The Chicago Bears are entering the 2012 offseason with 53 players under contract for next season, but they still have a whole bunch of work to do if they want to retain some other key players from last year's team. Obviously the most notable free agent for Chicago is running back Matt Forte, who was in the midst of a breakout season before getting injured in early December.
Forte's contract situation with Chicago has become increasingly public as the two sides have been quoted in the media, but the general expectation is that he'll once again be the starting running back for the Bears in 2012. The two sides are still trying to hammer out a long-term extension, but the Bears have said that they'll play the franchise tag on Forte if they can't reach an agreement. That came in spite of the running back's public lack of interest in being tagged.
Here's a full list of Chicago's free agents:
Restricted Free Agents (1)
RB Kahlil Bell
Unrestricted Free Agents (13)
QB Caleb Hanie
QB Josh McCown
RB Matt Forte
WR Roy Williams
TE Kellen Davis
DE Israel Idonije
DT Amobi Okoye
CB Zack Bowman
CB Corey Graham
CB Tim Jennings
S Brandon Meriweather (cannot be franchised)
S Craig Steltz
LS Chris Massey
The other big names to note here are Idonije, Williams, Davis and Jennings. All four started the majority of Chicago's games in 2011, respectively, and Idonije has been a key part of the Bears' defensive line over the past two seasons, starting 31 games and accumulating 13 sacks.
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