After recent news of Eagles running back Saquon Barkley saying that he was “pretty damn close” of signing with the Bears for 2024, all the ‘what ifs?’ around the season start to swirl.

However, former running back Matt Forte believes “not much” would have been different for the Bears if Barkley was in Chicago’s backfield all season.

“I am very critical of the Bears because I’ve earned that right,” Forte said on the Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams. “[Barkley] can do things that a lot of players can’t do…You have to have those holes to run through to be able to do that. I played in the NFL for a decade. I don’t care if you’re Saquon, Tom Brady at quarterback. If you don’t have guys up front that are clearing the way and making these holes for you, it’s going to be very hard to be as significant as he was this year.

“When it comes to the Bears, football is the ultimate team sport. You need everybody working on the same page at the same time. When it comes to one person coming in – even though they may be a generational talent – you still need everybody on the same page and really doing the work up front to open those holes up.”

Forte went even further to say that while he remains hopeful, his expectations around the Bears aren’t as high as the rest of the fanbase.

“I don’t get overly excited as some of our fans do, because it’s the same thing every year. There’s a pattern,” Forte said. “From top down, they need a culture change.”

How does Forte believe a culture change can happen? It’s bigger than just having a new head coach in Ben Johnson.

“It goes into the scouting department, too, because they are the ones that have to get parts and pieces into a system that the coaches believe in and the players believe in in order for it to work,” Forte said. “When it comes to a guy like Caleb, I like Ben Johnson’s system for him, but, at the same time, offensive line needs to get shored up. They had so many different combinations, which happens a lot when you have a lot of injuries but also when you have guys that aren’t making the plays that they need to be made up front. If you can’t protect the quarterback and push guys off of the line and establish a run game, you’re not going to help out a rookie quarterback who needs a run game to do that.”

Check out the full interview with Forte on Up & Adams with Kay Adams.