Bears Stamp Forte With Franchise Tag, But No Long-Term Deal Yet
By Tim Bearden in News on Mar 3, 2012 7:00PM
The Chicago Bears made a move that, unlike their collapse at the end of last season, was no surprise to anyone—they placed the franchise tag on running back Matt Forte.
Forte is only the second Bear to get tagged in the past 10 years; the first was linebacker Lance Briggs in 2007. Each year a team gets one franchise tag to use on a player about to become an unrestricted free agent to keep them on the team for another season. The tag helps ensure the Bears keep Forte at least one more year until a long-term deal can be agreed upon.
Forte has not been quiet about the franchise tag either. He's been quoted as saying he didn't want the tag to mean the end of negotiations to "keep him quiet" for now. He would like to believe this tag means the Bears are willing to work on a long-term deal. Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams received a 5-year deal worth $34 million last season and a guaranteed $21 million. Forte may be looking for a deal like that.
One could argue he's worth something comparable as he and Jay Cutler showed they were the glue that held the offense together before both players were injured at the end of the season. The Bears were 7-3 with both Cutler and Forte. They went 1-5 to close out the season. Forte started in only two of the last six games.
Phil Emery, the new Bears GM, realizes Forte is an asset to Chicago and is trying to negotiate a deal all parties can agree upon. In order to show good faith, the Bears slapped a franchise tag on the running back to extend negotiations.
Forte's franchise tag is worth $7.7 million for one year, which is the average of the top five paid running backs in the league, and reduces the Bears' salary cap room to under $18 million. With the draft coming up and free agents that could be good fits for Chicago, can the Bears really afford to give Forte a deal like Williams?
Considering the threat Forte brings to the offense, they really can't afford not to at least listen and strike a deal before the July 15 contract deadline. The Bears can offer Forte a long-term contract until that date, but if a deal isn't reached by then, he will have to play the 2012 season under the terms of the franchise tag.