Throw out what's fair or unfair, why contracts are set up the way they are, or why an aging Brian Urlacher might want to renegotiate his own multimillion-dollar contract with the Bears when he has four years left on it.
It's as simple as this.
The NFL destroys its stars' bodies.
Just look at newly retired quarterback Steve McNair's health in, say 10 years, for proof.
Urlacher has given a lot to Chicago. What is given back to him will have nothing to do with what is given to anybody else.
People who doubt Brian Urlacher's influence in the locker room are ignoring the teammates who are following his lead by seeking new contracts. They also disregard the wedge being driven between players and management by Urlacher's impasse visible at a recent workout when a Bears veteran loudly pleaded with Coach Lovie Smith for the team just to pay the linebacker, according to a teammate.
Extending contracts for key players before they expire exemplifies a standard business practice for NFL teams that shows a sign of respect, reward and commitment. It's this way of thinking that has, in a way, let potential extensions never get done. This is simply because the player will come to the table with an asking price that often times may cripple the team.
"I realize I signed a contract five years ago," Urlacher said. "But you know what, what happens when a guy signs an eight-year contract and he gets hurt the second year? They cut him the next year. What happens if a guy signs an eight-year contract and he plays like crap the first three years? They cut him. So when a guy plays great five or six years into his contract, what's wrong with rewarding him with a new deal? Is there a difference?"
Urlacher says the Bears have offered a one-year extension through 2012, believed to include at least $5 million up front and an extra $1 million added to each year remaining on his current deal. But he wants at least a two-year extension with more money up front.
The team has acknowledged their concerns about Urlacher's recovery from neck and back injuries, not to mention the beating his position and his style of play have taken on his body. It is these kinds of reasons that could lead the negotiations to become volatile.
It would be a shame for the Bears to lose a player like him over this.
I want some more money
It is the Super Bowl losers curse
Stop your bitching Urlacher you shouldn't have sign that long ass deal if you didn't want to honor it
I am tired of whining players
I've more or less been doing nothing to speak of. I just don't have much to say these days, not that it matters. Basically not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning. So it goes.,