The Bears announced Wednesday that LB Lance Briggs signed a one-year contract extension with the team.

The extension keeps Briggs with the Bears until 2014, when he will be 34-years old.

The deal includes a $3 million signing bonus, a base salary of $3 million and a $250,000 workout bonus all in the first year. The deal essentially gives Briggs $17.5 million over the next three seasons.

The veteran linebacker had been looking for a contract extension since last season.

He once claimed he would never play another down in Chicago during the 2007 off-season. The Bears placed the franchise tag on him worth $7.2 million at that time.

The Bears must have given him a generous offer that he couldn’t refuse because they seemed to be far apart in negotiations last season.

Briggs and MLB Brian Urlacher have been one of the best linebacker tandems in the league since Briggs arrived in Chicago in 2003.

Briggs has racked up 1,238 tackles, 13 interceptions, 14 forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries in 140 games in the Windy City.

This is a big step forward for the Bears. This is one less distraction they have to deal with this off-season.

Forte Upset?

Running back Matt Forte is definitely going to continue to be a distraction for the Bears.

He is looking for a long term extension and today it was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Forte is willing to hold out until he gets a new contract.

With one possible distraction taken care of in Briggs, one still looms with Forte. Bears fans shouldn’t be surprised by ESPN’s report.

The Bears want to get a contract done, but Forte is just looking for more money than the Bears seem to be offering at this point.

More news to come on Forte’s contract issues.

Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Bears.