Bears legend Brian Urlacher talks about his frustration with his former team
CHICAGO (CBS) – Former Chicago Bears linebacker and NFL Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher has some thoughts on the current iteration of his old team.
CBS 2 Sports Director Marshall Harris went one-on-one with Urlacher to discuss the state of the Bears, including what he thinks about what's happened at the linebacker position.
Harris spoke to Urlacher from the 2023 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, where he was golfing with LPGA Tour winners and other athletes and entertainment and music celebrities, who were competing for a combined purse of $2 million.
Urlacher: "First of all, the Roquan (Smith) trade was horrible in my opinion … So you trade for Khalil (Mack in 2018). You give up two first round picks to get Khalil, correct? Khalil was a great football player. Then you get rid of Khalil again (before the 2022 season). And then you trade Roquan, who in my opinion is the same level as Khalil, status-wise, and you get a second-round pick for him. Great, but I guess you don't have to pay him … You drafted him in the first round. He's produced for you. I know he wants a lot of money. He's earned it. He's a good football player. I'm glad to see he got what he wanted there in Baltimore, but I was very sad to see him leave Chicago. I thought he'd be there for a long time (and) kind of fill that lineage of that (Dick) Butkus, (Mike) Singletary, Bill George, they all started back in the day. So it was frustrating to see that trade take place, but Jack Sanborn is a good football player. He did pop this year. He started off on special teams early on in the season and once he got in at linebacker, he stepped in there and made some plays for them when they traded Roquan."
Harris: "So yeah, people were talking about Jack Sanborn as a linebacker that's going to be starting for the Bears forever, and I'm like, maybe. He's an undrafted free agent. Let's see what they do when they stock the cupboard."
Urlacher: "I agree. So I don't put a lot of stock where you got drafted, if you're a free agent, if you're a seventh rounder. I don't care. If you can play, you can play. It doesn't matter where you get drafted in my opinion, because a lot of guys who got drafted high can't play. So it doesn't really matter."
Harris: "What did you think of the Bears season? I don't know if it pained you that they only won three games … but they got the number one pick. They got all this cap space. We can start building some things."
Urlacher: "Yeah I don't know how good of a deal it is to have the first pick. I know it's a great thing because you get, allegedly, the best player in the draft, but if they're not going to draft a quarterback, because in my opinion, (Alabama quarterback) Bryce Young is the best player in the draft … I guess you trade the pick. I know the (defensive) end from Alabama is really good as well. It's a great situation to be in, post-season obviously … because they can either get a lot of draft picks. But my thing is, so you have a lot of draft picks. It doesn't matter if you don't get good players. It's nice to have a bunch of picks … that's a good thing if you get good players. If the picks don't pan out, it's not a good thing."
Harris: "For me, watching this season, Brian I'm going to be honest, I don't really care what the record is necessarily for the Bears, I just have one question. Do you have a franchise quarterback? I think they've answered that question. Do you feel like with Justin Fields they've answered that question?"
Urlacher: "He's done some great things running the ball, you know, unbelievable. The scramble plays he has, whether they're designed runs, are like no other quarterback in the NFL because he's faster than everybody else. But I get a little worried with the throwing yards. He threw for 200 yards twice this year. That was it. I know they don't have a lot of weapons behind him. The offensive line struggled. If you're going to win in the NFL, I think they've shown you got to throw the football and … we'll see. I'm curious to see how he does with some protection and some good receivers, which I think they will go out and get next year with all the cap space that they have like you said earlier."