Who cares what Barnett says? He takes a lot of pride playing MLB, so it's fine that he's taken ownership of the position. But he loves playing football, period, and if he got switched to the outside he would keep playing hard. Remember how Lance Briggs said he would never play for the Bears again because of his contract? A lot of these guys are just big mouths. Show them the money and they will play.
Like some others here, I'm intrigued by the thought of Hawk playing inside and Barnett outside next season, if Hawk excels in the middle. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Barnett plays MLB because his speed allows him to play sideline to sideline. The drawback is that he's vulnerable to runs up the middle. He's like Brian Urlacher that way. Let's see if the Bears offense tries to exploit the edges today, as Hawk may not be as quick to get over there as Barnett was.