[CBFF] ESPN - Bears inked another...

[Phil DeNomme]

Hell, ANY player inked within a month.  Maybe the bears could have all of
their picks signed before anyone else signs 1.  lol

-----Original Message-----
From: cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com
[mailto:cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com] On Behalf Of Jerry Madsen
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 2:49 PM
To: CBFF
Subject: [CBFF] ESPN - Bears inked another...

I can't remember a time when the Bears had a single player inked
within a month of the draft, let alone two.

Jerry

-----------------------------

Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Bears are only team to have signed draft picks
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

Make it the Chicago Bears 2 and the rest of the NFL 0 on the draft
pick signing scoreboard.

The defending NFC champions on Wednesday signed fifth-round selection
Kevin Payne, a safety from Louisiana-Monroe, to a four-year contract.
It marked the second straight day in which the Bears, the only team in
the league to have any of its draft choices under contract, reached an
accord with a 2007 selection.

Third-round tailback Garrett Wolfe of Northern Illinois on Tuesday
signed a four-year, $2.288 million contract that included a $623,0000
signing bonus and an escalator that could increase his base salary for
the final season of the deal.

Payne also signed a four-year contract with an escalator in the final
season. The basic contract totals $1.815 million, with the potential
to earn more based on playing time and interceptions. It includes a
$150,000 signing bonus and league-minimum base salaries of $285,000
(for 2007), $370,000 (2008), $460,000 (2009) and $550,000 (2010). The
signing bonus represents about an 8 percent increase over the same
fifth-round slot in 2006.

Chicago was the first team in the league last year to have all its
draft choices under contract, with director of player contracts Cliff
Stein finishing all seven of the Bears' rookie deals three weeks
before the start of training camp. The task will be a little more
difficult this year. The Bears had nine selections last month, two
more than in 2006. And unlike a year ago, when Chicago didn't have a
No. 1 selection, there is a first-round pick, University of Miami
tight end Greg Olsen, to sign.

Still, the Bears, again adopting a proactive stance in negotiations,
are off to a quick start.

"They are making a concerted effort to get their picks signed and it's
a wise approach by Cliff and Jerry [Angelo, general manager], I
think," said agent Albert Elias, who met with Stein in Dallas last
week and then flew to Chicago on Wednesday morning to complete the
contract. "They're out there, trying hard to finish up deals."

Payne was the first of the team's two choices in the fifth round, the
167th player selected overall. Given his relative lack of experience
at safety, Payne figures to contribute mostly on special teams as a
rookie. But the former Louisiana-Monroe standout was regarded as one
of the best pure athletes in the draft and a quick learner, and the
Bears coaches project that he will be a starter down the road.

In two seasons at safety, Payne started in 20 of 24 appearances and
had 185 tackles, seven tackles for losses, six interceptions, four
passes defensed, one sack, three forced fumbles and two fumble
recoveries. Payne began his career as a tailback and actually played
there and as a slot receiver his first two college seasons. He rushed
for 1,234 yards and eight touchdowns and had 54 catches for 607 yards
and four touchdowns, appearing in 22 games on offense.

Payne has prototype safety dimensions (6-feet-0¼, 220 pounds) and
excellent flexibility. At the combine workouts, he was clocked at just
4.60 in the 40-yard dash but then ran in the high 4.4s during campus
auditions.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

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