Bears Blitz

Published by Mike Chiari on November 2, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Despite leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 1,091 through just seven games and leading the Chicago Bears in rushing yardage, receiving yardage, receptions and total touchdowns, running back Matt Forte is still without a long-term contract.

As odd as it may sound, that seems likely to continue into next season as well, as the Bears are apparently planning to designate Forte as a franchise player next season in order to guarantee he remains in the fold for at least one more year.

Forte is still playing out his rookie contract, which pays him $600,000 per season. While any normal person would be thrilled with that salary, Forte’s production-to-compensation ratio is completely out of whack in NFL terms.

Several of Forte’s peers make far more and produce far worse numbers. A perfect example is the Carolina Panthers‘ DeAngelo Williams, who was given a five-year, $43 million contract prior to the 2011 season, but is barely even utilized by the Panthers.

Forte is a proverbial Swiss army knife for the Bears as he does a little bit of everything on offense. Simply put, when Forte is used correctly by offensive coordinator Mike Martz, Chicago’s chances of winning a given game increase significantly.

When Martz gets in one of his pass-happy moods, however, and forces quarterback Jay Cutler to throw the ball 40-plus times behind a joke of an offensive line, the Bears tend to struggle. It is certainly no coincidence the Bears’ success often mirrors the success of Forte.

I honestly can’t think of another player in the NFL who means more to his team but gets less respect than Forte. That notion most definitely isn’t lost on Forte either as he is perfectly aware that he is currently getting squeezed by the organization. As Forte said after practice Tuesday:

I know I’m loyal to my teammates and my team are my guys, but it doesn’t seem like the organization is to me. But that doesn’t keep me from going out on the field and putting my best out there.

I play for myself and my teammates and my family. I learned that it really is a business and that they really don’t care about your personal life or anything like that. It’s the National Football League and these organizations are in a business. That’s the bad part about it.

Forte is absolutely right about the NFL being a business, but you have to wonder about the business sense of general manager Jerry Angelo and the Halas-McCaskey family if they are unwilling to commit to what is clearly their best asset in Forte.

Franchising Forte would be a big financial decision, but it would only be for one season. I understand running backs tend to have a shorter shelf life than most other players, but Forte is just 25 years old and has plenty of tread left on the tires.

Tagging Forte will keep him in Chicago in the short term, but it may eventually come back to bite the Bears when he is unwilling to negotiate a long-term contract with the team because of its blatant track record of disloyalty.

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