Trestman says 'premature' to talk about Urlacher's status

Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman knows that Brian Urlacher wants to remain with the organization.

But whether or not that will happen remains to be seen as the middle linebacker is coming out of contract and he turns 35 later this spring. The Bears are planning to run a similar style defense under Mel Tucker, the new coordinator, so the team might desire someone with familiarity playing the Tampa Two scheme in the middle of the field.

But when Trestman spoke on Thursday he provided no clues what the future holds for Urlacher with the organization.

“I spoke with (Urlacher) on the phone, probably a 30-40 minute discussion," said Trestman, noting that Urlacher was in Arizona. "He was great, and we just talked generally about the team, not specifically about his situation. I asked him about the team and our locker room and tried to gather as much information as I could to try to do a better job as we move through the spring.

“I don’t think there’s any question that he loves Chicago. I’ll just leave it at that. I’m not as attuned to the entire situation, certainly the economics and all the things that go into it. That’s going to be a process between Brian and the organization as we move forward.

“To talk about where that thing is going would be premature at this time.”

There is little question the Bears know what they want to do. Free agnecy opens March 12 and all 32 clubs will be hatching free agency plans at the NFL Scouting Combine starting next week in Indianapolis. Until the Bears come out and say they would embrace Urlacher returning, the best guess is he's not in the plans.

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune