Bears and Forte Agree to Four-Year Deal

Added on Jul 16, 2012 by Scott in

NFL

Despite his importance to the Bears offensive attack, the Chicago front office was unwilling to break the bank for star running back Matt Forte. The two sides had been butting heads for months. Forte refused to sign his franchise tender, so the team went out and inked ex-Raider Michael Bush to a four-year, $14 million deal. Well, the back and forth bickering finally ended today after Forte signed a four-year extension.

The financials of the contract have yet to be disclosed, but it’s rumored to pay him roughly $8 million per season, which isn’t as lucrative as the money given to Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, Arian Foster and LeSean McCoy. While not as naturally talented as those backs, Forte’s value cannot be underestimated.

The 26-year-old was heading for a career year in 2011 before spraining his MCL in Week 13. He amassed close to 1500 yards, but only found the end zone four times, due mainly to the the Bears inconsistent offense. An average runner, his biggest impact comes as a receiver out of the backfield; in four seasons, he’s caught 223 passes for 1985 yards and eight scores.

Forte’s new deal puts an end to an unnecessarily lengthy feud, and solidifies a revamped offense that added the aforementioned Bush as well as wide receiver Brandon Marshall, whom the team acquired in March from Miami for a pair of third-round draft picks.

As good as the Bears defense is, until they prove capable of putting up points they will struggle against the league’s most potent attacks, including NFC North rivals Green Bay and Detroit. To help those odds, the team bolstered their depth with Bush and quarterback Jason Campbell in order to prevent the 2011 collapse after both Forte and Jay Cutler were lost for the season.

The Bears will open their 2012 training camp on July 29th in Bourbonnais, Illinois.

Source: NFL.com