[bears9]

A day after agreeing to a four-year contract extension, defensive tackle Tommie Harris had only praise for the Bears organization.

''There wasn't a rush to get things done,'' Harris said Friday at Halas Hall. ''I would love to get it done because you don't want to become a distraction to your teammates. I would never go out and talk about the Bears in front of media or disrespect my team. This is not something that had to be done. But they were generous enough to do it.''

Harris had one year left on the five-year deal he signed as a rookie in 2004. The new contract, which runs through 2012, is worth roughly $40 million, including $17 million in guarantees and $27 million over the next three years. Harris credited his agents, Drew and Jason Rosenhaus, and the Bears for keeping details of the negotiations private.

''We handled this whole situation very classy,'' he said. ''We didn't try to go out there and talk about one another or dispute things. I feel like we did keep it all in house. When you have a family or a business ... you [should] keep everything in house.''

Happy Harris praises 'classy' negotiations :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Bears