Bears Blitz

Published by Bob Warja on December 20, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

I have never taken a seat on the “Pay Forte!” bandwagon, even before his knee injury. In fact, if you ever hear me shouting “Pay the man,” I assure you I will be talking about myself—not some professional athlete.

The reasons I feel this way are as varied as the colors of the rainbow. On a basic level, all pro athletes are extremely well-compensated as compared to the Average Joe, so it’s hard for me to find empathy.

And while their careers can be short—especially in the NFL where the average career is about 3.5 years, at least according to the NFLPA—many players still make as much, or more, in that span than the theoretical Joe makes in his lifetime.

Plus, commissioner Roger Goodell claims the NFLPA statistic is misleading, and the true average career length is about six years.

But that aside, the main reason I don’t believe the Chicago Bears should offer a big extension to Matt Forte pertains directly to what occurred in Week 13 when Forte went down with a knee injury.

Football is a violent sport, and injuries are too big of a risk to offer more guaranteed money to players that you have to. And in this case, there simply is no pressing need to offer Forte an extension.

What do the Bears lose if they fail to sign him long term? 

Nothing, since they can franchise him and pay him just for the upcoming season.

In fact, in that situation, Forte will likely earn more next season than he would signing an extension.

And, if he has a good year and is healthy, the Bears can do it all over again the following year.

Look, it’s just good business—and don’t tell me that this hurts the Bears’ reputation with other potential free agents who won’t want to sign with the Bears because they’re cheap.

Cue the playing of the world’s smallest violin please.

NFL players don’t care how much the Bears pay Forte any more than they care what shampoo he uses. All they care about is where the bigger paycheck is.

Oh sure, there are exceptions, but those players who are not in it simply for the money care about winning, and again, that has nothing to do with paying Forte.

And that is exactly why you—the Bears fan—should not care one iota about extending the Bears’ running back. 

Yes, if they were in danger of losing him, that would be a valid concern.

But they still have him under team control for two more years. And before you feel sorry for the man, consider that if they tag him, Forte will be paid about $8 million next season.

So everybody wins—except Forte if his injury doesn’t heal, since he foolishly turned down an extension offer from the Bears earlier this season.

Maybe he felt it was not enough money,—the offer was reported to be $14-$15 million guaranteed—but I’ll bet as he was laying on the field he was wishing he had taken that deal.

You see, when you’re an NFL player, your career can be over in a flash. So when a team offers you guaranteed money, you must weigh the risk versus the benefit of waiting.

That’s what Forte did, and he will have to assume the risk.

Yes, I know that Forte was having a great season before the injury, but let me ask you something: Did he offer to give back any money when he was having a subpar season in 2009?

Of course not.

In the NFL, the only guaranteed money players get is the signing bonus and any roster bonuses that are tied into a contract. The annual salary is not guaranteed.

Meanwhile, that injured knee that Forte has is not expected to affect him next year.

Still, skill players, such as running backs, depend on those knees to cut quickly and turn, and that type of injury is a lot harder to come back from than for an offensive lineman, for example. 

Now, if Forte had an injury to his MCL, I might think twice about giving him the franchise tag next season. But with an ACL injury, I would take the risk.  

So I would go ahead and tag Forte next season—but I would take that extension off the table.

For one thing, I happen to think players play better when they have next year’s salary on the line. I don’t think it is a total coincidence that Forte was having his best season this year.

If you notice, the other Bear to be unhappy about his contract—Lance Briggs—is also playing some really good football, although it is debatable as to whether his play is better than last year.

The other reason is that I don’t feel the Bears should tie up their money by extending Forte and increasing his cap number for next season.

This is a flawed Bears team that needs a lot of help if they’re going to return to the playoffs next year, so any money available should go to signing some free-agent help, such as a wide receiver or offensive lineman.

The Bears need a cornerback too, and while the draft may help, you cannot expect the kind of immediate improvement that a contending team needs simply from the draft.

Plus, even if you are worried that Forte will have a let down, if he isn’t signed to an extension, that doesn’t seem likely, given the way he has performed this year and with so much on the line.

This isn’t a player who is prone to a holdout.

So yes, Forte may be a huge part of the offense, but that doesn’t mean he has to be such a huge hit against the salary cap.

It’s just good business.

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