Despite expressing that they would like to retain the services of DT Amobi Okoye for 2012 and beyond, the Chicago Bears have yet to hit any news wires with contract talks.
In fact, the only time Okoye's name has come up recently has been in reference to visiting other teams around the league. Joe Reedy, beat writer for the Bengals, says that Okoye's visit to Cincinnati will be early next week, and Adam Kaplan says the list of other teams interested include the Bucs, Patriots, and Broncos.
The Bears contract situation with Okoye will be largely influenced by their planned approach to the Draft next month, and it would be interesting to know what type of value Okoye carries with Lovie Smith and new GM Phil Emery.
If the Bears are prepared to aggressively pursue a DT in the 1st round of the Draft, they may very well let Okoye decide for himself where he wants to play next season. However, if the team is locked in on WR, DE, or OL, they may end up making a higher pitch to him than they would prefer, just to keep him in Chicago.
Stay tuned...