Marcus Robinson agreed to both a pay cut and a restructuring of his contract with the Bears on Wednesday that could grant him unrestricted free agency after the 2002 season.
A $600,000 signing bonus offers some insurance to Robinson’s $1 million salary for the upcoming season but the total is a $1 million reduction from his previous $2.6 million salary for 2002. The new agreement allows the wide receiver to become a free agent in 2003 if he meets certain performance incentives.
“Pride always comes into it as a player,” Robinson said. “You can always feel that the team is going against you. It’s personal to me but it’s also business, and after talking to [general manager] Jerry [Angelo], I can understand that.”
The Bears, who were expected to release Robinson after June 1 if a new deal could not be reached, were concerned a rehabbed Robinson could have been wearing a Green Bay uniform next season.
The Packers, with personnel chief Mark Hatley, were expected to grab Robinson even though he missed 10 games last season with a severe knee injury, including a torn ACL. He also missed the final three weeks of the 2000 season and all of the 2001 preseason because of back surgery.
If Robinson fails to reach the incentives that would void the final year of this deal, he is under contract for $2.6 million for 2003. Incentives include 35 catches, according to Robinson’s agent Ken Sarnoff, less than half of his career-best season.
A five-year veteran and fourth-round draft pick, Robinson signed a $14.4 million four-year deal, including a $5 million signing bonus, before the 2000 season after a record-setting performance in ’99 that included 84 catches and team-record 1,400 yards for nine touchdowns–fourth-best in the NFL.
But an ankle sprain, bad back and knee injury limited him to 17 games over the next two seasons. Robinson missed last weekend’s mini-camp and will miss the next one as well, but said he will have limited participation in training camp, beginning with the first day of practices July 26 in Bourbonnais.
“We’re satisfied he’s going to be ready to go,” Angelo said. “That’s why we both agreed to the deal.”
Robinson, 27, doesn’t believe he is injury prone but concedes he may be a different receiver.
“I’ll have to learn how to do a few more things to get open, but if guys think coming off a knee injury that I’m not as fast as I was, they’re just assuming.”
He points out that speed was not necessarily his forte.
“Think about how I made my biggest play,” he said. “It wasn’t about my speed. It’s how a player positions himself to catch a football.”
Robinson said although he hopes to become a free agent after this season, he also hopes to play out his career in Chicago.
“I would love to remain a Chicago Bear,” he said. “I’ve made it my home. We bought a house here, my daughter goes to school, we’ve made friends. I look at it from a family aspect. I love the fans here and I think they love me.
“People think we’re always in it for the money, but they have to understand, I’ve played football all my life. Even with a degree, if I end my career at 27, I’ll be a 27-year-old guy with no job experience. You have to make as much money as possible while you can. But I took a pay cut because I want to play for the Bears.”
