According to ESPN’s Ed Werder, the Chicago Bears and defensive tackle Henry Melton will not reach a new long-term deal before Monday’s deadline, so he will play for the franchise tag in 2013.
Melton, 26, was franchise tagged by the Bears back in early March. As a result, he is slated to make $8.45 million as a franchise player.
As the July 15 deadline approached, it appeared that the Bears under general manager Phil Emery weren’t prepared to make a significant offer to Melton, the Chicago Tribune reported. With a new coaching staff in place, the Bears want to see how Melton performs in Mel Tucker’s new defense before making a long-term commitment.
“I can only control what I can control, and that’s my performance on the field,” Melton said.  “It’s kind of like when you have strong feelings for a place — you want to stay there long term. Of course you want to get something done, but it’s pretty much out of my hands.”
In 14 games last season, Melton recorded 44 tackles and six sacks for the Bears. We have Melton listed as the No. 6 player in our Top 50 – 2014 Free Agents list.
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