The KFFL blurb is misleading. Read the entire article that they refer to:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/sports/cst-spt-bear07.html
Steinberg refers to the free agency process taking days, not weeks...not the Bears specifically.
Bears prepare offer for Stewart
March 7, 2003
BY MIKE MULLIGAN STAFF REPORTER
The Bears let quarterback Kor-dell Stewart leave town Thursday night without offering him a contract, but only because they still are formulating a deal that they are expected to present to agent Leigh Steinberg this morning.
"They indicated they would call [today] and start discussions,'' said Steinberg, who said his client is "extremely excited'' about the opportunity to play for the Bears.
Stewart, who toured Soldier Field and dined with the Bears' brain trust on Wednesday, visited Halas Hall on Thursday to meet with coaches, personnel staff and players. Like Jake Plummer before him, Stewart chatted with middle linebacker Brian Urlacher and wide receiver Marty Booker along with other players working out at Halas Hall.
Stewart has received a contract offer from the Arizona Cardinals and has attracted interest from the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins. He might make his final decision a lot sooner than expected, said Steinberg, who originally predicted the process would take about a month.
"The pace has accelerated,'' Steinberg said. "I don't think it will be done [today], but it's going to take days as opposed to weeks.''
The Bears also appear to have accelerated their timetable after being rebuffed by Plummer and seeing another possible option, Jake Delhomme, sign with the Carolina Panthers. They don't want to be the last team standing without a quarterback when this game of free-agent musical chairs ends.
With that in mind, they brought Jeff Blake to town Thursday evening and have begun inquiries into what he might be seeking, a source close to the player said.
Blake, 32, an 11-year journeyman who has started 87 regular-season games for four teams, started the final 10 games of last season for the Ravens after Chris Redman was hurt. They wanted to bring him back as their starter so much that coach Brian Billick traveled to Florida to meet with Blake and discuss the reported $2million to $3 million difference in first-year compensation that halted a deal.
Billick told reporters in Baltimore on Thursday that the team's offer is now off the table and the Ravens will look elsewhere. In addition to visiting the Bears, Blake has scheduled trips to Pittsburgh on Sunday and Arizona next week.
"There was no ultimatum,'' Billick said. "My intentions were to give him an opportunity to take leadership of this team, to show this team that his commitment was to come here and be their quarterback. It's Jeff's right to take himself into free agency, but in doing so, he made it very clear he was not interested in what I was offering him ... so it is prudent for us to move on.''
Meanwhile, Plummer was introduced in Denver after agreeing to a seven-year, $40 million deal that included a $7 million signing bonus and a second $6 million bonus deferred to the third year of the contract. Plummer might not have meant to insult the Bears but did anyway when he said his final decision came down to "playing in the Super Bowl--not just playing in it, but winning it. I truly believe that can happen here.''
Presumably, he felt it couldn't happen in Chicago.
The deal with the Broncos was regarded as such a foregone conclusion that many observers were surprised he even bothered visiting the Bears. Perhaps he hoped to drive up the amount of his contract. If that was the case, he must have been sorely disappointed by the Bears' offer, which was virtually identical to the one the Broncos gave him except for more base salary in the first two years.
The contract can be broken into two parts, with Plummer getting $8.1 million over the first two years (the $7 million signing bonus and a minimum salary of $550,000) and $32 million over the last five. If things don't work out and the Broncos cut him, they would lose only $5 million against the salary cap (the prorated portion of the signing bonus).
It's unlikely the Bears would offer the same contract to Stewart, even though he's being pursued by the Cardinals, who have $34 million to spend under the salary cap--more than any other team and three times more than the Bears. In theory anyway, Stewart should come cheaper.
The benefit of contracts with two-tiered bonus money is they allow the team an out if the player doesn't live up to expectations or if a younger player is developed in the meantime. Steinberg said before the free-agent hunt began that one of the things Stewart would want from a team with a high draft pick was a guarantee it wouldn't use it on a quarterback.
That means the Bears likely would wait until the second round to address the position in the draft. Of course, that seems to have been the plan all along.
