Like any other NFL player, Matt Forte would prefer not to play on an expiring contract this season, but he insists he won’t hold out for a new deal.
The Bears running back was a full participant in Wednesday’s OTA practice at Halas Hall and said he’ll be at training camp next month on time.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s completely happy. Forte and his agent, Adisa Bakari, reached out to new Bears general manager Ryan Pace earlier this offseason about a new contract and were shot down.
“We already visited it,” Forte said Wednesday when asked if he would revisit contract talks with the team. “All I can do is talk to them about it and they can say yes or no. They said we’re not talking about that type of stuff right now, so all I can do is play football.”
Forte missed the team’s voluntary minicamp last month and was a no-show at the Brian Piccolo Award ceremony, an award he won. The running back blamed those absences on a speed-training program he was attending in Florida and denied he was holding out, but the situation was a bit murky considering he was back in Chicago the day after the Piccolo Award ceremony and was promoting a product later that week at the NFL Draft.
At 29 years old, Forte doesn’t hold a whole lot of leverage, even though he’s been a durable workhorse throughout his seven year career.
“Nobody wants to play on a one-year deal, especially with the uncertainty of how football goes,” Forte said. “You just figure like a guy who’s been there since Day 1, continues to put in hard work and has produced, you figure that that guy should be rewarded. But in this business that doesn’t always happen.”
In this case, the timing isn’t great for Forte. The Bears hired a new general manager and head coach in January and new regimes are never in a hurry to hand out contract extensions to players they’ve never worked with.
“That is some of it,” the running back admitted. “It’s a new regime so they have to get to know you. They probably know a lot about me, from afar, seeing me play while they coached on different teams. But to actually coach somebody on the field and seeing the person is different, so that’s why I’m out here and continuing to work to get to know the offense and get that cohesion with the offensive line and everybody.”
Forte insists he’s not asking for unreasonable money. In fact, in exchange for a longer deal, he’s offered to provide some cap relief in the coming year. Unfortunately, the Bears aren’t exactly cap-strapped, with $8-9 million in space right now.
“The situation a couple years ago was being vastly underpaid,” Forte said, referring to his hold out before the 2012 season. “That’s not the situation now. This year is more of just like lowering the cap number and trying to continue my legacy as a Bear and trying to retire that way.”
But while retiring a Bear is his ultimate end-game, he’s starting to accept a different outcome.
“I’ve come to the realization that every run or catch that I may have might be my last in a Bears uniform, so if they don’t want to re-sign me I’ll have to play somewhere else then,” he said.
Bennett Still A No-Show
While Forte’s situation hasn’t always been clear, there’s no questioning tight end Martellus Bennett’s intentions.
Bennett hasn’t been seen at Halas Hall since the offseason program started and that didn’t change Wednesday when OTAs started. Bennett wants a new contract, even though he has two years left on his current deal.
The Bears haven’t commented on Bennett’s situation, only saying they would prefer he was at Halas Hall learning the new offense. So far the entire offseason program has been voluntary, but that will change later this month when the team holds its mandatory minicamp.
Ratliff Returns
Defensive lineman Jeremiah Ratliff was back Wednesday after missing the team’s voluntary minicamp last month. He was not able to attend the minicamp because he was back in Texas resolving a 2013 DWI arrest. He pleaded guilty and was given one-year probation.
Other Absences
Rookies Kevin White and Jeremy Langford will not participate in this week’s OTA practices because they are in Los Angeles for the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, which takes place Thursday through Sunday. The event is mandatory for those invited.
Safety Antrel Rolle was also absent Wednesday after his wife gave birth to a baby boy last week.
Adam Hoge covers the Chicago Bears for WGN Radio and WGNRadio.com. He also co-hosts The Beat, weekends on 720 WGN. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamHoge.