The Chicago Bears are rumored to have more changes up their sleeves in terms of their current roster and Matt Forte is well aware. With a new head coach and general manager in place, no one is truly safe, something Brandon Marshall learned the hard way. With Jay Cutler's contract remaining on the books, Forte knows there is a chance he could be the running back that goes in the near future.
The Bears need to make a quick decision on Forte. With Adrian Peterson likely staying put in Minnesota, teams could show a lot of interest in the running back as a short-term fix to a problem. Forte has read the headlines, he knows his future is up in the air at the moment. The running back took to Twitter to respond to a trade rumor story saying, "A lot of football left in me. I want to play them for the Chicago Bears and retire a lifelong Bear. But they have to want the same thing..."
Forte knows the Bears might have other plans in the works. The veteran is entering the final year of his contract and still holds a great deal of value in the league thanks to another year of excellent stats. At age 30, Forte is simply not slowing down, but his $6.65 million might not be ideal for the Bears who have a lot of roster holes to fill. Head coach John Fox admitted that the Bears were still a ways off from being a complete team and moves needed to be made.
"We have a lot of needs," Fox said, via NFL.com. "There are still a lot of green rectangles on a board. There are still two pools of players. There are still a lot of guys left in (secondary) free agency, which I prefer dealing with anyways, not the jump-out-in-front (signings). When you get it going good, you don't have to do that."
Forte is still a huge bargain at his current price. The Bears would be wise to keep him on the roster, but anything can happen with a rebuilding team. If the Bears opted to truly make him available for trades, a lot of teams will look to make a move. The Dallas Cowboys need someone to run with Darren McFadden. The Arizona Cardinals need help at the position. The Atlanta Falcons could favor a deal for Forte. There will be plenty of interest in the veteran depending on the direction Chicago goes in.
According to ESPN, Forte's agent is shooting to get the running back a new deal with Chicago this offseason. That is unlikely since they have Alshon Jeffery as a priority first in terms of contracts. Given Cutler's deal, the Bears cannot afford to extend both. That could end up pushing a deal for the running back before the start of the 2015 season.
