By PFW staff
June 20, 2008

Tommie Harris

Before going into hibernation for the next month or so, the Bears took care of an important piece of business late Thursday, signing DT Tommie Harris to a four-year contract extension worth $40 million ($27 million over the next three years) that moves him to the top of the payroll list among NFL defensive tackles and makes him the highest-paid player at that position in NFL history. The 25-year-old Harris, who was the 14th overall pick in the 2004 draft, reportedly received $18 million in guaranteed money.

Despite battling groin and knee injuries throughout the ‘07 season, Harris played in all 16 games and finished second on the team with eight sacks. Had the Bears been unable to come to terms with Harris, they were prepared to make him their franchise player in 2009. Provided he can stay healthy, Harris could be rewarded with another extremely lucrative payday in 2013, when the new deal he just signed will expire, just as he's about to turn 30.

The PFW spin

With mostly bad news emanating from Halas Hall lately, thanks to former Bears RB Cedric Benson, Harris’ well-deserved contract extension provides a well-timed breath of fresh air that should carry into training camp in late July. Unlike teammate Brian Urlacher, Harris never considered holding out of training-camp activities due to contract concerns and even passively acknowledged the strong possibility that he could have been franchised down the road.

With Harris locked up for the next four years, the Bears can concentrate on trying to make both Urlacher and WR-RS Devin Hester equally happy campers with new contracts. While the possibility still exists that one or both of them could continue to make an issue out of their contract situations, the likelihood of that happening has been lessened, particularly in the case of Urlacher, who showed up at the team’s mandatory minicamp and also has indicated more than once that his preference is to finish his career with the Bears.

Unlike the Bears’ offense, which has huge question marks at every position except tight end, things appear to be looking up for a defense that struggled mightily last season. Not only has the team managed to lock up two key defenders for the long term this offseason in Harris and OLB Lance Briggs, who many had believed was a lock to sign elsewhere when this year’s free-agent period first began. The apparent good health and return to form of defensive leader and starting FS Mike Brown, whose absence due to injury last season was considered a big reason for the defense’s demoralizing breakdown, is also creating a very positive buzz.