Report: Urlacher agrees to extension Monday, July 21, 2008 06:12 PM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago Bears apparently no longer have to worry about linebacker Brian Urlacher missing the start of training camp. The Chicago Tribune reported Monday that Urlacher has agreed in principle to a contract extension offered by the team after he had threatened to hold out. According to the Tribune, the Bears offered a one-year extension through 2012 that includes $5 million up front and another $1 million per season if Urlacher participates in 85 percent of the team's snaps. Urlacher, 30, had four years and $25.5 million remaining on a nine-year, $57 million contract he signed in 2003. The new deal would pay him $7.5 million per season. Urlacher started all 16 games in 2007 despite back and neck pain that required minor offseason surgery. It was the third straight season and the sixth time in his eight-year career that he played in every game. The Bears open training camp on Wednesday.
Bear down, Chicago Bears! Make every play clear the way to victory! Bear down, Chicago Bears! Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly! We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your T formation. Bear down, Chicago Bears, and let them know why you're wearing the crown. You're the pride and joy of Illinois. Chicago Bears, bear down!
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...1,672510.column From the trib: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Give the Bears credit for recognizing that paying Urlacher after he griped publicly represented the exception and not the rule. If a serviceable player who has done far less for the franchise than Urlacher would have complained, it would have been a short-lived dispute that fell on deaf ears. But when a once-in-a-generation player speaks up, no matter how greedy the words might seem to the masses, it pays to listen. And the Bears wisely did. The timing could not have been better. It guarantees a good vibe for the Bears as they report Tuesday to Bourbonnais instead of the uncertainty and potential acrimony a holdout—don't think he wasn't considering it—would have created. Urlacher's extension also caps an off-season in which the Bears stayed true to their organizational philosophy, like it or not. They chose to reinvest in the core of a team coming off one of the most disappointing seasons in memory rather than spending wildly on free agents they didn't know. They never said hello to big-ticket players such as guard Alan Faneca and running back Michael Turner because they were unwilling to say goodbye to the likes of Lance Briggs, one of a half-dozen players the Bears re-signed. Whether that faith in the holdovers goes a long way on Sundays won't be known for a while. But that approach definitely will go a long way in the locker room, which became a better place for everybody. Paying Urlacher, even more popular with teammates than fans, and unloading baggage such as Cedric Benson, Darwin Walker and Muhsin Muhammad gives Lovie Smith the cohesiveness he seeks. Thanks to those moves, the Bears generally will get along. Though it only will matter if they let teams on their schedule know they're in for a fight again.</div> Now if they'd just shell out some money on offense.
