Bears to-do list includes their own free agents
Among the Bears’ 13 unrestricted free agents, Matt Forte has received the most attention, but he has the least chance of leaving.
Failing a long-term contract extension in the off-season, the Bears will slap the dreaded “franchise” tag on Forte, effectively keeping him from leaving. Because of a new formula as per last summer’s collective bargaining agreement, the franchise number for running backs will be about $7.8 million this year, compared with $9.6 million in 2011.
If Forte signs with another team, that team must give the Bears two first-round draft picks. It’s highly unlikely any team would give up that much in compensation, so Forte will be stuck in Chicago.
With a new general manager coming soon, Forte might have better luck getting the multi-year deal, including $20 million in guaranteed money that he’s seeking. The Bears’ top offer included about $14 million in guaranteed money.
Forte has alternated between whining about his plight and not discussing it.
The day after the season ended, he made it simple.
“It’s not up to me,” he said. “Either one of two things: I get franchised or
I don’t.”
Count on him getting franchised and holding out, at least through training camp.
When wide receiver Roy Williams was brought in last year on a one-year deal, then-offensive coordinator Mike Martz predicted he might catch 70 passes. He probably did — if you count practices. In games, Williams caught just 37 passes, although he finished strong with 10 catches for 141 yards in the final two games.
Williams signed last year for $2.46 million, and he certainly won’t get any more than that from the Bears this time around.
“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs just like this football team,” Williams said. “But just coming off the street, I think I played OK. I think these last two or three ballgames have just picked up, and I think my arrow is going up for this football team and I just want to try to continue to help us win.”
Corey Graham made the Pro Bowl as a special teams coverage guy, but he wants a bigger role on defense, and he showed this season that he may deserve it. Filling in at nickel when D.J. Moore was injured, Graham had interceptions in three straight games in November. If the Bears won’t at least give him a chance to win a regular job, he could bolt.
“It’s very important,” the five-year veteran said of playing time. “Obviously when you’re in this league you want to play on defense. You want to play as much as possible. Hopefully I get a chance to play somewhere. I’m going to weigh my options and just see what happens.”
In 2011 Tim Jennings started 15 games at cornerback and Zack Bowman started one opposite Charles Tillman. Both are free agents and both were benched at one point during the season for ineffective play, so the Bears could offer Graham a shot at the job.
BEARS 2012 FREE AGENTS
*RB Kahlil Bell
CB Zack Bowman
TE Kellen Davis
RB Matt Forte
CB Corey Graham
QB Caleb Hanie
DE Israel Idonije
CB Tim Jennings
QB Josh McCown
S Brandon Meriweather
DT Amobi Okoye
S Craig Steltz
WR Roy Williams
*Restricted free agent; all others are unrestricted