Brian Urlacher and the Chicago Bears had a messy breakup. The linebacker that had called the Bears his team for his entire career suddenly found himself without a team after being angered by the latest contract offer by the team. The veteran believed he was being disrespected by team officials and vowed to move on. After sitting on the free agent market for weeks, Urlacher is now forced to take another look at returning to Chicago, something he and the team are seriously considering.
Team chairman George McCaskey has not ruled out trying to re-sign Urlacher. He has reached out to the linebacker, stating he was heartbroken when Urlacher decided to move on.
"I talked to him. He was very gracious. I wanted to wait a little bit because I figured there would be a little emotion. But Brian knows how we feel about him. He's one of the all-time great Bears. He continued the outstanding linebacker legacy at the Bears. He's going to be in the Hall of Fame, and when he is, everyone is going to think of him as a Bear," McCaskey said.
The relationship between Urlacher and the Bears went sour after the linebacker submitted a contract proposal for $11 million over two years. He later lowered that offer to $3.5 million. The Bears only wanted to offer him a one-year deal worth $2 million, something Urlacher found disrespectful. The tame gave him an ultimatum of either taking the deal or leaving. When Urlacher walked, they went and signed D.J. Williams and James Anderson to contracts.
Urlacher is approaching his 14th season in the NFL as an eight-time Pro Bowler. The market has not been great for veteran players. Dwight Freeney and John Abraham are still sitting without teams. No one is willing to offer a long-term contract to someone that has been in the league for a number of years.
McCaskey believes the door is not closed on Urlacher returning. If he remains without a team for much longer, that could be his only option.
"That's up to the market, and to Phil [Emery]and Marc [Trestman]. Phil said it's a process, and we go through it and see what happens. That's not up to me. Bears fans should be assured I don't involve myself in personnel decisions," McCaskey said.
If the two parties can get past the bitterness that lingers, Urlacher could see himself a Bear again next season. It is hard to imagine the team raises their original one-year deal. If Urlacher does not get a better offer anytime soon, it could be the Bears or nothing.
