Matt Forte Will Be Playing For The Bears In 2012

by Brandon on Feb 1, 2012 4:00 PM CST in Green Bay Packers News

Ted Phillips: Chicago Bears want long-term deal for Matt Forte - ESPN Chicago. Chicago Bears President Ted Phillips said that "We don't have any intention of letting Matt hit the open market" and this shouldn't surprise anyone.

The Bears aren't loaded with good young talent, and they should be keeping the ones that they've got. He's not an elite talent, Football Outsiders has him ranked as the 36th best RB in 2011, which is a few spots below Ryan Grant. But a lot of that has to do with the fact that the Bears aren't deep in offensive weapons, and defenses can focus on Forte without worrying too much about his teammates.

The Bears are going to overpay for him. The franchise tag on a running back should be somewhere between $8 to $10 million for 2012. While he's not going to be paid $100 million like Adrian Peterson, a long-term deal is going to involve some big numbers. And that's OK for the Bears, who really need to add more weapons on offense, and cannot afford to lose the ones they've already got.

But I remember reading some wishful thinking somewhere that the Green Bay Packers should pursue Forte. That was highly unlikely anyway because he's going to cost more than he's worth, and GM Ted Thompson hasn't shown much interest in other teams' free agents in the past couple years. But, in case anyone was wondering, Phillips has made it clear that Forte won't be playing for any other team next season except the Bears.

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I would say he is an elite talent

I have a hard time buying that he was the 36th best RB last season.

Jonathan Stewart & Deangelo Williams were better than Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, Arian Foster, and Darren McFadden last season?

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by Wiedmann on Feb 1, 2012 4:57 PM CST reply actions

Yeah pretty bogus. Does that factor in that he was hurt? Does it factor in his receiving abilities? I am with you Weidmann, he’s pretty elite. I’d love to have a talent like his. This is one of those areas where they try to make football like baseball and it just doesn’t work.

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by TrevorR on Feb 2, 2012 7:18 AM CST up reply actions

I'm on the fence on that one...

But he’s up there and, like Wiedmann, find it hard to believe that he’s so low (high?). Not really putting too much thought into it, but I think he is easily top 15, 20 at the worst. That being said, I agree that he’s not worth it to go after if he were to hit free agency. I’d love to have him, but we got much bigger priorities.

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by RaY210 on Feb 1, 2012 5:44 PM CST reply actions

I’d love to have him, but no way in the world am I giving up big money for the RB position, especially with our offense.

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by TrevorR on Feb 2, 2012 7:19 AM CST up reply actions

Forte is the man.

I think he’s a top 3 RB in the NFL. He’s basically Chicago’s offense.

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by arodgb on Feb 1, 2012 6:59 PM CST reply actions

not a good idea to give a RB big money

despite missing a bunch of games he finished 16th in yardage (997), 13th in yds/attempt (4.9), and was 8th in yards/game. He doesn’t get in the endzone a ton, but I think that’s more of an indictment of their O-Line than Forte

More importantly – it’s not a good idea to give RBs big money. Look at Chris Johnson, Jamaal Charles, Adrian Peterson, Darren McFadden, etc. Even Arian Foster was hurt coming into the season and missed some games. The position is undeniably a source of major injury and wearing down.

I hope the Packers stick with what they’ve been doing – getting decent players at the position without paying them a ton.

by rip_city_swagger on Feb 1, 2012 7:32 PM CST reply actions

Also while every position on the field is going to affect success and any player being better makes you better

Running back is likely the least valuable offensive position every but as quarterback is the most valuable. Spending a lot of money on an extremely injury prone, O-line dependent, not valuable position is a bad investment

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by Buddhasillegitimatechild38 on Feb 1, 2012 7:57 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

yep..

this fits the Bears M.O. when it comes to offensive philosophy..run the ball, run the ball, run the ball..they are stuck in the NFL of the 1970’s and ’80’s..

I am happy as long as they don’t figure out that having 2 stud recievers and a good QB will take you a lot further than a top 5 RB.

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by White92 on Feb 2, 2012 7:19 AM CST up reply actions 2 recs

bullshit hes rated below Grant

Forte is a top 5 back

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by blackoutsox on Feb 1, 2012 7:41 PM CST reply actions 2 recs

LMAO ~ Forte rated lower than Grant... Skip Bayless must have done that list!

I think Forte accounted for over 50% of Chicago’s offense this year… I would love to have a RB with his talent, yet, wouldn’t want to pay 8 – 10 Mil a year! TT will find someone. We obviously need help in that area… We are by no means without options!

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by BirdDogUni on Feb 5, 2012 10:15 AM CST up reply actions