The Official Bears site has an article showing Forte has had the franchise tag placed on him.

 

Hopefully before long we will see an article saying he has been signed to a long term contract and the "tag" was just used to make sure he did not go anywhere while we tried to finish up negotiations.

 

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=8669

This tag is just to keep him off the FA market. They started contract talks at the combine which means to me that they are now working on a new deal and will just need time to hammer out the details to keep Matt as a Bear.

The Official Bears site has an article showing Forte has had the franchise tag placed on him.

 

Hopefully before long we will see an article saying he has been signed to a long term contract and the "tag" was just used to make sure he did not go anywhere while we tried to finish up negotiations.

 

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=8669

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Forte is going to be 27 years old this season and has "above average" mileage on his body. What type of contract is effective in this scenario? Logic and history dictate that he has only two good seasons left.

 

Would he even accept a 3 or 4 year deal? 3 being best for the Bears, 4+ better for Forte. IMO - there is no way Chris Johnson and AP live out the deals they just signed.

 

The devil behind the scene is: locker room moral, Fortes' overall happiness, team reputation, competetiveness, and cap health. A lot can swing during this negotiation.

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Forte is going to be 27 years old this season and has "above average" mileage on his body. What type of contract is effective in this scenario? Logic and history dictate that he has only two good seasons left.

 

Would he even accept a 3 or 4 year deal? 3 being best for the Bears, 4+ better for Forte. IMO - there is no way Chris Johnson and AP live out the deals they just signed.

 

The devil behind the scene is: locker room moral, Fortes' overall happiness, team reputation, competetiveness, and cap health. A lot can swing during this negotiation.

I don't think the years would matter nearly as much as the guaranteed dollars, and I think he's pushing for closer to $20 million in the guaranteed dollar amounts. And I think Angelo was trying to hold closer to $15, which probably wasn't the wrong move on his part given that Forte still had to get through last year to reach this point.

I don't think the years would matter nearly as much as the guaranteed dollars, and I think he's pushing for closer to $20 million in the guaranteed dollar amounts. And I think Angelo was trying to hold closer to $15, which probably wasn't the wrong move on his part given that Forte still had to get through last year to reach this point.

As I read somewhere the money was 5 year/29 mil/13 guaranteed. He wanted 5/35/19 guaranteed. I would say 5/32/17 guaranteed.

How much of $7.7 is guaranteed? I am assuming it all is and that would be a 7.7 cap hit this year if they can't work out a long term deal.

How much of $7.7 is guaranteed? I am assuming it all is and that would be a 7.7 cap hit this year if they can't work out a long term deal.

The entire amount would count as Guaranteed on the franchise tag.

As I read somewhere the money was 5 year/29 mil/13 guaranteed. He wanted 5/35/19 guaranteed. I would say 5/32/17 guaranteed.

How does this compare to where they were at before Forte tailed off, then got hurt, then the Bears lost a lot of games and the GM got fired? He's almost surely asking for less now than he was then, but I wonder how much less.

How does this compare to where they were at before Forte tailed off, then got hurt, then the Bears lost a lot of games and the GM got fired? He's almost surely asking for less now than he was then, but I wonder how much less.

 

As much as I love Forte, I just dont think signing him to a long term deal is a good football move. This team has a ton of holes. Forte is pretty replaceable with a draft pick, but the dollars we are using on him could be used to buy players who aren't easily replaceable with a draft pick. It's tough to find a great DE or WR in the draft, but we could find both in free agency. If we traded Forte, we could sign Mario Willaims AND Vincent Jackson, and use the pick we for for Forte to draft his replacement.

As much as I love Forte, I just dont think signing him to a long term deal is a good football move. This team has a ton of holes. Forte is pretty replaceable with a draft pick, but the dollars we are using on him could be used to buy players who aren't easily replaceable with a draft pick. It's tough to find a great DE or WR in the draft, but we could find both in free agency. If we traded Forte, we could sign Mario Willaims AND Vincent Jackson, and use the pick we for for Forte to draft his replacement.

I agree he isnt worth a long term deal, but Williams is going to get a 90 to 100 mil deal and the Bears wont do that with Peppers deal still on the table. Jackson can be gotten without getting rid of Forte. The best thing is to franchise him and determine next year his value going forward. We will not be getting 2 high proflie FAs, we dont have enough cap space. Jackson? and 2 or 3 fringe players is the best that we can do. Anything else is just a dream.

I agree he isnt worth a long term deal, but Williams is going to get a 90 to 100 mil deal and the Bears wont do that with Peppers deal still on the table. Jackson can be gotten without getting rid of Forte. The best thing is to franchise him and determine next year his value going forward. We will not be getting 2 high proflie FAs, we dont have enough cap space. Jackson? and 2 or 3 fringe players is the best that we can do. Anything else is just a dream.

Hasn't most of the big impact of Peppers' deal already hit? I could have swore Angelo front-loaded that so that he was cuttable if he didn't keep up his work ethic.