franchise.