Executive producer of Mad Dog Radio on SiriusXM Bill Zimmerman was talking Bears contract extensions with Nick Kapetan on The Sports ReKap.
Zimmerman believes the Bears won’t give tight end Martellus Bennett, who hasn’t shown up to OTAs, a contract extension. And along with Bennett, Zimmerman thinks the Bears won’t re-sign Matt Forte after this season.
Besides Bennett, the other contract situation that you have is Matt Forte, which is a very interesting situation because Forte is a very popular Bear. He has been in the franchise for a long time, and he also wants a contract extension. He reported to OTAs, he’s going to handle this much differently than Bennett. [Forte] is a good solider because he’s going to do what’s asked of him. But he wants a contract extension. This is the last year of his contract, but the truth is he’s 30 years old in December, and we know that’s kind of the limit on a lot of the running backs. Once they hit about 30-31 years of age, there is a significant decrease in their production. Obviously, pace in their new regime knows that. I don’t think they have much interest in keeping Forte unless he wants to give them a significant hometown discount, which I’ll be honest, Forte shouldn’t have to do that. If he has another outstanding year, he deserves to get the money.
Forte was 12th in the NFL with 1,038 rushing yards and six touchdowns last season.
The eight-year veteran is in his last year of his four-year, $30 million contract.
