With the rumors the Bears might franchise their star running back the next two seasons, instead of signing him to a long term contract, have made Matt Forte not feel like he is wanted by management. Forte told reporters after practice on Tuesday that he doesn’t feel the Bears are being very loyal.
“I know I’m loyal to my teammates and my team are my guys, but it doesn’t seem like the organization is to me,” the Bears’ running back said Tuesday after practice. “But that doesn’t keep me from going out on the field and putting my best out there.”
Forte also mentioned on Tuesday he is isn’t surprised that the Bears would use the franchise tag even though he was promised a long term contract earlier this year.
“It wasn’t a shock. I knew it was an option,” he said. “My agent informed me about that before we started negotiating with them. (But) we were looking to get a deal and the franchise tag is not going to be a solution.”
“I play for myself and my teammates and my family. I learned that it really is a business and that they really don’t care about your personal life or anything like that. It’s the National Football League and these organizations are in a business. That’s the bad part about it.”
In response to all of the “Pay the Man” websites and fans trying to get a deal done for him.
“It shows me I’m playing well and doing my job, but it also gets kind of old,” he said " ‘Pay the man’ doesn’t get me paid. It’s nice to hear but it’s not a solution to anything."
This whole situation seems to be getting more and more hostile as the days go on. Since the Bears are right in the middle of the playoff race they need to sit down with Forte and either work out a deal or agree to work on something after the season. The longer this drags on the more it will become a distraction and could start to effect things on the field.