Urlacher a happy camper heading into camp

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BOURBONNAIS - Now that the deal is done, Brian Urlacher is grateful. During negotiations on a contract extension with the Bears this offseason, Urlacher sounded as though he could not fathom the team's reluctance to meet his terms. With a one-year, $18 million extension in hand that included a $6 million signing bonus, Urlacher praised the Bears' generosity as he checked in to training camp Tuesday night at Olivet Nazarene University. “It feels good because I did have four years left on my contract, we all know that,” Urlacher said. “They didn't have to do anything. That was obviously a nice deal they offered me.” The extension also increases Urlacher's base pay by $1 million over each of the next four seasons, while tacking on an extra year, 2012, at $8 million. Urlacher now will earn $5 million this season. Add that to the signing bonus, and it is easy to see why he was ebullient - by his standards - with the media Tuesday night. Urlacher said he would have reported to camp regardless of an agreement. He skipped most of the voluntary portion of the offseason program in protest of his contractual situation. “The organization had me for four more years,” he said. “So it wasn't a do-or-die thing. I had to be here no matter what.” But Urlacher, who originally signed his nine-year deal in 2003, said he would advise anyone else to stay away from such a long contract. The length allowed for his $13 million signing bonus, but he thought he was outperforming his base salary the past couple of seasons. “It's very enticing at the time because it's a lot of guaranteed money up front, so you want to get that security,” Urlacher said. “But at the same time, you don't know how you're going to play, either. You may outplay it.” Urlacher was not the only happy camper Tuesday night on the eve of the team's first practice. Quarterbacks Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton both sounded eager to vie for the starting job in what the team has touted as an equal competition. Grossman, the undisputed starter going into each of the past four seasons, has lofty goals. He called this offseason the best of his pro career. “My mindset is I want to be the best quarterback in the NFL,” Grossman said. “That's how I am approaching it, and I feel like we have the talent around the quarterback position to let that happen.” Working on a one-year contract, Grossman has little margin for error. “In some ways, I think everyone has to prove themselves every single year,” Grossman said. “This is a little bigger for me in this instance, but no doubt I am extremely motivated and ready to go.” Orton said as long as he concentrates on every drill of every practice, he expects “everything will turn out fine.” Coach Lovie Smith said he liked to have most positions settled going into the third preseason game, but declined to specify whether that would apply to the quarterbacks. Smith plans to give more preseason action than usual to most of the front-line players this year. That stems in part from the competition for time at various positions - quarterback, wide receiver, left guard, defensive tackle and defensive back. “When you have as many position battles as we do, you have to let the guys play in more of a competitive environment,” Smith said.