5 Things We Learned from the Chicago Bears' OTAs

For the first time since the NFL draft concluded earlier this month, the Chicago Bears held organized team activities (OTAs) this week. Their three-day practice session began on May 27 and ends May 29.

At the start of OTAs on Wednesday, Chicago Bears radio network sideline reporter Zach Zaidman outlined the rules of OTAs:

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#Bears conducting 10 organized team activity sessions. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.

— Zach Zaidman (@ZachZaidman) May 27, 2015"

Even though contact is not permitted during OTAs, the coaching staff will be able to put the team through various drills and workouts, and they should get a good idea of what the depth chart is going to look like before training camp begins in late July. 

It is hard to get a good sense of where the team is heading after just a couple of practices, but here are five things we learned from Chicago's OTA practices this week.

Matt Forte Will Not Sit Out

Matt Marton/Associated Press

When the Bears held their first voluntary minicamp earlier this offseason, running back Matt Forte decided to sit it out in hopes of signing a contract extension. He later explained his decision on his Instagram account.

"If the Bears want to give me a contract [extension] they will; if they don't they won't," Forte wrote, via Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com. "I'm not mad or holding a grudge. I don't operate like that."

Forte rushed for 1,038 yards and hauled in 102 catches for 808 yards and scored 10 total touchdowns last season, and he is entering the final year of his contract.

Even though he is frustrated with his current contract situation, he showed up for OTAs on Wednesday and understands how the NFL works. Forte said, according to Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune:

"

You just figure that a guy who's been there since Day 1, who continues to put in hard work and has produced should be rewarded. But in this business that doesn't always happen. … It is (difficult to accept). But I don't take it out on the coaches or my teammates or anything like that. I go out there and I continue to play.

"

He also said part of his reason for attending OTAs is so the coaching staff can get a better idea of who he is as a player.

"They probably know a lot about me from afar, seeing me play while they coached on different teams," Forte said, according to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times. "But to actually coach somebody on the field and seeing the person is different. That’s why I’m out here and continuing to work to get to know the offense and get that cohesion with the offensive line and everybody."

Forte clashed with Chicago's front office during the 2012 offseason when he was hit with the franchise tag, but he later signed a four-year, $30.4 million deal with the team prior to the start of the regular season.

Forte's decision to ask for a contract extension is not much of a surprise, but he will turn 30 later this year, and running backs are rarely productive once they reach that age.

He has not shown any signs of wearing down, but the Bears would be wise to let him play out his contract this season and reopen contract discussions after the year ends if they want him to be a part of their future.

Martellus Bennett Did Not Show Up for OTAs

While Forte opted to participate in the team's OTAs, tight end Martellus Bennett decided to skip OTAs while he looks for a new deal.

Bennett hauled in 90 passes for 916 yards with six touchdowns and was named to the Pro Bowl following the end of the 2014 season, but he has not participated in any of Chicago's offseason activities.

Prior to the draft, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the Bears were trying to move Bennett.

"Bears entertaining trade offers for Pro Bowl TE Martellus Bennett, per league sources," Schefter tweeted late last month. "Bennett wants a new contract in Chicago or anywhere."

Bennett signed a four-year, $20.4 million deal with the Bears in 2013 after spending four years with the Dallas Cowboys and one with the New York Giants.

In Bennett's four years with the Cowboys, he hauled in just 85 passes for 846 yards and four touchdowns. In New York, he was a bigger part of the offense than he was in Dallas, and he hauled in 55 catches for 626 yards and five touchdowns.

He caught 65 passes for 759 yards and five touchdowns in his first year in Chicago in 2013, and he appears willing to sit out the 2015 season unless he is offered a new deal.

He was not in attendance for Chicago's voluntary minicamps earlier this year, and head coach John Fox addressed the issue at the time.

"I know where he is, and like I said yesterday with anyone who's not here, I prefer he'd be here, but he's part of our football team, and we'll leave it at that," Fox said, according to Arthur Arkush of ChicagoFootball.com.

Other than Fox's statement, the Bears have not said much about Bennett's situation this offseason. They currently have seven other tight ends on their roster and appear to be moving forward without Bennett until the situation can be rectified. 

Robbie Gould Is Not Affected by the New Rule Changes

Chris Keane/Associated Press

Earlier this month, the NFL owners approved a change to the extra point in 2015. Extra points were previously kicked from the 2-yard line, but they will be moved back to the 15-yard line this season.

The rule was changed in an attempt to make the extra point more challenging, but Bears kicker Robbie Gould does not think it will be that big of an adjustment for him.

“It’s a 33-yarder. Is that really a challenge?” Gould said Wednesday, according to Jahns. “I’m not really worried about it to be honest with you.”

In Gould's 10 years in the league, he has only missed three extra points, and two of those occurred between 2013 and 2014.

“The biggest thing is that I got a job to do, and I’ve got to go out there and do it from whatever distance they put it at,” Gould said, according to Jahns. “Whether you like it or not, you still got to play football, and you still got a job to do. To me, it’s not much of a story.”

The rule gives teams more of an incentive to try to attempt two-point conversions, but with a kicker like Gould on the roster, the Bears are better off letting their former Pro Bowl kicker attempt a 33-yard extra point than try to go for a two-point conversion. 

Chairman George McCaskey Still Has Confidence in GM Ryan Pace

Matt Marton/Associated Press

Defensive lineman Ray McDonald had various run-ins with the law during his time in San Francisco, and the former starter was released by the 49ers last December after he was investigated for sexual assault.

The Bears decided to sign McDonald this offseason to a one-year deal, but he was arrested earlier this week for domestic violence and child endangerment, and the Bears released him Monday afternoon.

“We believe in second chances, but when we signed Ray we were very clear what our expectations were if he was to remain a Bear,” general manager Ryan Pace said in a statement, according to Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. “He was not able to meet the standard and the decision was made to release him.”

When Pace initially wanted to sign McDonald earlier this offseason, he was advised by team chairman George McCaskey not to sign him, but McCaskey later met with McDonald and approved the signing.

"He was very candid, very forthright," McCaskey said about his initial meeting with McDonald, according to Wiederer.  "It was a difficult conversation. It was long. It took a lot out of me. And I think it took a lot out of him. And after that conversation, I told Ryan that he had our permission (to sign him)."

Pace has improved the team on both sides of the football this offseason via free agency and the draft, but the McDonald situation does not look good on the young general manager's resume.

Following McDonald's arrest earlier in the week and his subsequent release, McCaskey noted he had no issues with Pace's decision-making moving forward.

“We have complete confidence in Ryan,” McCaskey said on Wednesday, according to CSNChicago.com's John Mullin.

The Bears' decision to cut McDonald immediately following his arrest on Monday was the right move, but some will continue to question the team's decision to sign him in the first place.

DL Ego Ferguson Has Slimmed Down

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

Drafted in the second round out of LSU last year, Ego Ferguson was a part of Chicago's rotation at defensive tackle last season and finished with 24 tackles and two sacks.

He looked like an ideal candidate to play the nose tackle position in the team's new 3-4 defense this season, but he has dropped some weight this offseason in order to play both the nose tackle position and 5-technique defensive end position.

After putting in extra work this offseason, Ferguson spoke about his weight loss at OTAs this week, according to Beth Gorr of BearReport.com:

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I was never hugely overweight but I could have lost a few pounds with no adverse effects. When I stepped on the scale a few weeks ago I was down about 10 pounds. I’d been working closely with the team nutritionist to be sure my diet was geared to optimal results. It wasn’t a matter of cutting out everything I loved to eat but more learning how to make smarter choices. I don’t feel deprived at all.

"

Earlier this offseason, Pace talked about where he thought Ferguson would fit in the team's new defense.

“We’ve talked about [Ferguson] a lot,” Pace said, according to Mullin. “We project him as really nose and end. He can be both for us. So we don’t have him set at one position right now. He can be a nose or an end. He has position flexibility there, too.”

Playing at a lighter weight should help Ferguson get after the quarterback from the outside at defensive end, but he will need to prove he has not lost any strength, particularly in his upper body. What made Ferguson so successful at LSU was his ability to not only take on blockers, but also to shed opposing linemen on his way toward the quarterback.

He will spend most of the season playing the 5-technique defensive end position, but he will also get some opportunities inside at nose tackle since rookie Eddie Goldman is the only pure 0-technique nose tackle on the roster.  

Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com. Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.com.

Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

Follow @MattEurich