Bears’ talks with Forte on hold
Contract talks between the Chicago Bears and running back Matt Forte are on hold.
Forte was looking for an extension as he headed into the fourth and final year on his rookie contract, but general manager Jerry Angelo said talks are most likely off until after the season.
“We’ve spent a lot of time trying to work out an extension with Matt, and his agent did as much work as he could do. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to come to an agreement at this point, so we’ve decided that we’re just going to focus on the season,” Angelo told WBBM-AM in Chicago on Monday night. “That’s something we talked about when we went into the negotiations.”
Fifth in the NFL with 4,731 yards from scrimmage since he entered the league, Forte had considered holding out at the start of training camp but decided against it. The Bears were willing to negotiate, but the talks are being tabled for now.
The season opens this week against Atlanta, and that’s where Angelo said the focus lies. He’s not completely ruling out a new deal by the end of the year, though.
“Not saying the door is shut,” he said on the radio. “But right now our focus is going to be on the season.”
He said the decision to break off the talks was mutual and added, “We visited a few times in our last meeting. We felt like with the season upon us, that right now we want to focus, Matt wants to focus on the season and having a great year that we all expect and know that we will.”
They don’t agree to a deal before the end of the season, Forte could test the market. The Bears could also slap him with the franchise-player tag.
Forte wasn’t the only high-profile player looking for a new deal.
Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs said he wants to be traded if the Bears won’t rework his six-year, $36 million deal, and with three seasons left on it, Angelo said the Bears won’t address his situation until the offseason.