2012 NFL Free Agents: Big-Time Free Agents Who Will Stay Put

Sure, it’s Conference Championship week in the NFL, but only fans of the remaining four teams really care what the results of those games are and who goes to the Super Bowl.

28 other teams around the league are already preparing for the 2012-13 campaign. A major concern for many potential contenders going into the offseason will be re-signing their superstars.

Here are a few guys that are due for a big payday from their current franchises.

Drew Brees

The Saints would literally be insane to let the savior of the franchise walk away in free agency.

He brought them their lone Super Bowl victory and has them contending every year in the playoffs.

At 33 years old, some may expect him to decline soon, but remember this man just shattered Dan Marino’s passing record and nearly had the Saints in the NFC Championship game.

Sean Payton expects him to be on his team in 2012 and would be “stunned” if he weren’t back in New Orleans.

You would have to believe the entire league would be shocked if Brees were to land somewhere like Miami or Washington. 

Arian Foster

Foster is a restricted free agent, so Houston has the choice to either tender him with the highest possible one-year deal, or just skip the drama and give him a big-money, multi-year deal over the summer.

Either way, he should not be going anywhere.

He burst onto the scene during the 2010-11 season and led the league in most major rushing categories and did a more than respectable job in 2011-12 despite missing a few games with injury problems.

There is no way the Texans let someone as skilled as Foster, who hasn’t even hit his prime yet, sign with another franchise.

The fact that there has been no progress made as of yet on his deal should not be of concern, because Foster knows that Ben Tate is breathing down his neck.

He needs to be on the field to stave off competition and keep his value at its highest.

Matt Forte

Forte was easily the best player on the Bears offense in 2012 but could not convince the front office to give him an extension during the season.

Now that GM Jerry Angelo has been relieved of his duties, the RB is optimistic the team will do their best to keep him.

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"The Bears as an organization have a lot of decisions to make right now," Forte said. "I guess we're getting new players in and coaches and managers.

"I'm looking forward to hopefully being back with the team and hopefully sign a long-term deal."

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Even with Chicago overhauling some of their staff, it should make no difference because retaining Forte should be a major priority for the club.

If that means franchise-tagging him, so be it. The Bears needs to figure out a way to keep the 26-year-old stud on their roster no matter the cost.