The Chicago Bears and running back Matt Forte have not been able to work out a long-term contract extension, and according to CSN Chicago's Kip Lewis, there may be a couple of factors weighing heavily on the Bears' front office in this case.
Related: Matt Forte Contract Squabble: Michael Bush, Twitter, Disrespect, And The Chicago Bears
The first is the durability of running backs in general:
The Bears look around the league and see the shelf life of a runner as five to six years before a backs production begins to decline. That would mean Forte is at least halfway to that point.
The Bears see others at the position constantly being slowed or missing games due to injury so they are hesitant to overpay. Ted Phillips echoed such thoughts at the owners meeting on Monday.
The Bears also may feel some trepidation about giving a big contract to Forte because they're concerned about his ability to run with power in short-yardage situations, according to Lewis.
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