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When grilled by the local media earlier this week about the sense of urgency in reaching new contracts with star defenders Brian Urlacher and Tommie Harris, Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips said, “the sooner the better” in both cases. But according to team insiders, Urlacher, who has decided to initially skip the team’s voluntary offseason workouts that began this week, not only is behind Harris in the pecking order for an adjustment on a deal that still has four years remaining, he’s also behind 2-3 other teammates considered worthy of extensions — WR-RS Devin Hester, PK Robbie Gould and possibly DE Mark Anderson. Our sources also don’t view Urlacher’s early boycott as a sign of bad things to come, but rather that, when push comes to shove, they expect him to be fully participating in team activities before the summer runs its course. Harris, meanwhile, is considered by far the top priority of team management. Even though we're told talks at Halas Hall with Harris’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, broke off Wednesday without any real progress being reported, we hear the odds remain strong that a new deal will be consummated in the not-too-distant future. Word is the Bears have offered Harris more than the eyebrow-raising seven-year, $50.5 million deal the Raiders doled out to DL Tommy Kelly — a figure substantial enough to ensure Harris’ participation in the team’s current conditioning program without issue.
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