The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

The Bears announced today they won't be re-signing Brian Urlacher.

Seems like more than a ploy to get him to come down on his price when you go out of your way to say you have decided to move forward without him

At this point in his career all he is worth is the league minimum.  Old (by NFL standards - 35) and regularly injured.  He's not an everydown player, I wonder what he was expecting to get paid?

The Bears offered him $2 million for one season, take it or leave it.  He left it.  Felt it was an insult.  I wish I could be insulted like this.

Zach Thomas' last contract was a one year 3 million dollar deal with Dallas like 5 years ago.  I would think that Urlacher's leadership was worth at least that today. They apparently didnt want him back.

Nobody pays for leadership, that is a huge myth!

Urlacher said he would play for 1 year $2 mill, just not for the Bears at that price. He thought that was an insult because all he has done for them. If another team offered that he would take it though. Lots of players have that logic, they let pride get in the way of a good business decision.

sign him to the veteran minimum filled with performace-based incentives.  if he doesn't pan out, give him his walking papers.

Veteran leadership is a vastly underrated quality in the locker room.  One big reason why the Dolphins underperformed in 2001 after overperforming in 2000 is because they lost vets like Trace Armstrong and Richmond Webb.  Those guys were aging but could still get it done.

Not arguing that...but no team will pay more $$$ for a guy for his leadership alone!

Which is why the TEAM aspect of a team is going by the wayside. League minimum for a guy who makes the team better by being there, is ridiculous.  Unfortunately the veterans are seeing what they truly signed up for with the last CBA.

If Urlacher stayed with the Bears, yes he would provide veteran leadership.  However, going to a new team it takes time to get the respect of players who have been with the team for years.  Since he only has a year or two left I don't think he would provide much leadership.  I don't think Richmond Webb provided much leadership when he went to the Browns, he was just trying to bank some final cash before retirement.

Exactly my point.  The Bears would be wise to bring him back.

To do what? Give pregame pep talks? He is a 35 year old linebacker who is shot and can't play anymore. What are you bringing him back for?

He STILL averaged 98 tackles per year over the past three years, only missed 4 games during that time (how's that "injury prone"?) and intercepted 5 balls and recovered 7 fumbles. Those INT and fumble numbers are equal to or better than what Dansby and Burnett accomplished COMBINED in Miami during the same stretch. You act like Urlacher is washed up because he missed 4 games last year. Somebody will get him at the cheap, and be a much better team for it. -EK

^^ never called him injury prone  ::)

And if he is so good how come nobody has signed him yet? Teams should have been knocking down his door from day 1 of free agency, they haven't!

Probably because of his age, they figure he will be on the market for a little while.

His age and as a player he is shot. He has clearly lost a step or two and for a MLB to lose a step its over for them. The guy is a shell of his former self. I am sure some team will offer him something, but this isn't 2005 and he isn't that guy anymore.

I think the Ravens showed what leadership can do for a team as it wasn't Lewis' play that propelled them.

Not sure about that, if not for a lucky Hail Mary at the end of the Denver playoff game they don't win it all. The "Ray Lewis Leadership" card was overblown if you ask me. It might have had a small factor but not the big one everyone thinks it had. Flacco NOT turning the ball over (11 TD's to 0 INT's) in the playoffs was the main reason they won it all. Not Ray Lewis preaching before, during, and after games.

But a defense that shut down Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady had absolutely nothing to do with its captain...

Are we talking his "play" or his "leadership". That's the debate we are having.  His leadership didn't win any games. His actual play (tackles and such) helped win the games. (didn't help as much as Flacco's play of 11 TDs to 0 INT's but it helped, no doubt)

No team is going to pay for a guy who can't play and is just a "leader"....that's my point. Don't muddy up the debate now and change the topic

I'm sorry, I don't buy this for a second.  His play had declined but was still at a pretty high level. 

My point exactly, Lewis was being PAID BIG BUCKS for his play, NOT his leadership! Thanks for making my entire point! Why are we talking about Ray Lewis anyway, this is an Urlacher thread?

BACK ON TOPIC:::::: Nobody wants Urlacher cause he is a shell of his former self and shot as a player. Nuff said!

Urlacher,has had a tricky back and knee for awhile...Last year he missed all all of training camp,and preseason recovering from knee surgery.(then got hurt at the end)

IMO He was a Lovie Smith's boy,He fit the Tampa two Lovie loved. Lovie is gone...I admit I don't play fantasy football,so I don't watch the rest of the league like I used too.He's lost a lot of speed,not a lot of teams run the Tampa two defense anymore...I was shocked the Bears offered a contract.Honestly I see his situation very much like Zach Thomas at the end of his career...

Teams should be knocking down the Jets' doors for Revis, but he's still a Jet. Does that mean he's washed up too? -EK

Uh.... Revis wants to be the HIGHEST PAID DEFENSIVE PLAYER in NFL history. Little different since 90% of the teams in the league don't have the cap space to give him that type of contract. Plus they don't want to part with 1st and 2nd round draft picks. Plus he is coming off a major knee injury and his health is a question mark.

Urlacher is a UFA, healthy, and can be had for the league minimum.

That was a terrible example you just presented! Really bad.

If he can be had for the league minimum , he would have taken the offer Chicago gave him. If you don't like the Revis example, then, take Karlos Dansby. I suppose he's washed up too, since he was cut, and no one has picked him up yet?

Aaron Rodgers went on record about Urlacher as saying,

""It's kind of like us with losing (Charles) Woodson," Rodgers told Dan Pompeii of the Chicago Tribune. "It's tough to lose a guy of that leadership ability. Playmaking aside, I think both guys can still play at a high level.

"They are guys who bring more than just their on-the-field ability. They bring so much more to a locker room and a defense. That veteran presence, that leadership, that track record they have, the experience. When they get up in a meeting and talk, everybody is quiet. They're definitely going to miss his presence and his ability and his leadership."

Now you know more about football than Discount Double-check too, huh? -EK

He said he was "insulted" by the Bears offer but would have taken that same offer from another team. Before you show up just to attack me you might want to read up on the story.

So if he would have taken the SAME offer, then that's not league minimum, now is it? Before you show up to refute me, you might want to revist common sense in your posts. -EK

Oh my god its like talking to a wall. The 2013 league minimum for someone with his years in the league is $940,000. The Bears offered him that salary, then another mill+ in bonuses and incentives and such that got the $2 mill number. The contract was worded in a way that "possibly" got him $2 mill. It wasn't $2 mill guaranteed. But whatever EK, believe what ya want. You just come here to get into it with me like its some sick thing you enjoy. Nothing I say or facts I present will convince you or change your mind to the point you will admit you were mistaken or wrong, so believe what ya want.

Have a nice day