Greg Olsen hopeful of long-term deal with Bears

During the NFL owners’ meetings, Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo implied that tight end Greg Olsen would be one of the young guys in line for a contract extension.

Angelo noted, however, that it depended on whether there’s enough money to go around once a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.

Olsen, whose contract is up after the 2011 season, has no desire to go elsewhere despite what people continue to say about his role in offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s scheme. This past season, Olsen finished fourth on the team in receptions with 41 and tied Johnny Knox for the team lead with five touchdown catches. And Martz envisions a bigger role for Olsen moving forward.

"I’ve said, since the day I got here, that I’m very happy here," Olsen said. "I’m very happy here. I feel like I’ve had a good four years and have really enjoyed my time.

"I know there’s a lot that goes into (an extension), with the situation with the labor agreement or what not. I would love to have that security and be here for a long time. There are a lot of things right now kind of out of all of our hands. We’ve got to let it play out. Once we get all this situated and get to free agency and all of that out of the way, we’ll see what happens."

Until then, Olsen plans to follow his normal offseason of working out at Bommarito Performance System in south Florida alongside teammate Matt Forte. But Olsen is willing to alter his schedule if the Bears are able to organize workouts, as Rashied Davis is attempting to do. Last season, the Bears began their voluntary workouts one year ago Tuesday.

"We’ll see what they put together," Olsen said of Davis’ plan. "Right now, I’m just kind of doing stuff on my own, like I do every year; pretty much the same program. But, yeah, if guys get together and do routes and stuff … you just have to be careful.  There’s a lot that goes into it vs. what there’s been in past years where you had some protection.

"But I think it’s important that the guys are around each other building that timing. Depending how long this goes and it gets all the way to training camp then you have a lot of catching up to do. It’s still early. We’ll see how the offseason plays out."

Olsen has touched base with Jay Cutler, who has been MIA since exiting the NFC Championship game with a second-degree knee sprain.

"Jay’s doing good," Olsen said. "Same offseason for him. I know he’s excited to get back to work."

Until Olsen is able to reconnect with Cutler, he’ll have to settle for having another NFC North signal-caller to toss him some passes.

"The one guy we have down in (Florida) is Drew Stanton," Olsen said, referring to the Lions’ third-stringer. "He’s our designated quarterback."

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(chicagobreakingsports.com)