Bears Are Both Cheap And Stupid

[Scott Campbell]

Smith's agent says talks with Bears have broken down.

Barring what Lovie Smith's agent calls an "unforseen breakthrough," the Chicago Bears coach expects to return for the 2007 season without a new contract.

Frank Bauer, Smith's agent, told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that talks between the team and coach were at a "stalemate."

"We're not close, we're not encouraged and based on where talks have gone recently, Lovie will be a free agent after next season," Bauer said on Wednesday night.

Smith has one year remaining on his original contract. He was the league's lowest-paid coach at $1.35 million in 2006 and will remain No. 32 on the paylist at $1.45 million in '07.

Smith suspended contract talks shortly before the playoffs when he led the Bears to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1985 after a 13-3 regular season. Negotiations picked up shortly after the Bears lost to the Colts in the championship game, but Bauer said there were significant gaps on the contract terms between management and the coach.

"It would take an unforseen breakthrough for this to get done," Bauer said. "And we are being more than reasonable in this market."

Coaches that have taken their teams to the Super Bowl, even in a losing effort, are making at least $5 million per year, such as Carolina's John Fox.

The Ravens just signed Brian Billick to a four-year extension. The deal, with one year left on his current contract, is valued at $28.5 million over the next five years, a league source said.

Chris Mortensen is an NFL analyst for ESPN.

[GrnBay007]

Q: How do Bears Fans practice safe sex?
A: They get rid of all the animals that kick.


http://www.packerpalace.com/blog/fans-bearguys.gif

[Freak Out]

Ha ha ha ha.....One can only hope the Bears blow this and lose the coach it took them how long to find?

[Scott Campbell]

He's the lowest paid head coach in football. I think there are some assitants making nearly as much or more. You would think they might have figured out last year that this guy was the real deal, and tried to upgrade his contract then when he wouldn't have broken the bank. Now they're balking because he took their team to the Superbowl, and is probably worth a lot more money.

The Bears are both stupid and cheap.

Stoopid Bears.

[BooHoo]

I am surprised they do not locked this guy into a contract right away.

[red]

this is beyond insane

they are going to completely screw up the good thing they had going

[LaFours]

this is beyond insane

they are going to completely screw up the good thing they had going

One can only hope...oh, and be careful. We don't want those Bears fans that casually frequent these boards to realize what a mistake their franchise is making and decide to attempt some sort of intervention.

[FritzDontBlitz]

great news.

its nice watchin the ss grossman run aground, aint it? :P 8)

[The Shadow]

The dissension on that team with assistant coaches is also awfully gratifying.

[VermontPackFan]

Incredible...gotta love it.

[the_idle_threat]

Lovie Smith comes across as a decent guy, so the sooner he moves on to a classy and worthwhile organization, the better.

[MadtownPacker]

As nice as all this dissention news is I have to say that you maricons with your "lovies a good guy" and "I want to marry lovie" comments have forgotten how he made it priority #1 to beat the Pack. When anybody calls me or mine out it's on.

lovie can rot in hell with the bears or without them.

[the_idle_threat]

"I want to marry lovie"

Who's the maricon? :P

[Iron Mike]

Yeah, the McCaskeys are idiots........

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v739/mike_zankle/theclawmaster.jpg

"And that is all the people need to know...." :P

[Scott Campbell]

I see your Barron, and raise you a Mad Dog:

http://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/voutes/voute3/mauricemagdogvachon_1965.jpg

[Zool]

I'm in for 1 Iron Sheik

http://www.humorisdead.com/images/sheik.jpg

and I raise you a Chief Wahoo

http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/binary/e6f04f32/cover1-5.jpg

[SkinBasket]

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/8972/snuka9ig.jpg

Is a Captain Lou Albano and a SuperFly Jimmy Snuka enough to get me in on this hand?

[BlueBrewer]

As nice as all this dissention news is I have to say that you maricons with your "lovies a good guy" and "I want to marry lovie" comments have forgotten how he made it priority #1 to beat the Pack. When anybody calls me or mine out it's on.

lovie can rot in hell with the bears or without them.

Yeah what he said!!!!

[woodbuck27]

This is beyond explainable, to just the ridiculous.

No - I've got it.

Duuhhh Bears. :)

[Zool]

Is a Captain Lou Albano and a SuperFly Jimmy Snuka enough to get me in on this hand?Superfly is too much. I fold.

[Iron Mike]

Here's my three of a kind:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v739/mike_zankle/littlebeaver.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v739/mike_zankle/skylowlow.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v739/mike_zankle/lordlittlebrook.jpg Little Beaver, Sky Low Low and Lord Littlebrook.

[GrnBay007]

Lovie Smith optimistic Bears will offer fair deal

Associated Press


INDIANAPOLIS -- All Lovie Smith wants is a fair deal to coach the Chicago Bears.

He thinks he'll get one, but how long it takes is an entirely different question.

In Smith's first public comments since his agent, Frank Bauer, said the two sides were at a stalemate in negotiations, Smith said he expected to get a more lucrative deal after his contract runs out next season.

"Of course I don't like being the lowest-paid coach in the league," he said Friday at the annual NFL scouting combine. "I'd like to be in a different position. I look at it like I won't be in that position long."

Smith, the 2005 NFL coach of the year, led the Bears to a 15-4 record and their first NFC championship in more than two decades last season before they lost 29-17 to Indianapolis in the Super Bowl. He has one year remaining on his current deal, which paid him $1.35 million in 2006.

He is scheduled to make $1.45 million next year.

Smith said he wants to coach the Bears for the rest of his career and that team president Ted Phillips has told him Chicago wants to keep him.

For that reason, Smith remains optimistic they eventually will reach an agreement.

"Sometimes, with a contract, it takes time," Smith said. "But I'm confident we'll get it done."

Phillips issued a statement earlier this week saying the team wants to keep the negotiations private and declined to comment other than to say the Bears hoped to keep Smith.

Smith's contract isn't the only coaching issue.

Since the Super Bowl three weeks ago, Smith's staff has also undergone a dramatic makeover.

Defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, who was interviewed for several head coaching vacancies, left to become the linebackers coach at San Diego. Quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson left to accept the same position in Dallas and the Bears have announced defensive line coach Don Johnson and assistant offensive line coach Harold Goodwin would not return.

Smith had already promoted Bob Babich from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator and announced Friday the hiring of Hardy Nickerson, who played for Smith at Tampa Bay, as the Bears' new linebacker coach. He also said Brick Haley of Mississippi State had been hired as the team's new defensive line coach.

"I really appreciate the contributions Ron, Wade, Don and Harold have made and all the things they've done for this program," Smith said. "But we're going in a different direction. Hardy is a guy I've known for a number of years, and I always wanted him on our staff here. Change is always a part of the process."

But as much as Smith joked about the team's needs in the draft, continued to back Rex Grossman as his starter and tried to dispel any notion of controversy about the negotiations, the discussion kept returning to Smith's future in Chicago.

Smith said he would not set a deadline for reaching an extension, only that he hoped the two sides could reach a deal soon.

"When you get down to reality, the reality is I have one year on my contract and I don't have a contract after that," Smith said. "I'd like to get it done. I don't see why it won't be. I think we'll be able to get something done."

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press