Bob LeGere at the Daily Herald comments on Matt Forte‘s contract situation:
“However, I’m beginning to think Forte is getting bad advice by not accepting the Bears’ offer for a contract extension. He’s not going to get Chris Johnson-type money ($53.5 million for four years with $30 million guaranteed) from the Bears. And he’s not going to get it from anyone else. If he doesn’t agree to an extension before next year’s free agency, the Bears will surely slap the franchise tag on him, at least for 2012.
“If Forte wants the security of a long-term deal with a big chunk of change up front, he should stop whining about it and take the $14-$15 million or so guaranteed that the Bears are offering. If he suffers a serious injury this season, he’ll never see anything close to that.”
I, also, am starting to question whether Forte is getting the best advice. He was all over the television and radio commenting about these negotiations during the bye week. Exaggerations like the suggestion that they’re pounding him “into a pulp” are not helping him. I know I’m not the only one that got very tired of it.
Though I don’t really believe it, myself, the more we hear from Forte on this, the more the idea that he’s playing primarily for the money and not for the love of the game and his teammates takes hold. At minimum, Forte needs to stop commenting and the agent, Adisa Bakari, needs to be the one doing the talking.
The fact that this hasn’t been the case makes me wonder about how these negotiations are being handled on Forte’s end. These tactics might work against the Jacksonville Jaguars but I’ll tell you right now that they aren’t going to move the Bears an inch. All they do is damage Forte’s public image. I’d hate to see Forte find that out himself the hard way.