How good is he? I have him as one of the top 5 to 7 complete backs in the NFL. He price tag keeps going up. This is the risk Angelo takes when playing hard ball.

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If he keeps at this pace, someone will offer him huge money, the Bears wont match it and SUCK wont begin to describe them next year.

Imagine this offense without Forte right now.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

They would be bad. He was the primary reason for their turnaround last year. Martz started to give him the ball and the Bears won.

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except they will put the franchise tag on him and all will be good

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Still have him as "Good not great"

If he keeps this up (odds say no) obviously my opinion will change.

Not a great runner, still can be brought down pretty easily but when you add in his ability to block
and catch out of the backfield, he is a top 10 RB. Pay the man. I hope they don't have to franchise
him, that would be a complete waste of money.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

As good dolphin said, the franchise tag gives the Bears all the leverage.

Marion Barber ran for nearly 1,000 yards in 2009 splitting carries. Now, he was a free agent.

I wouldn't trust Forte to be worth much after next year, and that's what the franchise tag will give us unless he's willing to sign a deal that works well for the Bears.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

forte is probably the 20th best back in the nfl..nothing special..had a great game yesterday(bad tackling) but not a great runner off tackle...lets see if he can put up 100 next week on the ground against the lions.

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I can't see the Bears putting the franchise tag on him considering they only offered him $18M for 3 years. From what I've heard he was only looking for a few more million than that. The price tag has obviously gone up. The Bears offense sucks without him. When he touches the ball 20+ times they usually win.

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It was $9.5M this year. That's more than half the deal they offered. It will be over $10M next season.

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paying 9-10 million for a single year represents a far lower risk in terms of the lack of the upfront money (signing bonus) that the 3 year deal would come with. This way an injury doesnt screw the team up as much. They can keep him under team control for the rest of this season as well as the next. The risk of an injury or declining performance as he gets closer to 30 is substancial. The Bears might be really smart to keep him motivated by a big payday and not risk the money involved in an extension before they have to.

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Go Cubs!!!!

of course they will put it on him if they cannot come to an agreement, with very little consideration

They didn't want to pay him this year, and JA was open about this, because he wasn't a FA. They didn't want to pay FA prices for a guy under their control. In effect, Forte gambled by not accepting the contract. It's still a gamble as he has to make it through the year in one piece. Now the Bears will have to pay FA prices if the rest of the season continues the way it has begun but from their perspective it is better to have delayed that payment a year. That is why the franchise tag would be to their benefit. Why pay 5 years of top 5 back money when you can pay 1 year and make him continue to earn his pay...and I believe they can do it again in 2013.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Average of the top 5 RB's? What was Chris Johnsona nd Petersons new deals?>>>

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

How much up front money do you expect him to get in a 3 year $18M deal? It's not going to be $10M.

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It really wasn't a sound business decision. Giving him $24M over those 3 years would likely be a bargain now. They still would have the ability to cut him if he sucks and their cap number for him wouldn't be that high because they could have made most of the bonus money payable this season. They would have gotten a bargain and flexibility by doing a deal now.

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What 19 RBs are better?

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"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."

i am not a fan or forte..the offense has sucked with him as the center piece so how valuable is he really?..his stats get inflated when it is 3rd and long and they throw dump off passes or screen to him and the defense is playing back..he does not run off tackle well and is not a real good blocker...i would take these guys over him

mcfadden
peterson
rice
mc coy
c johnson
foster
mendenhall
stephen jackson
green ellis
ingram
bradshaw
wells
turner
jones drew
sproles
blount
freddie jackson
ryan matthews
felix jones

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at best you could make a case to scratch off 3-4 names...he is still just a guy..not top ten..probably 16-20 th

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Is everyone taking into account that the RB always puts up big numbers in Martz's system AKA the "Trung Canidate effect"?

Edited

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Go Cubs!!!!

Isn't Forte 2nd in total yards from scrimmage?

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Forte will be franchised if not signed. Franchise tag is much less risky and only commits to a single year. Also, RB is a good position to franchise b/c the relative money for an RB under a franchise is less than the other skill positions.

There are teams that rotate 1,000-yd backs year in and year out. I don't find much value at RB overall. There is one guy I would give big money to, and that is AP. Unless I had a truly elite RB, I would continue to play hard ball. The risk is on Forte, not the Bears. He is subject to injury every time he touches the ball, and he is not going to get any better than he is right now.

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Totally agree- any urgency to reach an agreement should be on the side of Forte's camp and not with the Bears. They have the franchise tag to use and will most likely use it. A lot can happen in the next 28 games.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Jonathon Stewart reaches FA next year as well. He has some injury issues but in terms of actual talent, I think he could replace Forte very well with little drop in production.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Matt Forte IS the Bears' offense. PAY THE MAN!!!

He can't be split out wide and used as a WR. He is nowhere near the talent that Forte is.

More whining from the Forte camp. Yeah Matt we get it, you're pissed off that they haven't reupped you for that big bucks contract yet. They had the unmitigated gall to offer only 12- 14 million guaranteed, what an insult. Sorry you're pissed that the Bears hold all the fucking cards right now and they are playing them exactly right from a business standpoint. Sorry that they are giving you all those touches that is enabling you to gain all those yards driving your worth up to another team if the Bears wont pay you. Sorry that before this year, you were pretty much an average to slightly above average player and that Im sure your improved perfomance this year has nothing to do with your contract push. Sorry you chose such a hearless, cold-blooded profession to work in. Could you shut the fuck up about it now?

Matt Forte feels unappreciated without a long-term deal
By Sean Jensen sjensen@suntimes.com November 1, 2011



Running back Matt Forte, who is on pace to break team records, isn’t feeling the love from the Bears. And he’s starting to wonder if his durability is being taken for granted.

‘‘The running back position is the most physically demanding on the field,’’ Forte said Tuesday. ‘‘Everyone acknowledges that. So to continue to give me the touches I’ve had since my rookie year but not award me a long-term contract sends the message that you’re OK grinding me into a pulp.’’

Forte hasn’t missed a game since being taken in the second round of the 2008 draft, playing through an assortment of injuries, particularly in 2009. But he rebounded in 2010 and leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage this season with 1,091.

But as the Bears approach the midway point of their season, Forte’s frustration toward the front office is palpable. Asked if the lack of a contract extension affects his desire to stay with the franchise, Forte said: ‘‘It does a little bit. I love the team, I love my teammates, I love the coaches and I love Chicago. But when management messes with you like that, it puts you in the mind frame of wanting to go to a team that desires you. You’re not going to be happy, let’s say that.’’

Forte is making $600,000 this season, the league minimum for an NFL player with his experience, as the final installment of his four-year, $3.7 million rookie contract. General manager Jerry Angelo made a contract extension for Forte a priority during training camp, but the Bears’ best offer was thought to be about $6 million a year, with
$13 million to $14 million guaranteed.

Those figures pale by comparison to other running backs who recently secured long-term deals: The Carolina Panthers’ DeAngelo Williams received $21 million in guarantees, the Tennessee Titans’ Chris Johnson $30 million and the Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson $36 million.

Forte, though, acknowledged the Bears hold the leverage and said he’s growing weary of all the inquiries about his status.

‘‘There’s nothing I can do about it,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s up to them. They hold the contract extensions and the franchise tags in their hands.

‘‘It’s kind of getting old right now. Every time you talk to somebody, ‘How come they’re not paying you, man?’ I have no idea. I feel like if it was anybody else on any other team, I think they would have
rewarded their player.’’

The Bears can keep Forte for next season by putting the franchise tag on him. The tool gives teams an opportunity to retain one player while ensuring that player gets paid handsomely (the average of the five highest-paid players at his position). For 2012, the franchise tag for a running back is projected to be between $7.5 million and $8 million.

Still, Forte insisted that’s not a solution.

‘‘If they think by just slapping the franchise tag on me that’s going to silence anything, they’re sadly mistaken,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s not going to cure everything. It’s not a solution, I would say.’’

Angelo left open the possibility of signing Forte to an extension this season, but the Bears’ track record has been to do deals toward the end of a season. The Bears have about $18 million in salary-cap space, and they have more than a dozen players who are scheduled to become free agents after the season.

Teammates have lobbied on Forte’s behalf, and captain Brian Urlacher suggested after the victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in London that Forte was the most valuable player of the NFL. In addition, fans have taken to Twitter with a ‘‘Pay Forte’’ campaign.

‘‘I appreciate the support,’’ Forte said. ‘‘Obviously, I’m doing something right for everybody to support me that way. I’m just going
to keep doing what I’m doing, and hopefully I can get a contract
extension instead of a franchise tag or whatever that is.’’

Adisa Bakari, Forte’s agent, said the key is fairness.

‘‘Matt has a desire to remain a Chicago Bear,’’ Bakari said. ‘‘He loves the community and loves playing for the organization, but he wants to be treated fairly .  .  . the way other teams have treated their top-performing players. Nothing more, nothing less.’’

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Not only should he feel the way he does but he has to say them. He has to keep the public on his side and hopefully that forces management to move. If he remains quiet he only hurts himself. He's been the best RB in the NFL this season.

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