The Bears and Forte's agent (Adisa Bakari) have until July 16 to reach an extension, otherwise Forte will either earn $7.742 million in fully guaranteed base salary or nothing if he holds out. Forte could always skip training camp, but after earning $600,000 total in 2011, he's unlikely to pass up on weekly checks worth $455,412 under the franchise tag. Perhaps that's why Smith understands Forte using the offseason to address his contract, while also expecting him to be there when the time for that has passed.