A little over a week ago we posted an article from Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times that mentioned the possibly that the Bears could shop Matt Forte now that the two sides appear to have reached an impasse regarding a new contract.
Vaughan McClure of the Chicago Tribune reports that two teams have had internal discussion about a possible trade for Forte. McClure notes that the Bears have not made Forte available which suggests that a deal before the deadline is pretty far fetched.
Bears GM Jerry Angelo responded to the report by saying that they have yet to receive any calls about Matt Forte and added that he “doesn’t see us doing anything,” per Michael C. Wright of ESPNChicago.com
Forte’s representation could still use this in their negotiations as Forte is set to become a free agent at the end of the season. Chicago knows who valuable he is to them but refuses to meet his asking price. A franchise tag looks likely for Forte at this point but I guess it’s always possible that Jerry Angelo could change his approach.
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The Bears can keep him next year for 8mm. And not have to worry about a career ending injury. Why would they give him 40mm over 5 years and 20mm guaranteed. They could even keep him the next year and still not apend 20 guaranteed. Guaranteed contracts ahould have a discount. The Bears are in the drivers seat.
I like your practical outlook on the situation which is most likely what the Bears are really thinking here.
The franchise tag for this season was $9.5 million, per Jason La Canora, and is likely to increase in 2012 after the recent contracts that Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson and Deangelo Williams signed so that $20 million doesn’t really seem like much of an obstacle considering that you’re proposing using the tag multiple times. The remainder of his contract isn’t guaranteed so the Bears could always release him if he ends up being unproductive or gets injured.
Forte isn’t just a good player, the guys makes their entire offense work. He leads the team in every major statistical category and his value to the team is as high as any player at the running back position to their respective team.
Jerry Angelo has been making enemies with a number of the teams veterans and Forte isn’t the guy that you want to push out of Chicago.