Could this be Matt Forte's last season as a Bear?

In a column I wrote in Thursday’s paper, I quoted Matt Forte’s agent on the status of contract negotiations with the Bears, and I explained why this could be headed toward an ugly offseason.

(You can view the column by clicking here)

It could end up like the Greg Olsen situation, with the club unable — or unwilling — to give the player a new contract and electing to trade him, so they don’t walk away empty-handed.

Here, though, are some of Forte’s comments today.

“I’m not out here playing just for the heck of it,” Forte said. “I play because I love the sport and also because I want my teammates to respect me and the work ethic that I put into the game.

“I just hope to turn some heads around here. Obviously, the guys upstairs think of me in a certain way. Hopefully, I turn their heads around about that.”

Asked if his situation could turn out better because of the season he’s having, Forte said, “Yeah, I think so, if I just continue to do that.

“If the Bears don’t value me, hopefully another team will.”

So what’s the difference between he and the club?

“Basically, what I was saying was I figured with the contract situation that you look at guys’ productivity and you look at the guys that he’s matched to,” Forte said. “And if you like at mine and the elite status of other backs that are around the same amount of production, what I’m saying is, they must not think that I’m elite because they don’t want to pay me on that same level as some of the other guys.”