Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Bears GM Ryan Pace will consider all options when it comes to improving his team for the long-term.
According to Rapoport, this includes trading long-time RB Matt Forte if the right offer came about.
A rival general manager described the Bears’ situation as: “They basically say, ‘Don’t be afraid to ask.’”
Other teams around the league believe the Bears tried to trade Forte during the NFL Draft, but a source tells Rapoport that those conversations never happened.
Jason La Canfora confirms that the Bears are willing deal Forte, but adds that the price is “steep for now.”
“They’re not just going to give him away,” La Canfora’s source said. “There has to be value in the trade. It won’t just be a salary dump.”
Rapoport mentions that there are just a handful of players that they’re highly unlikely trade including: WR Kevin White, OL Kyle Long, WR Alshon Jeffery, CB Kyle Fuller, and OLB Pernell McPhee.
Forte, 29, is in the final year of his four-year, $30.4 million contract that included $13.8 million guaranteed. He’ll make a base salary of $6.65 million before testing the open market next year.
According to OverTheCap.com, trading Forte would free up $8,200,000 in available cap space while creating $1 million in dead money.
This season, Forte has appeared in all three games and ran for 276 yards on 59 carries (4.7 YPC) to go along with nine receptions for 69 yards receiving and a touchdown.
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If a trade partner could be found for Jeffery for a decent price of a 3rd or above grab it and run ! He is NOT a #1 and never will be more than a compliment as he is mentally soft as well as sideline prone medically as we see again ! If an offer of a 4th I too would think on it IF I could get another pick say a 5 or 6 the following year ! Too many WR prospects will come out each year and as we see they are a dime a dozen these days !
Trading Forte would be like saying “”Ï quit”….The Bear Nation would implode and demand Pace be fired. Forte is without question the best offensive player on the team, he is without question an elite back in the NFL who at 29 continues to prove that a RB is still capable of changing the face of the game. AP, M Lynch, M Forte and J Charles continue to remind the experts game after game, season after season why every team in the NFL should have a ground game that is capable of producing 100 yards from scrimmage week in and week out. While most teams either possess elite WR and QB combinations, the teams with RB’s to compliment those tandems are consistently in the post season and a threat to win the SB. Teams with great RB’s fare consistently better in the NFL when an elite QB goes down or an elite WR is injured. While a great passing game and a elite duo combination of WR/QB creates a margin for victory week after week against 2/3 of the NFL, every team with a elite RB and a solid run game to offset defenses create nightmare matchups for even the best defensive game plans….just ask the Broncos….or the Texans….or the Raiders. Ryan Pace is very smart and talented, but even he is not young or stupid enough to trade away this teams best offensive weapon regardless of the rumors and speculation, especially given that this team has no player capable of producing or replacing the yardage week after week that Forte gives them, or creating the nightmares for defenses that Forte does, Forte makes every WR TE and QB that much better just by being on the field. Forte is so versatile and his game is so complete from blocking, to running to receiving….he is almost irreplaceable and until his production can be duplicated or recovered by other positions, Forte is the key to A Gase and J Fox winning this season and over the course of the next 2-3 seasons. Do not let Fortes’age fool you, his level of physical conditioning goes way beyond his age and he can easily continue to play for at least the next 4-5 years barring any unforeseen injury.
Amazing how stupid you are. This is going to be a 5-12 team done after the first lions games at 1-5. Their roster is 30-32, so trading forte for the future makes sense. He is going to be 30 years old next year and declining fast, but you are too stupid to realize that. You are just very ignorant about football.
declining…4 games in and his rushing production so far is 84 attempts, 367yards, 1 TD combined with 13 receptions for 133 yards and 1nTD….so that puts him on pace to end the season regular games with 1400 rushing yards and 5 tds, combined with 5 tds and 550 receiving yards and 50+ receptions. Where ids this rpid decline??????
Such a lot of worthless garbage you post. He is 30 next season and a free agent. He will be past the age that running backs historically decline. But, you wouldn’t know that as you know virtually nothing about football.