PHOENIX -- Bears president Ted Phillips wants linebacker Brian Urlacher to retire with the club, but he's confident he hired the right man to facilitate whether that happens or not.
Bears general manager Phil Emery has insisted that Urlacher would not be "slighted" by the club, and Phillips said that's been the case. 
"I think Phil has handled it very well. We'd obviously love for Brian to retire a Bear and we're still hopeful," Phillips said. "But it'll work itself out in time. Sometimes those things take a little longer than you'd like them to."
Phillips said he's been impressed with how Emery communicates with players.
"Phil is always thoughtful, and he's always caring in his approach with every player," Phillips said. "I think he's taken exactly the right approach with Brian and shown him the respect he deserves."
May I ask a legitimate question: why does this man still retain his job? If you remember back to early 2007, Ted gave himself an extended contract with a hefty raise, and did the same with Angelo and Lovie Smith. Basking in the glory of a Super Bowl loss (Onion headline that week: "Lovie Smith First Black Coach to Lose Super Bowl") he raked in all the accolades. In 2013? His ill-spoken, maladroit general manager is gone. His peter-principle head coach (you know, the one who couldn't spot talent, couldn't make the talent on his roster better, and couldn't manage a game effectively, resulting each season in at least one game where the team looked like it had not practiced at all, then proceeded to offer the answer "well, we just didn't do our job this week" as a viable explanation) is gone. The Chicago Bears have no cap space now, little next year, have no depth at defensive back, linebacker, defensive tackle, offensive guard, center, receiver, tight end, quarterback, and special teams, and rely on a handful of aging defensive stars to keep them in games long enough for the other team to self-destruct (see Carolina Panthers et al) and hand them a victory. The team has no young stars in the pipeline on either side of the ball and can account for nearly zero production from all its first-round picks for the last 12 years, including last year's selection by Ted's new general manager, a very nice, polite and quite small situational 3-4 linebacker, though the team has played a 4-3 defense for, well, its entire existence as a football team.
Well done, Ted. Well done. You have about as much accountability in your job as a United States Senator, or the superintendent of a single-school district (New Trier, Stevenson, et al). Which is to say, as long as you're nice to the boss, you get a free pass. Why don't you retire as a Bear with Brian?