[CBFF] 1 more year isn't enough for Urlacher :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Bears - Sent Using Google Toolbar

[Tom Shannon]

1 more year isn't enough for Urlacher :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES ::
Bears<http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/903858,CST-SPT-bear19.article#>

1 more year isn't enough for Urlacher  BEARS | Linebacker says he's received
offer but wants longer extension of current 9-year deal

 April 19, 2008
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 BY MIKE MULLIGAN <mmulligan at suntimes.com> mmulligan at suntimes.com

Brian Urlacher said in an Internet report Friday that the Bears have offered
him a one-year extension of the nine-year, $56.65 million deal he signed in
2003. But it apparently isn't enough for the Pro Bowl middle linebacker.

Urlacher, who will turn 30 in May and still has four years remaining on his
deal, is boycotting the Bears voluntary offseason workout program and
contemplating a training-camp holdout in search of a multiyear deal.

Urlacher refuted a Sun-Times story Friday detailing the strong-arm tactics
he and his agents have employed in an effort to get more money, telling
Chicagotribune.com the story was ''a gossip column'' and insisting ''I never
said I was going to quit.''

Multiple sources at Halas Hall confirmed the story was accurate and said
that Urlacher's agents, Pat Dye Jr. and Bill Johnson, asked for a trade and
threatened the possibility that Urlacher might retire because of medical
reasons if he didn't get a new deal. If Urlacher did that, he wouldn't have
to re-pay any portion of the $13 million signing bonus he received in 2003.

Later in the day Urlacher told friend and confidante Jay Glazer of
FoxSports.com that he makes a distinction between the things he says and
those his agents say in contract negotiations.

''Look, when my agents go and meet with the Bears, I'm sure they say things
in negotiations,'' Glazer quoted Urlacher as saying in an audio report on
the Web site. ''I don't know what's being said in there. And I don't want to
know everything that is being said in there. They fight it out with the
Bears. The Bears, I'm sure they say some things about me. I don't want to
know what they say about me half the time. That's just negotiations.

''The one thing I do know is I'm not looking to retire.''

As far as requesting a trade if he doesn't get paid, Urlacher told Glazer
that's common practice in the NFL.

''Look, things happen in negotiations,'' Urlacher said according to Glazer.
''Brett Favre, his agent said it last year. Michael Strahan, he said it to
the Giants in the past.''

Glazer reported that Urlacher wants to remain with the Bears.

''He said: 'I don't want to leave Chicago. I don't want a trade. I want to
stay here,''' Glazer reported. '''Do I want a new contract? Absolutely, I
want a new contract. I want to be paid, especially considering where the
market has gone.'''

The issue therefore has shifted from whether the Bears should pay Urlacher
to keep him happy to how much that is going to cost them. Urlacher believes
he has outplayed his contract and wants to get market value despite being
locked up in a long-term deal. The team is willing to admit he's a special
circumstance given his status as the face of the organization and role he
played in a Super Bowl run. But gestures, even multimillion-dollar ones,
apparently aren't enough, and that leads to some hard questions about
whether Urlacher is in decline.

He revealed an arthritic back condition last season and had minor neck
surgery in January. It was a tough year for him and the team. The Bears
finished 7-9 after chasing a .500 mark all year. Urlacher was not voted to
the Pro Bowl for only the second time in his career. He received the most
votes of any player at his position from fans but did not finish in the top
five among inside linebackers after balloting of coaches and players were
included in the tally.

*NOTE:* Wide receiver *Rashied Davis* signed his one-year, $927,000 tender
offer from the Bears as a restricted free agent.