[CBFF] Bears should realize Urlacher merits raise -- chicagotribune.com - Sent Using Google Toolbar

[Tom Shannon]

I think Haugh was off base on this one.  In any case, I wouldn't expect them
to renegotiate with Urlacher until the season before he hits free agency.
They've been pretty firm on their commitment to waiting until this point.

Tom S.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Shannon [mailto:tshanno at gmail.com]
> Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 8:59 AM
> To: post at chicagobearsfanforum.com
> Subject: Bears should realize Urlacher merits raise --
> chicagotribune.com - Sent Using Google Toolbar
> 
> Bears should realize Urlacher merits raise -- chicagotribune.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080223-david-haugh-
> urlacher,1,7254034.column
> chicagotribune.com
> Bears should realize Urlacher merits raise
> 
> David Haugh
> 
> On the Bears
> 
>  February 24, 2008
> 
> INDIANAPOLIS
> 
> 
> 
> By the time coach Lovie Smith finished talking about Brian Urlacher
> the other day, you might have thought the Bears linebacker had minor
> neck surgery to remove a tattoo instead of to correct nerve damage.
> 
>  Smith pointed out Urlacher's outstanding play over the final month
> and even felt comfortable enough about his player's health to crack a
> rare joke.
> 
>  "Brian's not going to the nursing home for about 10 more years,"
> Smith said. "He will be fine."
> 
>  General manager Jerry Angelo later reiterated that organizational
> optimism.
> 
>  But nothing would prove how much the Bears believe that doubts about
> their aging star are misplaced like a new contract for Urlacher, a
> possibility that is on Angelo's radar.
> 
>  Forget about showing us the MRIs: Show him the money.
> 
>  Unless the Bears take action to back up their hopeful words, many
> will wonder about Urlacher's ability to return to normal. And many
> will wonder if the Bears really wonder too.
> 
>  Now that the Rex Grossman deal is done, is it a crazy idea for the
> Bears to extend the contract of an arthritic thirtysomething
> linebacker coming off neck surgery?
> 
>  Not if they want to keep their franchise player happy before he
> starts grumbling about being unappreciated and underpaid with a
> contract that is as outdated as a dial-up modem.
> 
>  Not when they have more than $30 million available under the salary
> cap.
> 
>  Not if they really are serious about the new approach they claim to
> be taking to shape their roster this off-season.
> 
>  According to that approach, intangibles suddenly count more than ever
> at Halas Hall.
> 
>  This development came up the other day when Angelo was explaining the
> team's shift in evaluating prospects that began - not coincidentally -
> shortly after they took Cedric Benson with the fourth pick of the 2005
> NFL draft.
> 
>  "Two years ago a little light went off, and we're analyzing things a
> little differently," Angelo said.
> 
>  As an example, Angelo also referred to the Bears' recent contract
> extension for Alex Brown. In giving Brown a $5 million bonus and
> extending his contract two years, the Bears basically rewarded the
> defensive end for responding to a demotion with more effort than
> insolence.
> 
>  "He forgot himself for others . that's a team player," Angelo said.
> "We want our players to see that it's important to us. It's not just
> lip service."
> 
>  Don't be surprised if the Bears eventually put their money where
> their mouths are concerning tight end Desmond Clark and kicker Robbie
> Gould too. Both players have a year remaining on their contracts and
> are underpaid given their production over the last two seasons.
> 
>  Clark, one of the team's most reliable threats in the passing game,
> made a bigger impression on management for the way he mentored
> first-round pick Greg Olsen rather than viewing him as a threat. He is
> to make $1 million in the final year of his deal.
> 
>  Gould should be in line for a raise similar to the one Giants kicker
> Lawrence Tynes got when he signed a five-year, $7 million deal. At
> $460,000 this season, Gould rates as one of the best kicking values in
> the league.
> 
>  Urlacher might be an even bigger bargain when evaluating his career as
> a whole.
> 
>  Eight teammates earned more money than he did in 2007, according to
> salary and bonus information available through the NFL Players
> Association. There were 11 linebackers in the league with higher base
> salaries in '07 than Urlacher's $3.95 million. He is scheduled to make
> the same salary next season.
> 
>  The Bears are well aware of the notion Urlacher is relatively
> underpaid and have been open to discussing a new contract. Now is an
> ideal time to pull the trigger, before free agency produces a new
> round of headlines of defensive players getting richer than Urlacher.
> He is bound to notice.
> 
>  A guy who offered to delay any contract demands in 2006 so more cash
> would be available for Lance Briggs eventually might run out of
> patience. A guy who played through arthritic back pain one day might
> start to consider everyone else in the locker room getting new money
> as he's getting a pain in the neck.
> 
>  At what point does Urlacher point out to the Bears' front office
> that, given NFL inflation, he has outperformed the $13 million bonus
> he received in 2003 when he signed a nine-year, $57 million deal?
> 
>  The Bears would have to agree with that assessment, given their
> well-documented belief Urlacher is one of the top three middle
> linebackers in the league.
> 
>  Is he? That's beside the point. The point the Bears could make in
> giving Urlacher some new money would be similar to the one they made
> in giving Olin Kreutz a new deal in 2006.
> 
>  It might help assuage a locker room that could start to wonder about
> its front office if free agents Briggs and Bernard Berrian bolt to
> greener pastures elsewhere. It might make the type of statement the
> Bears were hoping to make by giving Brown a $5 million bag of money
> and offering company man Tommie Harris a contract extension.
> 
>  Most of all, a new contract for Urlacher would assure everybody the
> Bears have more invested in his healthy outlook than a couple of
> Pollyanna-like predictions.
> 
>  dhaugh at tribune.com
> 
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