Eagles RB McCoy Signs Extension, Forte Next?

According to multiple sources, Eagles RB LeSean McCoy has signed a 5 year contract extension worth $45 million with almost $21 million guaranteed.  As Bears Playbook noted a month ago, this deal could be the game changer in negotiations between Forte and the Bears.  Here's what we said:

 The potential game-changer in this situation is Eagles RB LeSean McCoy.  He offers a similar skill set to both Forte and Rice and should be paid comparably.  He is currently in the last year of his rookie deal and both he and the Eagles are eager to get a deal done this season.  If he were to sign for a number close to the Foster deal, it would put another top RB in that price range and would give Forte (and Rice) little reason to keep asking for more than that.  Currently, these two players are no doubt saying that they should be paid more than DeAngelo Williams (the significantly overpriced deal that threw a monkey wrench into this situation in the first place).  If, however, McCoy were to sign a deal comparable to Foster’s, it would be significantly easier for the teams to argue that Williams’ contract was overpriced as opposed to Foster’s and McCoy’s deals both being underpriced.  At that time, Forte may realize that he simply won’t get more money than those deals and may be open to a more reasonable long term deal.

For those who don't remember, Arian Foster's deal was a 5 year contract worth $43.5 million with almost $21 million guaranteed.  So, now that this situation has indeed come to pass, negotiations could go pretty smoothly.  Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweeted today that Forte's agent, Adisa Bakari, has been in Chicago for a few days.  If both sides are truly serious about getting a long-term deal done, this could happen quickly.  Stay tuned.