We are closing in on the start of football, with the Bears’ first preseason game against the Buffalo Bills set for this Saturday, so let’s take a look at some of the news surrounding Bear football leading up to their first time on the field this season.

Matt Forte Possibly Skipping Week 1 of the Preseason

Matt Forte’s contract issue has been heavily covered by the Chicago media, and there is a new wrinkle in the negotiations that has just come up.  Forte has said that, if he doesn’t have a new contract by game time, he will skip the Bears’ preseason opener against the Bills.

Although this isn’t a huge issue, it shows that Forte is serious about getting a raise from the $550,000 he was set to make this season.

This is not, however, solely a power move by Forte, but rather a safety one.  He fears that if he were to get hurt before his contract is finished he would lose some leverage and not be able to get as much money as he feels that he deserves.

“It’s a concern of mine,” Forte said. “You don’t want to go out there in a preseason game and, god forbid, something happened and then they say, ‘Oh, you’re injured, we can’t give you a new deal.”

Kelvin Hayden to Visit the Chicago Bears;  Could Signal end for Tim Jennings or Zack Bowman

The Bears were expected to grab a defensive back this offseason, but they have yet to do so.  Although there aren’t as many options still available, there are still some good players in the market for a new team.

One of those players is former Colts cornerback Kelvin Hayden.

Hayden was released due to salary cap restrictions earlier this offseason and is most notably remembered by Chicagoans for intercepting a Rex Grossman pass in Super Bowl XLI and taking it back for a touchdown.

If he is signed, it will likely mean that either Tim Jennings or Zack Bowman will be released from the team.

Undrafted Free Agend Dane Sanzenbacher Turning Heads

With Devin Aromashodu gone, the Bears needed a new wide receiver who is always impressive in training camps and preseason games and has a long and confusing last name.

That man looks like Dane Sanzenbacher, the former first team all-Big Ten player who had 948 yards and 11 touchdowns in his final year at Ohio State.

At 4.56, his 40-yard dash time was everything but impressive and at just under six feet tall, he doesn’t have great size, but reports are that he runs great routes and is always in the right place at the right time, a requirement for any receiver in the Mike Martz system.

I’m Joe W.

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