May 28--Matt Forte's eyes remain wide open. The veteran running back knows his days with the Bears might be numbered, his current contract set to expire next March. But Forte, at 29 and entering his eighth season, also has been around long and is savvy enough to handle his predicament.
So, as he came off the field Wednesday after the Bears' organized team activity practice at Halas Hall, Forte made it clear his feelings hadn't changed. Yes, he would rather not play out the 2015 season as a contract year.
"Nobody wants to play on a one-year deal, especially with the uncertainty of how football is," he said.
But Forte also knows general manager Ryan Pace hasn't reciprocated the interest in getting an extension done. So Forte will march on with some disappointment but no hard feelings.
"All I can do is talk to them about it and they can say yes or no," Forte said.
Forte, still in line to make up to $7.8 million this season, reiterated that he has no plans to separate himself from the team because of his unfulfilled contract wishes. He plans on attending the team's OTAs the next three weeks as well as the mandatory minicamp next month. And he intends to be in Bourbonnais on July 29 when the Bears report to training camp.
As for why his approach will be different this summer -- less acrimonious, more patient -- than it was in 2012 when he clashed with the front office after being given the franchise tag, Forte offered this perspective.
"The situation a couple of years ago was (about) being vastly underpaid; that's not the situation now," he said.
Eventually, when the business elements of the Forte narrative fade, his push to remain a force in the offense will return to the spotlight. After compiling 3,779 yards from scrimmage and 22 touchdowns the last two seasons, the running back doesn't see much changing as he's integrated into the new system of coordinator Adam Gase.
On Wednesday, Forte praised Gase's energy, believing the coordinator's lively deportment will not only aid the Bears' offense but also help steady quarterback Jay Cutler. Forte also described the benefits of the speed training he invested in again this spring in Florida under Pete Bommarito, part of a regimen that he got away from last offseason.
"I felt the effects on my burst going through the holes ... or just accelerating after catching the ball," Forte said. "So I went back and did that type of training and got a lot better."
Now Forte plans to show a new regime what he's all about, and he's still hopeful to end his career in Chicago.
"You just figure a guy who has been there since Day 1, who continues to put in hard work and has produced should be rewarded," Forte said. "But in this business that doesn't always happen. ... It is (difficult to accept). But I don't take it out on the coaches or my teammates or anything like that."
Extra points: John Walter Siegal, an end who was on three Bears NFL champion teams in the 1940s, died ealier this week at his home in Harveys Lake, Pa. At 97, he was the oldest living former Bears player. The three-time Pro Bowler retired after receiving a degree in dentistry from Northwestern. ... Martellus Bennett remained apart from the team as OTAs began Wednesday, his future with the Bears still cloudy as he distances himself from the offseason program. ... The Bears hired Nate Breske to become their new head athletic trainer. Breske spent the last three years as the assistant athletic trainer for the 49ers.
dwiederer@tribpub.com
