NFL Rumors: Charles Tillman may take less money to return to Chicago Bears
By Josh Hill
The Chicago Bears are in a bit of a pinch when it comes to what they will be doing this offseason to keep the team in contending shape. While some names being floated around will be coming in from the outside — whether that be free agency or the draft — there are names currently on roster who have cloudy futures in the Windy City.
Perhaps the most high profile name is cornerback Charles ‘Peanut’ Tillman, who will be looking at possibly not returning to the Bears in2014. His contract is up, and rumors are swirling about him leaving the Bears to re-join former head coach Lovie Smith with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Michael C. Wright from ESPNChicago states that while it would be epic to see Darrelle Revis and Tillman in the same secondary, a return to the Bears may be as simple as Tillman taking less money in 2014.
"For Tillman to return, he’s going to have to take less than what he can command on the free-agent market. In fact, I believe if Tillman winds up in Chicago, we’ll be hearing about how he took less from the Bears to do so. This isn’t a situation that you can compare to what happened with Brian Urlacher last offseason. Urlacher was clearly at the end when the team decided to part ways. Tillman still has some gas left in the tank."
Tillman isn’t a lock to take less money to return to the Bears, but he’s clearly not a lock to leave either. Until he starts hearing offers, we won’t know what ‘taking less money’ really means, but returning to Chicago isn’t out of the question.