Thomas Jones is out and Lance Briggs wants out

If Briggs doesn't want to play for Chicago, the organization might have to cut their losses and try to move him now. He's insane if he thinks he'll get anything other than a better contract elsewhere--as much as he wants to think he's the man, he most certainly is not. If getting $7 Million this coming season isn't enough for him, he's not going to be happy with any long-term deal the Bears can offer (and, to be fair, does he really expect the team to put that much money into the linebacking corps? he obviously wants Urlacher money.)

Because I don't forsee the Bears being able to get a decent draft pick for Briggs, I say they try and pick up a corner with some speed, or a younger possession wide receiver. That is, unless they can package Grossman (or Griese) in a deal that would give them a marquee quarterback for Orton to understudy (just kidding).

It's going to be painful, watching Angelo bungle this offseason and Lovie taking the blame for it.

I don't think he wants to be part of the organization, no matter what they do....unless of course, they came up with some big money, all of a sudden. He wants them to rescind the tag so he can get on the free agent market. Otherwise, he wants a trade.

7 MILLION A YEAR DISREPECTFUL? C'MON LANCE. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT DISREPECTFUL IS. HOW ABOUT OUR TROOPS FIGHTING IN IRAQ WHO ARE POORLY EQUIPPED..POORLY PAID...AND MANY TIMES POORLY TREATED AT OUR MILITARY HOSPITALS HERE IN THE STATES. HOW ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL SUFFERING FROM KATRINA. I COULD GO ON AND ON BUT WHAT'S THE USE. I SAY YOU ARE THE ONE WHO'S DISRESPECTFUL. TRY WORKING 40 HOURS A WEEK AT MINIMUM WAGE AND THEN YOU'LL KNOW ABOUT DISRESPECT. STREAMWOOD FRANK!!!

Every other team let players leave who they knew could get better contracts on the open market. If the BEARS couldn't give Briggs what he want and can receive elsewhere they are doing him a disservice. As well as the team because that will be a huge distraction. They're basically forcing him to play without security of a long term contract. If another team wants to pay him 9 or 10 million they really can't even approach him because he's not worth losing 2 first round picks. The franchise tag also is used for good faith and the BEARS really don't want to sign him with any good faith. He was a bargain last year and he's a relative bargain again because he could easily get a 10 million signing bonus and a salary of 6/7 million to go along with it this year. They should've found his replacement this past season. And to know that he's going to be disgruntled doesn't help the team. Be fair,get them happy and make sure they're doing their jobs. If they're not, sit them down and get someone who wants to do it. Urlacher has had a couple of guys play beside him who got big money somewhere else. A couple of them have been worth it to their new team and I think Briggs wants to find out what it's like to be his own man. Or at least to be paid like it. I'm tired of backing a guy for a few years and they end up leaving for more money elsewhere. How many of them actually turn out to be worth what teams pay them? They really need to cap players out altogether. No one is really worth all these millions but since owners pay it why be a fool and not take it.

I understand Briggs wants a long term deal, but being able to franchise a player is part of the collective bargaining agreement the players signed with the owners. If he has that big a problem being franchised, then he needs to take that up with Gene Upshaw and the players association who agreed to it.

Briggs is good because UHRLACHER is there, and Uhrlacher is good because BRIGGS is there.
WOW!!SOUNDS LIKE A TEAM EFFORT TO ME!
P.S.in the long run Uhrlacher WILL survive

Trade him so fast it makes his head spin.

Maybe he is the reason they lost the Super Bowl. If Lance wants to win a ring he should stay put and feel good about the franchise tag. He had guranteed money offered and refused. Tough , Lance.

Wow this sounds like 1985 all over again. Remember Wilber Marshall. The Bears are always going on the cheap one way or another. I wish they would sell the team.

I guess $7 million is really disrespectful. Yep, the heck with the idea of team, it's all about the money and it's all about poor underpaid under-appreciated Lance Briggs. Trade him or drop him like a bad habit and get rid of the distraction.

Urlachler won't survive long next to Hillenmeyer and a new LB.
This doesn't look good...I do think a playoff team with a later first round pick might be willing to sign him and give up 2 first round picks. If not, Briggs will hold out and I don't think he can be fined as a franchise player.
To remind everyone...Hillenmeyer + new guy = BAD NEWS

I hope we don't get around to being offended because he's another athlete trying to cash in on his talent. I've said it quite a few times that players don't play for the fans. If my son was a gauranteed 1st round pick in any sport I'd let him drop out and try it. These guys learn very early that someone is making money off his talent. From high school on someone is paying to see the sport, so someone is making some sort of money off these players. The bigger the market the bigger the payoff. Sure,the fans suffer because we have to pay too much for everything. That's why some people don't invest too much of themselves to sports. But as big as Chicago is,someone will fill a seat even when you won't go. I haven't been to a BEARS game since Fridge gave my mother tickets back in 90-something. My old job gave good discounts on certain days and only then would I go to see the other sporting teams. Do I agree with paying these astronomical salaries,hell no. I don't pay for a lot of things and that hasn't stopped these people ,who own whatever, from becoming rich off of it. Like I said:you'd have to be Amish not to contribute to making someone rich. I remember when they had planB free agency and guys thought that that would be great. It helped to lower the salaries for the older players. And honestly who really worries about becoming old in football. It also allowed teams to dangle the lowest members of their rosters. And honestly who would you see but guys from special teams and guys who weren't starters. The latest agreement allows only 1 player from every team to be tagged with the franchise tag and honestly how many times will they see that. The Bears have used it very sparingly over the years,if at all. So how many times has it pertained to anyone? It's like blaming people for retiring in public life and finding that their 401k is empty. You don't find out some things because you never think about it happening to you. No one thought they would be tagged. No one likes it and I'm sure that it'll disappear at the next agreement if it happens to team delegates enough.

Another Scottie?? Everone disrespects me!! Nobody held a gun to his head when he began his career. If I remember correctly, the Bears gave him the opportunity to show what he could do. True enough he has played his butt off but you must be a man a fullfill you contractural obligations. There are plenty of people that came before him that gave so much more but received so much less so that he (and others) could even play pro football. Appreciate the position that you are in, love your job, continue to do your thing and everything else will fall in place. Be the strong young man that I think that you are!!! Let Lovie be you example.

Whoa--BBB, do we actually agree on something?

*head asplodes*

The Bears simply can't afford to tie more money up in the position than the money already given to Urlacher and the money offered to Briggs last year. It's clear they came to a LB cap number and were unwilling to go beyond it. It's a no win situation right now and the Bears should probably take what they can get in a trade (less than market), because the guy is already a cancer. It's unfortunate the rookie was hurt and on PUP last year. The Bears will have to make some unpopular decisions to keep this team viable in the long term, much like New England. Briggs is a nice linebacker, but he's not worth 10M a year. He should have some gratitude to an organization that helped make him what he is - it's not the Bears' fault he was still there in the third round, nor is it their fault that he's the second best LB on the team.

In my opinion he should have taken the deal last year and they probably could have squeezed a couple more mill from the Bears. Best of luck Lance, recent big name linebackers leaving the Bears have faded away.

Look at the guys who were cut from their teams like Joey Porter in the last couple of days. These guys were honoring their contracts and now have to find a new team. If you wonder about the mentality of getting all you can look no further than that. If you treat people like property they just want to get what they can while they still can. Like I said: I don't agree with the way we have to ante up so much money to be a fan but I do realize that sometimes teams treat the players in an unloyal manner. When they are through with them they put then out like yesterday's meatloaf. The owners will always be wealthy compared to the fans.

It's obvious that Lance knew this was a possibility when he turned down the offer last spring. He turned down the deal and knew that this day might come. I can understand his displeasure as the tag does not come with a lucrative signing bonus, but I don't know why he is acting like this is such a slap in the face. There have been 30 players franchised in league history and none of them have missed a game-check (the penalty for holding out is a fine equaling one game check for each game missed) in their franchise year so I'm sure a lot of this is just posturing but I think he's getting ahead of himself.

BEST MOVE FOR THE BEARS: Trade Benson and do their best to sign Briggs and Jones to long term deals with the extra money saved by moving Benson. You have Adrian Peterson and can address the depth at RB in the draft. You would keep the 2nd most vital member of your defense in the fold and show Thomas Jones the respect he deserves for carrying the offense on his back the past 3 years. There's no doubt in my mind that Benson will never live up to his 4th pick contract while I am sure he will be marginally successful.

BEST MOVE FOR LANCE (assuming he is serious about never wanting to play for the Bears again): He should keep up the trade talk. Right now his only play is to force a trade and it probably wont work unless he really makes things uncomfortable for the Bears. While this may hurt his image some, another Pro-bowl season with a positive impact on his new team will restore his public image and he would have his contract.

So basically what Lance is saying is "good-bye." Well, it was nice knowing you, Number 55. Your time here has been so brief - we've hardly gotten to know you at all. You've made many bone-crushing tackles and big plays over these 4 short years, and 2 Pro Bowl appearances is fantastic. And you do have the coolest picture on the Jumbotron at Soldier Field, with the folded arms, bad-ass nod and sunglasses and all. But still, I am sure I'm not the only one who is not completely over the Super Bowl loss. We don't feel bad for you, buddy. Seven million is a lot of money, and everyone except you thinks you are worth it. I wonder what your "injury" will be if it comes to that. Well, best of luck finding a team that will be more respectful of your greediness. Otherwise, I just saw a "Help Wanted" sign in the window at SportMart on Clark today. Maybe you can sell me some "NFC Champions" swag at a discount.

Guys, I can't believe what I'm reading when people call the Bears cheap in regard to player salaries. They're not being cheap... they're being SMART. It's not like they're not going to pay the full amount of the salary cap to fill their entire roster. They're making the pieces fit, and Briggs is fitting with a salary of $7 million this year. He doesn't like it? TOO BAD. That's the CBA that was agreed upon by both players and owners. Complain to Upshaw... not us. So go ahead and sit for the first 10 games. I hope they franchise him next year as well. And were the Bears cheap when they re-upped Urlacher with a $13 mil bonus with 2 years left on his deal? Were they cheap when they signed Ogunleye away from MIA with a $15 mil bonus? Please.

Now, when it came to Lovie... THAT was being cheap, as his salary (or any other coaches, for that matter) doesn't affect the cap.

I can't believe Briggs is being such a punk about this. It must be really tough to have the chance to earn $7+ million dollars! My heart weeps for him!

I would rather see him NEVER play football again then screw over the Bears fans like this!

As soon as I seen the devil himself, Michael McCaskey, driving Virginia in the golf cart after the NFC Title game, I knew we were in for trouble this off-season. But, there's no reason now to play around with Lance Briggs. Remove the franchise tag and pay him what he's worth. Or, next year will be ONE big headache!

I'm glad Jones is gone, because this will give Benson an oppurtunity to show fans what he's capable of doing. Jones only looked good the past few seasons, because our O-line gave him gigantic holes to run through. He never had, and never will have breakaway speed, he's just a slasher. Benson, on the other hand is a great back, that has just as much speed as Jones, we just haven't seen it yet, because his low amount of reps.

P.S. Let Briggs go, we can fill someone in at LB, but our main problem still remains our offense.

I say trade him. If he doesn't want to play for a team paying him $7 million then he needs to go. I understand the tag doesn't give him a signing bonus right now, however you are making more than most players in the league right now with the tag. Play out the year, and see what happens. But if you're making such a big deal about $$ and you're already getting paid in the top 10% in the league, then what does that say about you.

Is joey porter still available?SERIOUSLY! I understand that briggs was a bargain these last couple of years. I also agree that briggs is the real deal no matter if its playing next to urlacher or anybody else. As much as we "everyday" people couldn't fathom multi million dollar contracts try to put the money into what the average salary for your career is.You got hired by a company and agreed to a salary and that is what you make.Now work for a couple of years and see yourself pass a bunch of other people work quality and work effort.Finally when you are up for a promotion they low ball you,then when you want to go work for someone else they make the other company compensate them an outrageous price for your services ,knowing its very unrealistic that anybody would give up those terms so he's stuck for another year.Makes a lot more sense when you look at it that way. There is more then enough money this year then ever before,its time the bears stop playin around and catch up to the league. It's a players league and they WILL get paid one way or another. Might as well have them on our team.

How exactly does the McCaskey clan driving around in a golf cart mean we're in for a troubling off-season? That makes absolutely no sense. Angelo has shown he can recruit and trade for quality defensive players - how quickly we forget - so get Lance's butt out of here and put the $7MM somewhere it can do some good. The last thing we need to have is one of our top players turn into a clubhouse cancer for the next 10 months.

Come on Briggs give me a break. If you were smart (which your not) you'd of grabed the 5.5 mil and a big signing bonus when the bears offered it last year. You know all the NFL teams "tag" there new players who do above average. What your problem is ...you think your special. Your just another above average LB and can be replaced with another 3rd round pick. Your a dime a dozen plaYer YO! Above average. You want to talk about lack of respect. Turn on CNN and watch some SSGT who got lost his eye and got shot up in Iraq, get's placed in a rat & mold infested barracks and then tell me about respect. You should thank your lucky stars and he pretty dam happy you have 7 million coming this year YO! Frankly turds like you should be running around in Iraq with a M16 instead of them middle class white boys who do it for 50 grand a year and are just happy to have a job. Enjoy your 7 million reasons to be dis'd this year moron.

The Bears have probably already tried to move Briggs for the appropriate draft choices and that's fine with me. He's an above average talent and I wish they could keep him, but this guy is simply unrealistic with his expectations and may indeed just want out of the Bear organization, regardless of the salary. In the end, he'll go to a different team and we all may find out he was more a product of the Bear system than a superstar.
Losing Thomas Jones is more of a hit. I don't understand the logic of this. Benson is still an unknown as far as I'm concerned. Jones is the known commodity. Besides the Bear GM needing to justify his Benson draft pick, perhaps personality conflicts are also motivating this trade of Jones. The guy had great playoff games. I don't get it, but the Jets sure did.
Is losing these players the price of franchise success or the result of organizational ignorance? Let's just hope for an A+ draft.

If briggs really is the bears franchise player then he should be paid the highest salary. The bears didn't slap the franchise tag on good ole number 54 did they? Guess they wanted to sign Urlacher to a long term deal and didn't mind paying him. Using the franchise tag on briggs is just a lame negotiating ploy from a franchise that can't seem to do enough to make itself look bad.

Maybe the bears could raise ticket prices so they have enough money to pay their players what they're worth. If they can't afford to sign briggs to a real contract then they should trade him now. Do you think he's going to risk getting injured by playing for the bears next year with no long term deal (remember how adewale came to bears-same agent)?

By the time angelo is through "negotiatn" the bears won't even get a draft pick for Briggs, let alone a player. Bears will probably just trade for a move up a few measely places in the draft order. (in the same round-it's cheaper that way) Hard to imagine anyone being dumb enough to make that lame of a deal isn't it???

I don't believe it's quite right to say the bears traded thomas jones to the jets for a second round pick. Actually and in fact, the bears traded a second round pick and jones to the jets for a second round pick. So, the headline could just as well, and much more accurately read, "Bears trade second round pick to jets for a second round pick, and the bears throw in thomas jones". Least thats how it appears if you add it all up.

Seems the only adding getting done up at halas hall lately is those big contracts phillips, angelo and smith just got. That and adding up all the money the Mcaskie family will be raking in from those ticket price increases. Guess that don't add up to much for the bears players or the bears fans.

Only good thing is nobody has accused the bears of being racist yet this week. Although, they did slap the franchise tag on briggs and they did give the biggest contract to their real franchise player urlacher...its probably just one of them coincidencers that briggs is black and is getting the hard line and urlacher is white and is getting the big contract and the endorsements and all. Probably nothin to that, just the bears being shrewd negotiators, sure they'd love to have briggs there as long as they dont have to cough up a big signing bonus and real value longterm contract.

Like angelo said, "if you don't play you don't get paid." Unless of course you're one of his draft choices like benson or grossman. Those are angelo's true franchise players and the face of angelo's bears, not urlacher and for sure not briggs. Should be something to see next year.

It is not the 7 Mil. that he is upset about. It is the lack of a signing bonus. That is the only money that is guranteed. If he gets hurt 3 weeks in he gets nothing. He deserves the signing bonus. He has a family to think about. 3/16 of 7 Mil is alot less than 2 Mill. up front plus what ever he plays. All other teams iwll pay. The Bears know it. If they do not re do this deal he will sit out all of camp, play not to get hurt and the D will suffer. Then next year he will get his deal. It is better for everyone if they pay him or cut him loose. You may ask... "Why does he not play and prove his worth for a year so nect yera he gets paid?" That is what he did this year. Don't forget... the Bears can t=ag him again necxt year as well. Heck, they can do it 3 years actually with the 3rd year the average pay of the top 5 of all players in the league, not just LBs.

Be careful what you wish for with Benson. I think a lot of people wanted him in front of Jones until he got hurt in the Super bowl. Now,how can you be certain that with more attempts he'll be better over the whole season. A back that relish contact takes a lot of hits and usually suffer the Earl Campbell syndrome. I think a 2nd round pick for Jones is an absolute steal. Jets had to be desperate. I think Jones is a quality back who did carry this team a lot the last 2 years. I'm not sure that without him we would've had the results we had this year because no one can tell me if Benson would've lasted the whole season. A back closing in on 30 is still closing in on being over the hill.

Also maybe the BEARS can avoid signing players with Drew Rosenhaus as their agent. He sure helps his players to be greedy. Any time he's the agent he put a lot of stuff out there and have his clients do everything in their power to be disruptive. Funny how all his clients talk the same way. Guys like that are the reason players have an inflated idea that they are worth more. Snakes like him are the main reason the fans have to be careful with getting attached to players. Look at how he was the only agent who showed up at training camp. Posturing and letting teams know that he's the puppeteer. Read Yahoo sports and the guy will show you how this off season has been a player's market. Guys that some teams never heard of is getting ridiculus signing bonuses and long term contracts. A lot of these guys I've never heard of myself making more than what good free agents from last year are making. All the while the fans are ask to fund this crap. When will it all end?

Roman responds: Let me play the devil's advocate here, why is Drew Rosenhaus a snake? If you were a player, who would you want as your agent? He plays hardball for his clients. William, your loyalty usually lies with the players, why in this case do you side with the franchise?

The Patriots have the right model that the Bears need to follow. As soon as any one individual thinks he's bigger than the team, he's got to go, regardless of the cost.

Instead of being greatful that Cedric Benson could help shoulder the load and in the process save a lot of wear and tear on his body, thus potentially prolonging his career, Jones whined. Bye-bye Thomas!

Now we have the same deal going with Briggs, who clearly thinks he's worth Urhlacher money when he's not.

One thing that Briggs and Jones have in common is the same money grubbing, snake oil salesman of an agent in Drew Rosenhaus. Rosenhouse is out to make himself into the next super jerk agent like his counterpart Scott Boros in baseball.

That would be fine, except that Tommie Harris also is represented by the same jerk. Wonderful; us White Sox fans know what that means (see ya, Tommie!).

Briggs should follow the rules his union put in place.
The real disaster is losing Jones.Why were they so intent on dealing him?
Can anyone tell me why Benson left the superbowl?It looked like he walked off on his own.I hope it was something serious to miss that game.I guess this is who we got to depend on now.Thank god for Peterson.

Roman responds: Not only do they get rid of Jones, they get nothing in return. A higher second-round draft pick.

One crybaby down, one to go. The high dollar lazy boys are next, I hope. I like the Bears better already. Too bad we didn't take some action a year or more ago. We'd be stronger now and have some new hardware in the trophy case. That's Lovie's style. Too soft, too slow. Maybe he was just giving a partial effort because he felt he wasn't paid well enough. Maybe now we'll see what he's really made of, or have we already seen all there is to see, I hope not. Time will tell. Go Bears!

Bottom line is that Briggs is still under contract and he is to make over seven million this year and that is that. He has to honor that or he can go without a paycheck this year.

So, I say either make him play out the year and develop some talent this year behind him or trade him and get some draft picks and sign someone like Cato June for a lot less.

To win championships you have to spread the money out. Look at Peyton Manning and remember we need money to extend a true difference maker in Tommy Harris. The Redskins spend tons of cash and have nothing to show for it. Some players are worth it and some are not. The difference is Briggs will be paid in the top five percent of LB's this year so just play it out. Then let him get is due.

Lance Briggs should complain all he wants and the Bears should just keep plugging along. He may be another Wilbur Marshall type who didn't know when he had it made.

As to the concept of a "team hoping to get back to the Super Bowl", dream on, it was a gift of fate. The likelihood of a team making it back year after year without a quality set of players is rare. The Bears should hold on for dear life and make Lance play for as long as they can legally keep him.

Leave it up to Lovey and staff to work through the baggage to get him motivated game by game. All of football is full of prima donnas and it is going to continue to be that way. Just keep him on staff and play his brains out.

If Lance wants out, let the big baby go. I remember a time when Bear fans said we needed a guy named Rosey Colvin and couldn't afford to lose him. Briggs plays OLB, probably the easiest position to replace on defense. Let Lance go see how "great" he is not playing next to Urlacher or behind Tommie Harris. I highly doubt Briggs was installing fear and concern in any offensive coordinators. They weren't asking themselves, "how do we plan against the mighty Briggs?" They were asking, "how do we stop Tommie Harris and how do we account for Brian Urlacher?"

And I find it insulting that Lance say's "its not about money, but respect." Lance it has everything to do with money, because you are measuring respect with dollar signs. So stop with the BS, Bears fans aren't stupid.

What I don't get is that Lance seems to be getting a free pass form the media. No one is being critical of his TO-esque, selfish demands, and no one seems to be pointing out the fact that he has Rosenhaus as his agent, who is notorious for turning players against their teams in order to get out of a contract and go elsewhere to make more money (not get more "respect"). i.e. TO.

Let Briggs sit out this year, and next year he can sign his contract and see how wonderful he is in a different uniform. I am willing to bet we have seen the last of ProBowl LB Lance Briggs, and will just see LB Lance Briggs for the rest of his career.

I think Lance is crazy! He has an opportunity to make 10 times more than he did last year and wants to cry about it! Let him go and get Joey Porter for $4 or $5 million dollars and win the Super Bowl! I hope the Bears do find a solution to this matter with Lance and keep him in the fold, but he is not worth breaking the bank and losing out on other potential players to help them get back to the Super Bowl.

I don't think Lance realizes how he's coming off right now... "Waaaaahhh, the Bears want to keep me on the team because I'm good but they don't want to pay me... Waaaaaa I can't live with a one-year deal worth 7 million..." then he points the finger at the organization trying to make them look bad when in fact they gave him a reasonable offer the year before that would've made him one of the higher-paid linebackers in the league without busting the salary cap. But he TURNED IT DOWN, he doesn't mention that part. He was well within his rights to do so, because we all know that athletes play for money anyway and he was due to get a fat paycheck once he hit free agency. Yet when he rolls the dice and it doesn't land where he wants it or thought it would land, he cries. News flash Lance: THE FRANCHISE TAG IS ONE OF THE POSSIBILITIES YOU LEFT OPEN WHEN YOU DIDN'T SIGN A CONTRACT... this is almost as lame as Warren Sapp's "The NFL treats us like slaves" rant a few years back. Briggs took a chance, he has no choice but to live with it now.

Now I'm not faulting the guy for wanting to get paid because I'd do the same thing if I felt I was worth that much. But there are ways to do it without sounding like a flaming bag of crap. For example, like Thomas Jones. Work hard, be quiet and respectful, ask nicely for a trade, you'll get what you want. Or in Briggs's case, play through the tag, "suffer" making 7 mil for this one year, and wait for the big-money deal, because it WILL come. And nobody would've said a word.

By the way Bears fans, stop jumping to conclusions and calling the Bears cheap for not arbitrarily throwing money at every player you want. You can't do that in today's NFL.

You cannot compare a pro football player to a minimum wage employee. The pro football player, in this case, Briggs, wants fair treatment as compared to others with comparable skill and ability in his position, in the NFL. He wants to be rewarded with a long-term deal and stay with an organization he has played well for. He is probably worth 6 million a year. If he wants more than that, then explore trade options. Just that simple.

On the other hand, I do not know what is disrespectful about a 7 million dollar salary (if he remains tagged). Who cares? The only downside for Briggs is he plays for the Bears one more year, and then is a free agent. If he dogs it, no one will want him or he will have a reduced value in free agency. He he busts his ass, has a pro bowl season, and the Bears win the Superbowl, he gets an even sweeter contract.

How is he in a bad position here? Barring injury, it is completely up to him how much money he ends up making.

Lance Briggs claims he is being disrespected? The Bears fans are the one's being disrespected by Briggs. When it comes down to it the fans are the ones that pay his salary and if the average salary of the fans that attend the games were known it would be one hell of a lot less than he is demanding. And judging by the comments already posted here, there is a majority that doesn't think he's worth the chaos he's stirring up. I have always believed that since a pro athlete's career is short lived that he/she should get whatever salary thier talents will get them, BUT Briggs did turn down a very good extension last year and now the Bears organization is basically saying "hey, we gave you an offer that was what you're worth and you turned it down, too sad, too bad". Maybe it's about time season ticket holders were given the right to vote on contract deals as if they were share holders in a corporation because that's exactly what they are, they just don't recieve any dividends on the stock they hold (one SB title in the last 21 years)! WOW what a concept! Hit the bricks Lance and may your greed keep you warm at night.

Don't get me wrong, I like Lance a lot, BUT who remembers wilber marshall after the Bears? C'mon, it takes one superstar LB, uh, #54, to make a great LB corps. It takes one freak d-lineman, ala Tommie Harris, to make a great front four. It takes a great safety, which we have when Mike Brown is healthy, and a shut-down corner, see Nathan Vasher, for a great secondary. So it seems unless Lance can play safety there's no superstar money to pay him. When he turned down the MULTI-MILLION contract last year, was he not aware of the franchise tag. Did his agent not advise him? Did the players union forget to mention this?

Let him sit and cry, dock him for everyday he misses and play Mark Anderson at strong LB, Urlacher in the middle and Hunter at weak side LB.

Problem solved. Should I forward my GM bill?

Before the playoffs, Jones had the most non-descript 1,000 yard rushing season as you can get. Yes, he had a terrific playoff run but he's a middle of the road RB in the league. The Bears can't un-do the mistake they made by drafting Benson 4th when trading down was the thing to do that year.
Clearly losing Briggs is more of an issue. I think Urlacher can make another OLB good, but not as good as Brigss unless we're talking Joey Porter...I'm ok with that. Couple that with the deficiencies you get with Hillenmeyer (and there are lots of them) and the short-term issue immediately becomes the LB position.

Lance Briggs, STOP YOUR WHINING, take the 7 Million and the oppertunity to get a ring and move on sign a multi million dollar deal some where else that you won't play out(nobody does)and later you can think about what a fool you were to leave one of the only true class organizations in the NFL.

Now we will get to see what Benson is fulltime - straight ahead barrel you over- drag you for 3 to 5 yards football. Not that waaay
outside slash of Thomas. Don't get me wrong, he is a great back, but
I feel it's time to bring Peterson back into the picture as well. The few touches he had this season went very well, and he was a waste of a talent on special teams. There he can be replaced more
readily. As far as Briggs is concerned, see ya bye, his attitude is
a malignant tumor within the locker room that is not needed now or at anytime, so let's cut this loss prior to the infection becoming
pandemic and totally out of control and destroys the best thing to happen to our Bears in a very long due to greed and narcissism.

keep it real lance, remember where you came from. what about solders ? who can not leverage a contract, with $7 mil. our solders can find ways to spend it. perhaps they can buy a modified car after loosing thier legs,and arms. you need to step back and look at the big picture, BEARS TEAM !! not BRIGGS TEAM.

Roman responds: One has nothing to do with the other.

Are you drinking to much of the kool-aid that the MaCaskey's give the press up there at Halas Hall...why can't you just say that this was a horrible trade...i'.e.

"In exchange for Welker, the Patriots sent their 2007 second- and seventh-round draft picks to Miami...who in the hell is Welker and if he's better than Jones I cut my right arm off."

Roman responds: Welker was perhaps Miami's best receiver and a quality return man.

When I say that Rosenhaus is a snake he's the one that put words in these players mouths. Briggs didn't talk like that before. And all his players tend to play hardline with their teams. The contract he walked away from was fair for last year. Maybe not now because of the contracts a lot of these no-talents got this past week. But because of his agent he didn't accept it. Who do you think told him to ask for Urlacher money? I'm sure if he didn't have a more than greedy agent he would have come on board already. Why is it all his players come out and say what they aren't going to do? His agent know how much he's worth to the BEARS and how he's a product of the system,somewhat. Agents come along and inflate their value and all along the fans suffer. The BEARS aren't helping because he's not a true free agent to get his contract racheted up. But of all the agents who's clients push the bottons his players are the ones. Yeah,I'm usually on the players side but who's gonna suffer more by having this upheaval and greed so front and center? I'm all for players getting paid but the mercenary attitude is a direct result of guys like Rosenhaus. I'm more upset that Jones chased the money because the BEARS gave him an opportunity to get his career going and with the tandem of Benson provided him an opportunity to prolong his career. They didn't dishonor his contract like they could have. How many clients of Rosenhaus actually stay with the same team for their whole career? Fans are the ones who suffer. My brother and nephew now have useless jerseys. Even if Jones played for fans his agent asked him not to. We know that the owners rarely honor the length of most contracts but when a guy has a reputation of having his players not honor theirs that's where the snake come in. Now, Briggs is a lot better than fans are saying. The reason we were able to get over Holdman and Colvin is the fact that we at least had Briggs. The one LB who should be thanking his lucky stars for Urlacher is HH. Briggs continue to pace Urlacher with the tackles and stat totals even though he plays on one side of the field. But since the organization gave Urlacher his now outdated contract they can hold that up and tell everyone that they can't go beyond that. Urlacher makes so many more millions because of endorsements. He doesn't have to chase the brass ring like Briggs does. A bunch of snakes stealing money from the fans. Owners and agents. Getting richer off the backs of these players who get tossed aside when they no longer have the ability. We're holding these guys from 85 on pedestals but their unions have abandoned the ones who are now destitute. You'd be surprised who is broke now. But where is their agent and their former team owner? Still cashing in on today's players. My computer is acting funny.This might repeat.

**************************************
Definition: NFL Franchise Player
**************************************

1. A designation given to a player by his team to keep him from leaving via free agency. According to the NFL's collective bargaining agreement, the player must be paid the average salary of the top five players at his position.

2. A term used to refer to a superstar player who is invaluable to his team.

3. Example: A team can use the franchise tag to keep one of their more valuable free agents from leaving the team.

It has become quite apparent most of the posters don't take time to understand what a franchise player is, or look at the other side of a trade and think, we traded second round picks with a team, and gave them our BEST running back to this date for free. But is another issue!

Bullet point #1) Is Lance Briggs being paid what the top five linebackers are paid at this present moment? NO! But with the Franchise Tag, he will. BUT HE ALSO GETS NO GUARANTEED MONEY! Who has done more for the Chicago Bears team? Lance Briggs or Rex Grossman & Cedric Benson? It doesn't matter one plays defense the other plays offense. It is quite apparent the offense didn't do much with the ball when it was given to them by the defense at times.

Bullet point # 2) A superstar player invaluable to the team. Okay ladies & gentlemen, THIS MEANS HE IS EVERY BIT IF NOT MORE VALUABLE AS Mr. Urlacher. Mr. Briggs took the chance of playing through last season's low-wage contract, and still performed magnificently. I can state this easily because the Chicago Bears obviously think so. The organization THINKS HE IS A SUPERSTAR! If not, take the franchise tag off, and let the Free Agency Bidding began.

Bullet point #3) The team KNOWS Mr Briggs is VALUABLE! And don't want him to leave, but low ball him with a second or third tier salary bump! He deserves BRIAN URLACHER money! I am talking contract lengthwise. At least give Mr Briggs a few million less over the length of the contract, but make it up in Signing Bonus money!

I am a Urlacher fan, but I doubt very seriously he would be as effective in the middle, without Lance Briggs playing on the other side of him.

For those equating Mr Briggs as a whiner and need to go to Iraq, WHY ARE YOU NOT IN IRAQ? Don't dare equate the two together knuckleheads!!

And the others who call him a crybaby, well exactly who were you rooting for this season? Was it just Mr. Urlacher or the Chicago Bears? ....*sheesh*...

THIS IS WHY SO MANY PLAYERS IN THE NFL DO NOT THINK BRIAN URLACHER IS GOOD AS HE IS! THEY SEE THE DOUBLE STANDADRD! PERSONALLY, I THINK BRIAN URLACHER CAN PLAY WITH ANYONE, BUT WHY DOES IT SEEM SO EASY FOR WHITE OWNERSHIP TO TEAR UP THE CONTRACT OF A WHITE PLAYER AND RENEW IT, BUT NOT FOR A BLACK PLAYER?

PLEASE DO NOT GO OFF ON A "THEY STARTING THAT BLACK STUFF AGAIN!"

If the Bears DO NOT think Mr Briggs can bring it like Mr Urlacher, take the franchise tag off. If Mr Briggs DO NOT get any offers around the league he has to grovel to play with the Bears next season. It is that plain and simple!

I believe all this turmoil started with Lovie Smith firing Ron Rivera. I lost all respect for Lovie for handling that situation the way he did. He could have told him about his intentions. Lovie planned on doing this all along. He fires him and then replaces him with his friend. He fires a head coaching candidate to replace him for a coach with no experience because he is his buddy. I'm a BEARS fan and been a BEARS through some hard times (Wannstedt Era). This, however, is ridiculous. At least the '85 BEARS won the Super Bowl before they let go of key players.

Lee Munoz
Las Cruces, NM

And don't forget that Colvin got a ring with New England. As a LB he had the best sack total 2 years straight to lead the BEARS. He isn't the type of LB that the BEARS need anyway. Our sack total suffered after he left because that was his bread and butter. Different system ,different results. Briggs is good for the system.

I think that Lance Briggs is an excellent linebacker. That said, he is only as good as he is because of Urlacher. He is definitely a starter on any team in the NFL, but if/when he leaves town, he will not be as great as he was in a Bears uniform. I say trade him and pick try to pick up a Micael Diaz, Kiet Dinh, or even a Todd Maki.

Roman responds: Rosevelt Colvin was good with Urlacher and good without Urlacher. I think Lance Briggs is as good as Colvin.

Now, I didn't know until I actually read it,but they only swapped 2nd round picks? That was a fire sale. An actual give away. Benson better be brushing up on the play book because it's crunch time. Don't think for a minute that without Jones we would've been better this past season. When Rex was finding hisself Jones was taking the heat off of him. I know you guys love backs pounding the rock but when has Benson shown he can play with 700 or more carries a season? If Jones had gave way earlier he might've been hurt earlier. 2 years straight he failed to make it through the season. What makes you guys think he can be an all season, every down back? I'm not really down on too many players but he's a bigger question mark than Rex. Another 1st round pick getting his way. I'm disappointed.

Let the punk go, send rex packing too, get a real QB.

I've got a news flash for the people on here who say that Urlacher needs Briggs playing next to him to be a great MLB. Urlacher has been in the league three years longer than Briggs and was already a great NFL player when Briggs was still in college. If Briggs was to leave the Bears Urlacher would still be the best linebacker in the league. In fact, with all the attention Urlacher gets from opposing offenses one can say that Urlacher's presence helps out Briggs. In the Bears system, Briggs is the guy who is allowed to run free and unblocked and allowed to make tackles. He is a weakside backer, which means he rarely lines up over the tightend. Which means he rarely has to line up and go nose to nose with a 260 pound guy. Hillenmeyer has to do that thankless job. That is why I always thought Otis Wilson was better than Wilber Marshall because Wilson had to play football and occupy a blocker, while Marshall was allowed to run free and clean all over the field. To What is really the problem, we all know why Urlacher finished in the top 5 of the most overrated players in the league. The voters were the players, and about 70% of the NFL players are black. End of discussion. BTW, clearly Michael Vick is the most overrated player in the league.

Why do some of you want the franchise tag removed? With the tag Briggs will be paid with the top 5 of all linebackers. Is Briggs better than Adalius Thomas, Shawn Merriman, Joey Porter or Zack Thomas? No, he isn't even the best linebacker on his team. This punk says he's been disrespected? Boy if I could only use that line when I'm trying to get a 3% increase.

Briggs is going for his and I don't BLAME him! He has THE BEST agent for getting him his money. Drew Rosenhouse is a necessary evil! Bears are slick as oil. This man has given you years at bargain basement price and now its his time to hit the market and get paid and what do the Bears do??? They block him!! Brian Urlacher didn't have to make a call or do flips - the BEARSSSSS contacted him and suggested a raise. You get once in a lifetime to get paid in the NFL. This is Lance's moment and the BEARS need to give him the money or get out of the way! Lance wants guaranteed money aaaaand that equals a signing bonus. He also wants a longer contract which he has EARNED! Bears was not thinking of LANCE when they gave Urlacher his money, so they should not think of Urlacher now that Lance wants his. Somebody talked about TEAM. Urlacher deserved every cent! But here is the kicker...so does LANCE! All of you, quit hating and back this man. He gave us YEARS for what you pay bums. And played GREAT! I cheered for him on the field, and now I will cheer him off. If the Bears cant afford it - don't be evil, just let the man go! He has earned it. Now the Bears and many others talk "business" when the bears want to be cheap, but when players want money its "greed". LANCE - HANDLE YOUR BUSINESS! YOU SICK DREW ON THEM LIKE A PIT BULL! AND MAKE HIM BITE THEM IN THE POCKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!

good off season moves by the bears organization so far. forget all of the media hype. how hard is it to grasp that football is above all else a business? the Bears tagged Briggs for leverage, now Briggs and his agent have to put some leverage back on the Bears. does anyone really believe that Briggs won't play this year? he will and he will get his money the following year from someone. end of story. I have learned to appreciate T. Jones as a player. he gives everything he has on the field. unfortunately, the truth is that he cannot break tackles and lacks the break away speed to get down the field. he had a few great runs last year but generally was unable to make it past the first guy that touched him. it was obvious that Benson can get the yards when the holes aren't there. hopefully Benson can overcome his injury problems this year, just as Jones did last year. Roman is wrong, Benson is the better running back. Chicago fans lighten up, the best teams we have ever had in this city were full of outspoken individuals.

Roman responds: He's certainly more injury-prone, I'll give you that, and he fumbles and pouts. So yeah, maybe he is better than Jones.

The development of Grossman is a more important issue than Briggs' situation. I suggest you fans go to chicagobears.com and check out the credentials of the Bears new QB coach. Hell, with his extremely limited experience as a coach, I bet Grossman will teach this new coach more about playing QB than vice versa. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't this Smith's first year where he has the authority to hire assistant coaches? If that's the case, then this new QB coach being hired makes sense. As does all the other firings and hirings of assistants that Smith has done the past couple of weeks. Smith now seems to have the authority to put his agenda in place. And winning games is not that agenda.

The bears failure to bring back two of their most influential players in Thomas Jones and Lance Briggs is a disgrace to the city of chicago. The other Gm's in this city are determined to make their teams better, while the Bears continue to find ways to stay millions under the cap. What...is there not enough fan support for the organization to spend a little bit of money? If we were going trade our best offensive player we could have recieved more than a second round draft pick. And if we are going to trade briggs should we hav not put him in the deal as well to move further up in the first round. Instead of blaming our 1st yr QB why not give him som more weapons on offense such as GT stud Calvin Johnson. Instead we hav only taken away his most valuable weapon in Thomas Jones. For this team to continue to make cheap, stingy moves after making the super bowl is a disgrace to chicago. After we have been brutal as a football team for the past decade, this is the first time i am embarrassed to be a bears fan

It's funny how Briggs said that he likes the fans,his teammates and the city and so many of you guys turn around and do exactly what he said the organization treats him. A classless guy would have talked bad about everything and might've made certain claims,but he didn't. He gave the fans respect and most of you guys have done the total opposite. Will the BEARS give you guys the money they saved on Briggs. Hell naw! You act like they're gonna cut ticket prices by saving that dough. The guy wants to be treated to a better contract. That's all. As much as I see the fans tired of players demanding money the bottom line is they can pay him more than they are willing. That's their hardline. If they respected him they would negotiate in good faith but they won't. Why keep a guy underpaid when he can make so much more on the open market? It's not like he isn't worth it. If he wasn't they would not have tagged him. For those who don't understand it: Briggs would have been unrestricted if they wouldn't have tagged him. After 4 years in the league you are unrestricted. They are allowing 2 D linemen to go and they are testing the market. Let him find a better contract
and then match it or let him go. Yeah, he's being paid for his services but it's too forced to be worth it. If you were in his shoes you'd want all you could get. But since you're not you resort to namecalling. Let me not go off on another tangent, please. I hate when guys hate on players because they are doing what so many arm chair QBs and never-jocks are uncapable of doing. I just can't stand the name calling after he played his heart out for this team. SO WHAT! He wants to get paid. Who doesn't?

Roman responds: But the Bears are playing within the rules of the CBA, which was negotiated between the players union and the teams. As far as him saying he likes the city, fans, etc., someone pointed out today, that's directly from the Rosenhaus guide to demand a trade.

I think Briggs is a baby and a A-hole! I think the Bears should get rid of his lame cry baby arse. The timing could not have been worse for this crap. If Briggs the puppet for his piece of crap agent, would have done this lasy week the Bears would have J.Porter. With Porter the Bears would actally get to the quarterback on a blitz. When did almighty Briggs the team player ever get to the Qb??? Trade him, now!

Roman responds: Briggs had one more sack than did Urlacher last season. And apparently the Bears were looking into trades, but Briggs' demand may have undermined talks.

How did race play a part in this? Briggs is a after thought to an Urlacher, period. Rosie Colvin he was good and missed. Briggs does his job and nothing more. White or black send em packing.

Lance needs to complain to Gene Upshaw. Why is the franchise tag an option for an organization if it's only going to make the player whine, complain, and hold out? There should be measures implemented by the Player's Union forbidding players to act in this manner. If Lance wants to play a game of chicken with the Bears then we should not trade him, let him hold out, and prepare for the season as if we won't have him. Then we should let him sit, make NO money, and watch someone else succeed playing his position. Then we should franchise him again. That way, he and Rosenhaus won't make a dollar from the Bears or anyone else. That may get the point across that the front office is the boss and Lance is the employee. This kind of behavior by a player and an agent is unacceptable. It is Angelo's right, according to the CBA, to use a franchise tag. It's the first time its been employed, and now Angelo has to fear using it because a player can simply give the finger and hide behind his agent?

Thomas, we'll miss ya. It's sad you didn't see how good you had it. Have fun slipping back to irrelevency. You'll look back at the years in Chicago as the best of your career.

Roman responds: And a year from now, the Bears may look back at Jones as the best running back they gave away.

After seeing Joey Porter get a better contract after being released can you now see Briggs' pain? 20 million gauranteed!! 5 years 32 million. Makes 33/7 years look rather paltry. Why can't Briggs be allowed to do the same thing. His production was way better than Porter's. Can I get a disrespect or an "oh yeah,I see",because: oh,yeah,I see his point.

Ok, so I read the rest of the posts after mine... I think some of you genuinely don't understand the concept of a SALARY CAP. Do you really want the Bears to arbitrarily throw money at every player they want to keep? Fine, but how do you think they'll extend Harris, Tillman, Vasher, etc.? When, say, Devin Hester's contract inevitably expires, how will they keep him? They can't because whoops... we gave every guy top-level money which was every penny they asked for. Eventually, someone has to become a salary cap casualty. Since Urlacher is already in the LB corps, it might as well be Briggs. There is a whole other team and a future to worry about.

There is no disrespect here, there is a franchise to operate, and btw to bring up the fact that Lance is black and Urlacher is white is retarded (sorry, can't say it any other way).

Jerry Angelo strikes again, trading Thomas Jones and a second-round pick for a second-round pick...

...

...and the rights to Cade McNown?

With nary a whisper toward the ample free-agent market?

Score one for the Bears' offense!

Maybe now some of the posters on here will see why REAL BEARS fans are so upset about giving away the Super Bowl. That was the Bears best chance and they let it go by staying with GROSS-man.All the people who were saying it was a great year and next year will be better need to WAKE UP. This is the same family who dismantled the 85 Bears and right now this looks even worse. I seriously doubt this organization is commited to long term winning. Get the fans excited every few years and keep the cash rolling in.

Ron Turner did the hiring for QB coach. It was on him like it is on Babich to get all the asst.coaches on Defense. Look it up if you don't believe me.

I don't know what is going on within the organization... they are pretty much letting a superbowl team walk away. JONES took us there this year, BRIGGS was in on the big plays on the other side of the ball. Grossman will folly next season and everyone will look at Lovie for what to do; Turner will have to go to the backfeild to earn points and all we have back there is a waste of millions of dollars. Get the beer bought in Windy City because every bears fan is going to have to relive the Dave Wannstedt era once again.

After reading some of these posts, you would think we were talking about Walter Payton and Wilbur Marshall! People...Jones is an above average RB whom the Bears cannot afford to pay in addition to their $16M baby. Briggs is a solid LB who is not a game breaker. Would you rather they not pay their DBs next year, or Tommie Harris?

THOMAS JONES MEMORIAL : I want to take a moment and appreciate
the person and player he was.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Sometimes you looked slower than Corey Dillion,
after this year you will get less than a million.
When a power running team is done with you,
it takes time to realize that your through.
It is not that running backs are dispensable,
but you've been used up and left undependable.
You were never one to fumble that often,
nor could you ever break the big one.
the biggest question we've yet to address,
who the h*ll will block for Rex????????

Lets see, Jones is now gone, Lovie got a nice raise + more power, Rex got a nice bonus for the super bowl + 3yrs of free money, Lance wants to leave, Coach's fired,well what more can you say......Oh yea..... REXS IS OUR QUATERBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The bears don't make many mistakes, they just make the same ones over and over again.

So, now the bears need to use one of their draft picks for a running back??? This would all be funny if it wasn't so pathetic, and predictable.

Briggs is one of the most popular players on the team, and a leader. Dont think the other players around the league aren't paying attention.

Phillips and Angelo continue to get the bears into bad situations. Angelo's only method to negotiate seems to be to promise a starting spot to players he's trying to sign, he even admits doing this. Not very bright to undercut your coaches that way and then broadcast it to everyone. Guess he's not smart enough to care. Or maybe since Angelo and lovie are signed for the next 5 years they don't care how big a mess they make, we're stuck with them now.

Well, at least the the bears and phillips were able to negotiate a deal for that expensive new stadium and now the city can use it for the olympics. Oh right, its too small for the olympics and is already the 2'nd smallest nfl stadium. But they did manage to shoehorn it into old soldier field and protect this historical landmark. Oh thats right, they dropped soldier field from the historical registry because the new stadium destroyed its historical integrity.

Too bad that new ugly stadium is stuck in there or old soldier field would be the perfect lakeside location and size for the olympics. In place, no cost, and ready to host the games, guess the original planners of the lakefront and the soldier field didn't have any mcaskies or phillips among them.

Of course the 400 million that the bears got the taxpayers to pay for the obsolete white elephant stadium would have paid for a retractable roof stadium in most places, just not chicago. So while bears fans are overpaying for the little eyesore, they are already planning on building another stadium for the olympics. This one won't have a roof either, and will just be a temporary stadium. So chicago will have paid for two stadiums, one for the bears and one for the olympics, and will still wind up without a state of the art retractable roofed facility that could bring the superbowl, the final four, and college bowl games among other things to the city. But hey, why not pay for three stadiums, guess bear fans don't mind paying more for tickets and a couple new limited use stadiums. Guess its supposed to be good for tourism or the city's image or something.

Letting Thomas Jones go will prove to be the worse mistake they have made in decades. Are they out of their minds?

↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑
just great...what if the Olympic committee is reading? You soldier field bashing is gonna cost us the Olympics! BTW you don't make many posts, you just keep posting the same thing over and over.

The Thomas Jones trade was an absolute waste. I bet the Jets are saying how the hell did we pull that one off. Jerry Angelo is a complete moron. I can't believe for one second that all the Bears could get for Jones is a swap, yes a swap, of second round picks. I don't care wait the rediculous point system said. There is no way in h*** I trade 26.5%of our offense for a swap of 2nd rounders. And then hand over the running back job to guy who has been hurt in both his years here playing in only a very limited roll. What will happen to this me first, selfish, injury prone dope when he actually has to carry the ball 20-25 times a game for the whole season. I don't think this chump has carried the ball more than 13 times in one game and still he's been hurt and missed more time Jones has in his entire career. Angelo is a moron and is going to destroy our chances of getting back to the Super Bowl with moves like this. Lets not even start the Rex discusions again. Now all he has to do is sign SEXY REXY to a long term deal and then the Bears demise will be complete.

Poor baby...only $7 million...... Dump his A**!!!!!

I know the team play within the rules of the CBA, but cutting guys with contracts is a low down dirty shame. Football owners wouldn't take these contracts lightly if they were gauranteed. Baseball and basketball give contracts that are gauranteed. But since the NFL is a more physical game and require more players on rosters,I can see why it's different. Also the teams play more games thus making more money to pass around. If the contracts were gauranteed there would be lower contracts because who's gonna keep paying these vast salaries? Players don't want it so they agree to because they get at least one big pay day in their careers. The millions up front sooths them when their careers are shortened due to these injuries that they all sustain. So I can very well understand wanting to get as much gaurantee as I can. Nothing is gauranteed for Briggs. Even the full 7 million comes if he isn't hurt.
Also,why didn't the BEARS give Todd Johnson a contract? He's in Miami today. As bad as the team need safetys wouldn't it be better to offer someone you are aware of a contract? After so many people wanted him to replace C.Harris during the Super bowl, did the BEARS know something that we didn't? I thought they were taking it slow with him to get him ready for the playoffs. Then he didn't play much. If he signs a nice contract somewhere else we'll have to wonder what they didn't see. Are they paving the way for Archuleta since he's a backup with Washington,now? And with Washington saying that he's not going to be released:are they just jockeying for a draft pick or will they eventually learn how to use him? Maybe a trade can be worked out? I don't know if we are gonna stand still in free agency when we are losing more than winning. Are the draft picks more than the best player available? Who was on injured reserve that we are expecting to be vital like we did the past season with the WRs? Decisions,decisions.

I really don't know how in the world a blue collar city like Chicago could EVER blame a guy for wanting to cash in and get paid. This is a city where we like to APPLAUD and REWARD hard work. Someone mentioned "we are running a team", as if the Bears salary cap is just strapped. Angelo is doing what we call on the Southside "running game" on Briggs. To franchise this guy is NOT a reward for him, and NOT a good move for the BEARS. LET HIM GO and spend your 7 million on another player - WHO WANTS you 7 mill.! Who in their right mind would want 7 million for one year when 20 million (guaranteeed) and a future is possible? DON'T YOU GUYS LIE and tell me otherwise - Keith Sowa! And I agree - this has got nothing to do with Black or White - but GREEEN! And you guys WONDER why folks like Drew Rosenhaus is necessary. Bears don't HAVE to keep Lance! Sowa you are right, watch the cap and go get another guy. There are at least 7 million linebackers out there. Get one and pay him 50,000 per year. Go let those other sucker teams like Miami spend all of their money on guys like Lance.

the only constant thing in this world is change. in one of the previous blogs I mentioned that the Bears drama was not about to end with Lovie getting an extension to his contract and it didn't take long for the next controversy to pop up....Briggs, Jones and ofcourse those still moaning bout Grossman. through all of this has anyone noticed that the Bulls are one game out of the second seed for the play-offs and just 4 games behind Detroit for the division title with 20 games left in the regular season? now I truly don't expect the Bulls to go past the second round in the play-offs but they are in contention right now and the Bears loss in the SB is history and I think the city should be getting behind the Bulls right now instead of re-living SB XLI and XX. Jones is gone.....Briggs is a whining puppet of an insane agent and the coaching staff has changed. all the speculation in the world isn't going to change the fact that the Bears will be a totaly different team next season and only next season will tell the tale. in the mean time the question now is can the Bulls put together a run to secure home court advantage in the play-offs?

Did I read in the paper correctly: Benson said that he got his yards in tough situations when the safety was on the line and Jones got big gaping holes in passing situation? Does he not know that if there was a passing situation that he was a liability in it? Benson could not pick up the blitz when it came. Wasn't great catching when the ball came. Jones could play pass or run better than Benson could . Of course Benson had tough yards. They knew when he was in that it was run because that's why he could do. He didn't have time to learn passing downs because he was always hurt. Maybe this year his team will take it easy on him and not hurt him like they did last preseason. Maybe you can lose his "tell" that inexperienced guys have. When he was in I knew what was coming,most of the time. Now, the injuries: how can you tell a guy to not get hurt? His style can work against him in the long run. You can not last very long making contact like he does. Get a repertoire. Avoid some contact because there is no longevity just crashing into guys. I hope that Petersen get plenty of reps because he's going to be in before long. No back ever remained a star by just running over guys. It make the highlights but there is a reason beside his talents that Payton lasted so long. That stiff arm was deadly.So were those forearm smashes. He wouldn't have lasted 13 years just running over guys.

An earlier poster named Keith summed it up well. When it comes to managing the salary cap you cannot just think about this year. The Bears do have about 16 million under the cap, so they could pay Briggs a long term contract. But if they did, it might prohibit them from signing next year's free agents. Guys such as Tommie Harris, Tillman, Vasher, Berrian, Grossman(if he improves and is worth signing), etc. Not to mention maybe saving some cap room to sign a free agent offensive lineman or receiver next year, what with the age issues the Bears have at those positions. The salary cap requires teams to sometimes have to make a choice on what players to keep. Do you keep Briggs or Tommie Harris? Vasher or Tillman? The Bears are doing the right thing by franchising Briggs because supposedly they are a contending team that thinks it can make another run at the superbowl in 07. This allows them to keep Briggs because for the Bears the future is now. It might be different if they were a young, rebuilding team.

The headline in the NY Post today reads, "Jets Get Thomas Jones for a Song." A columnist said that Jerry Angelo got robbed with a squirt gun. Let's face it, Angelo's true colors are showing in this off-season. Quite simply, he is a moron. The Thomas Jones trade stacks up like this: The Jets get a 1,000-yard rusher in exchange for a swap of second-round picks. It's not a matter of whether Jones should have stayed or been dealt, but is that the best trade Angelo could conjure up? I did a little research and found out that Angelo also was instrumental in convincing the Cubs to trade Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio.

Posted by: stuckinwisconsin | March 7, 2007 12:43 AM

THOMAS JONES MEMORIAL : I want to take a moment and appreciate
the person and player he was

Thank you stuckinwisconsin.

That was sssooo touching....wipe tears away...sniffles.

What makes you guys think that when the time comes that the BEARS will be able to sign any of those guys who will be free agents? If these guys demand contracts like the guys in free agency are commanding ,now, how do you know that they will meet their demands? Guys have signed contracts the past week that are better than Urlacher's. Will the Bears hold up Brian's out-dated contract and say this is the limit? We can applaud them for sitting on their hands when it comes to player contracts but eventually they will have to pony up some dough. In free agency we have not taken anyone that everyone wanted. Tait was given a contract that his previous team couldn't match and then they renegotiated to take back what they gave. He didn't care because he got a lot of front loaded money and an eventual contract that was on par with his talents. No one wanted Moose. Every O linemen we got was for a song. On D other than Wale everyone else was homegrown. Which side of the ball is better:The D with the homegrown talent or the O with a lot of castoffs? How many guys from either side of the ball had a reupped contract? Other than Brian: middle of the road talent. We don't pay for OUR talent. So no,I'm not convinced that they will get that done when it happens. But since we haven't crossed the bridge, why worry? Right?

But Tim Little you have to understand that this is BEARS town,no matter what. You can ask something about baseball or basketball and get 20 or 30 responses over 2 weeks. If Angelo belch without apologizing you'd get 80 responses telling you how they feel on the first day. That's the town,man.

WARNING: UNPOPULAR OPINIONS COMING

1) Barring another trade in a year or two, Thomas Jones has seen his last Super Bowl. Not saying the J-E-T-S JetsJetsJets are bums, but sorry--ain't gonna happen.

2) Cedric Benson will improve his pass-blocking skills, but it won't matter, because Angelo will not find a make-'em-miss running back to compliment his skills, as the draft pick obtained in the ABYSMAL Thomas Jones trade will most like go to some kind of defensive player.

3) Should Lance Briggs be traded, he will most likely be traded for a third-round pick, as Angelo seems to have lost his decision-making skills after signing his contract extension.

4) The drastic shake-ups on the Bears will likely result in a decline in production, for which Lovie Smith will inexplicably be blamed.

Roman responds: Lovie will deserve some of the blame if the Bears decline next season. There are no decisions being made without the head coach's input.

- Bears fire Rivera, replace him with a Smith crony

- Jones given away like a free prize in a cereal box

- Briggs likely gone, probably will be traded for an old pair of cleats

- Grossman still the quarterback

.....all of this and I'm supposed to believe that the Bears will storm back to the Superbowl next year......uh huh......all of this reinforces my point that the Bears BLEW IT by sticking with Grossman in the Superbowl.....get ready for a replay of the Wannstedt/Jauron years...

Trade Jones and KEEP Benson. Are you kidding me????
Benson may have the talent but he doesn't have the heart. He proved it in the SuperBowl. He fumbled and then the very next play he was out with a "sprain". A SPRAIN???? That was the SuperBowl, you don't go out with a sprain in the SuperBowl. You keep playing cause you may never ever make it back again. You had a player on the Colts team that was injured but refused to have the team doctors look at him because he was afraid they wouldn't let him back in to play. He knew he was in the SuperBowl. Benson looks out for Benson and team be damned. Is that the type of player you really want on your team?

THE BEARS WERE WROGN TO TREAT BRIGS THE WAY THE DID. IF THEY REALLY WANTED HIM, THEY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM BETTER MONEY THEN BRIAN. HE PLAYED BETTER AND HE DID NOT GET HURT AND COST THE TEAM.

Shades of post 1985: that was a young team that should have been a dynasty. First they let Wilber Marshall go to the skins because they didnt want to pay him.....Briggs? Peyton retired, and they allowed the team to attrite to hopelessness in three years. I will say it now and say it again, this team will NOT return to the super bowl due to a cheap, petty organization. Furthermore, it was a mistake letting Jones go and by mid season the starting running back will be Adrian Peterson.

"But if they did, it might prohibit them from signing next year's free agents. Guys such as Tommie Harris, Tillman, Vasher, Berrian, Grossman. "

If these are the players that the Bears want to keep then the Bears should franchise one of them instead, not waste the designation on a person who doesn't want to play. Briggs isn't stupid. He'll find a way to get out of playing if he really doesn't want to.

Benson wants to prove himself by running right at defenses like a train but that isn't going to last. If you remember back when Thomas Jones first came in as a backup for Anthony Thomans, he would run right at people too. But then he got smart and started to diversify his skills. Jones is a career kinda guy. You don't need to be a Ladamian Tomlinson to be a great running back. He might not break tackles but he does get yardage.

Jones who? Briggs who? Get some guys in here that want to be Bears and lets tear the stinking league apart. Light a fire under Ogunleye, he's ' worthless. It's so frustrating watching the Bears being operated by a bunch of clowns, no offense to you Bozo.

I must say BBB, I had you pegged as a 'whiner', but I wish I could make such a strong point with so few words as you did. Cheerio.

This is more about "The Steroid" drew rosenhaus than it is anything else.

Oh well. As pathetic as drew rosenhaus is, so are his clients.

Get over yourself Lance Briggs, you're no Brian Urlacher!!!

Some people are only as good as they are because of the people around them. Roosevelt Colvin hasn't accounted for much on the Patriots and Warick Holdman.. I don't even know where that guy is.

Briggs, you're clearly easily manipulated by the words of a loser agent that only cares about his gross earnings. If you were a real person you would be suffice with the money you have been offered. Get over yourself; you're not that proven!!

Roman responds: Hasn't accounted for much? Are you joking? He's had 20 1/2 sacks over the past three seasons while playing every game. He helped the Pats win the Super Bowl three seasons ago. Other than that, he hasn't done much.

Wow! That's about 0.4 sacks per game.

Roman responds: That's true, 0.4 sacks per game and a Super Bowl ring. Now figure out Urlacher's sacks-per-game over the past three years and count up the number of his rings. Oh yeah, it's all Lovie's fault. But wait, you also said the Bears should back up the truck and get rid of all these lazy players. Seems to be a contradiction.

I say keep Briggs around, if he dogs it than it hurts him and he can be benched. 7 Million is a lot and the Bears offerred. Its unfortunate, because to me Jones and Briggs were probably the two biggest reasons, in the playoffs, the Bears were even in the Super Bowl. One good example to keep him around in spite of what he wants, is Manny Rameriez of the Red Sox. How many great years has he had after he voiced that he wants out? Players of Briggs/ Jones's caliber don't usually give up, they keep continuing to play at a high level and in the end get what they want anyway as far as money goes. Replacing them is must easier said than done and I think as the year develops the Bears will learn this the hard way.

Just a refresher course for some of the Bears fans on here. After 1985 management did not dismantle the Bears. Wilber Marshall did not go to Washington in 1986, he went to Washington after the 1987 season. So he played two more seasons on the Bears after the superbowl. BTW, he was pretty much a bust with the Redskins until 1991, when the Skins won the superbowl. Remember there was no free agency back then so the Bears brought back pretty much the WHOLE team in 1986 and 1987. The players had no choice but to come back because there was no free agency. The main reason the Bears never won another superbowl was McMahon couldn't stay healthy. Also, Leslie Frazier blew out his knee in the superbowl and never played again and also Dennis McKinnon sat out all of 1986 with a bad knee. Injuries and also selfishness on the part of some players were the reason why the Bears never won again in that era. Injuries and players being jealous of other player's making money on commercials is not management's fault. So management kept that team together for two seasons after 1985, but they couldn't win it again. I challenge anyone on here to name a prominent player that management dumped from that team before the 1988 season.

No pursuit of Willis McGahee? No pursuit of Donte' Stallworth? No pursuit of Kevin Curtis or Jamal Lewis, or Steinbach or Dielman or anyone? Trading the one person on the offense that actually produced during the Super Bowl for a second-round draft pick?

Memo to Jerry Angelo: when you have to explain to the media during one of the most eventful off-seasons in NFL history that you're actually trying to improve your team, you're painfully obviously screwing up.

Lance Briggs is a very valuable asset to our "D", no doubt about it. Unfortunately I stongly feel he is riding the wings of Lovies' agent and taking his contract dealings to the open media because hey; it may have helped Lovie, why not him? Sorry Lance but I do believe you're a little more expendable than Lovie and 7 mill is a nice number. This guy is turning out to be Wilbur Marshall reincarnated in more ways than one. If he wants to be a Bear and share in our future spoils he already knows it and is just playing the business game. If not, then he really may not care for this organization for reasons many have felt in the past. Either way, I'm comfortable with the second group of linebackers and just wish Mike Brown works his behind off and has a major change of luck. He just has the uncanny knack for being at the right place, right time.

Absolutely right Jeff. I've said it a few times that the BEARS returned practically the whole team and added a couple of quality players to offset the few losses. Losing Buddy also made them lose some serious swagger. I can see dismantling a team that underachieved a few years in a row like they did. Marshall's name keep coming up here but he was a quality player. Wildly different players. Marshall had way more speed but couldn't find the weight room. It's not his fault that he challenged the league to be a free agent. The Bears got 2 number one picks for him and they couldn't do anything with the extra picks. The best player available: should've package them and moved up and got a guy that was a difference maker. Look at how they had Carrier signed before he was even picked. They knew he was geeked to go where he went and he accepted less money than the pick from the year before in the same slot. How did the BEARS know that someone wouldn't move up and take him? Because he wasn't worth where he went,anyway. Go to NFL.com and look up the first round picks that they had over the years. No one screams superstar but Urlacher. And who would've guessed that he would turn out like he did. If anyone in the organization says they envisioned his career being this good is they're lying.

To me though the bottom line why they didn't win another title was McMahon being hurt and missing playoff games. Even with all the turmoil and controversy that team had, if McMahon was healthy they would have won at least one more title. Anyway, getting away from Briggs and Jones for a minute. Do the Bears plan on signing ANY free agents? I know they aren't going to sign the big name guys but what about a veteran defensive or offensive lineman or maybe a safety since they just lost two safeties today in free agency. Also, expect Tank Johnson to be suspended by the NFL for at least the first 4 games next year. And Angelo has said he expects Alfonso Boone and Ian Scott to leave, so who is going to play tackle next to Harris? The Bears need to sign some mid level, mid salaried guys just to have some experienced bodies in camp in July.

Seriously, does anyone really care about our professional athletes?

Poor Lance Briggs, only 7 million a year and no signing bonus. If the average American makes 50k/year it would take 140 years to equal one year of his pay.

This guy is a jerk; he wouldn't give the fans the time of day at the charity event he sponsored.

For that matter, aren't most pro athletes jerks? Do any of them care about fans anymore? Most are simply empowered street thugs.

This team wonders why the city wasn't behind them and why 1985 was so loved. It's called heart. None of our current players have it.

There is no way the 85 team would roll over and play dead against the Packers, home field locked up or not.

I doubt any of these guys care if we get a raise this year, I certainly don't care about Briggs' paycheck.

Let him walk, these guys are all easily replaceable. 134 tackles and most of them arm tackles. How many hits do we remember? Give me a Singletary or Butkus any day. They were real linebackers that could take on a blocker and make a solo tackle.

They cared about the team, the city, and the fans. Most of all they realized that they were indebted to the fans, not the other way around.

Goodbye Lance, I hope you get $10 million a year, in Arizona.

These guys are ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lance Briggs and Thomas Jones are talented and I liked them and I liked their intensity, but they are only looking at money, money, money. It really gets to be disgusting with all of the money talk. For Thomas Jones and others to say that winning a championship is the most important thing, and then say that he wants to be traded is plain and simply, stupid!!!! Where would one of the best opportunities to win a Super Bowl be? I say the Bears! He's on the Jets, and they are a good team, but he demanded a trade, and so he could have gone anywhere. Anywhere could have meant to Oakland, and the difference between Oakland and the Bears isn't even close! So, This constant nonsense of winning is a championship is the most important etc, is all bull! Again the truth comes out, and that is "show me the money!" They definitely are not in it to win a championship! So, don't even say it!!!

Larry, truer words were never spoken, good job. That is why I follow college football much more than pro football.

Lets forget Lance Briggs, his replacement will be Jamar Williams. And if I were Angelo, I would sign this young man to a long term deal. In preseason, he stood out and showed me that he belongs in the NFL until he got hurt.

I hope Dave Toub likes his money because he's going to have to earn it. Losing Cameron Worrell,Todd Johnson and Petersen from special teams really open up the competition factor much more. How many more guys will he lose with the useless Justin Gage not expected back. I know special teams involves a revolving door but that is a lot of manpower to overcome. Now I see why they signed him first of all players and coaches who were up for renewal. Would he want to come back to a team that is decimated of the players he really relied on? Did he know this was coming or was it a total surprise? Little things like this factor into whether or not we will repeat any success. Well at least we still have Hester. Just keep him away from Rosenhaus 2 years from now.

Larry & Jeff made some very good points.

Oops! I meant coach's not coaches. Please fix before posting, thanks!

Hey Larry, you need to do a little research before you open your mouth. Thomas Jones NEVER asked to be traded. He wanted to stay here and be the featured back for years to come. It was Angelo(MORON) who decided that Benson was "ready" and the Bears invested so much money in him they had no choice but to make him the featured back.
As far as Briggs go, his is a greedy SOB. Everyone seems to forget the Bears offered 33 mil over 5 yrs last year which he turned down. I say keep the tag on him, let him sulk on the bench, and then tag him again the next 2 yrs. A player can be tagged 3 yrs. Hell, with Grossman as our QB and Benson as our running back, no safties other than Brown (who can't seem to stay healthy the last 3 yrs), no DT worth a damn(Tank is just a thug, and Tommie won't be the same after the injury), and a Team GM who has done ABSOLUTELY nothing to better this team, we are going to suck anyway!!!

Roman responds: Geoff, the word is Thomas did ask for a trade behind the scenes. I think he saw the writing on the wall.

To the Anonymous poster who talked about being able to sign free agents like Harris(hurt, will NEVER be the same), Tillman and Vasher(a dime a dozen type corners), and Grossman(don't have enough space to say whats wrong with that), I say your a moron just like Angelo. It's this type of thinking that has put the Bears in this position in the first place. Do you really think there is anything SPECIAL about Tillman and Vasher? They are nice COMPLIMENTORY player who fill a roll. Hell, the Seahawks found guys like OFF THE STREET for criing out loud. The Bears will be lucky to even win their division in '07 let alone get back to the Super Bowl. They need to sign some IMPACT players (which they won't) in order to go anywhere in '07. Every team in our division has made outstanding emprovement already and what have the Bears done? Nothing but trade away a gem for moving up in the second round of the draft. Way to go Jerry, for making sure the BEars won't compete for a Super Bowl for another 20 yrs!!!!!

Posted by: Larry | March 8, 2007 08:01 PM

For that matter, aren't most pro athletes jerks? Do any of them care about fans anymore? "Most are simply empowered street thugs."

Larry, I hope this sentence about street thugs does not imply negative connotations of normal life (what ever that is) in the 'burbs?

Moving on, let's look at the careers of two players. Considering most posters are making the comparison between Urlacher & Briggs anyway, lets put the real discussion in the open.

One player's contract was torn up and given a $53 million dollar contact extension, with signing bonus money close to $17 million dollars or more.

Another player who has been just as productive is seeking a similar contract. But was offered one for $32 million over six years. WE ALL KNOW THE CHICAGO BEARS DON'T HAND OUT MONEY, LONG LEAST BONUS MONEY unless you play out the contract. // This is why Mr. Briggs is upset.

Ask Thomas Jones how it feels to be the most productive offensive member on the team, but see some knucklehead fresh out of college, never done anything, sign a contract and get close to $10 million in signing bonus money. Also, the knucklehead stays hurt or injury prone, and when the big game is on the line, would not go back in because he had a little 'owie'. But who did produce, but gets traded? Thomas Jones!

Mr. Briggs see the descrepancy in how contracts are handed out by the Chicago Bears organization. They did not dare let Mr. Urlacher go into free agency. But yet, they didn't do enough to keep Mr. Briggs from wanting free agency.

I simply say let him try it, if it does not work, the Bears don't even have to pay him the $7 million dollars.

Oh yeah, for those attacking Roman, here are some links to review. See what others think about this matter.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6534362?CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=5

http://www.chequer-board.net/story/2007/3/6/225240/9570

http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007103060023

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/sports/284592,3_2_EL06_B1BEARS_S1.article

I heard the Bears might sign a free agent linebacker named Max Cady. I think he led the Texans last year in tackles?

Roman responds: I never heard of the football player, but I love Cape Fear. I give the nod to Robert Mitchum's Max Cady over DeNiro's.

Roman, good catch in realizing who Max Cady was, but I disagree. I like DeNiro's role better, although Mitchum was good as well. Actually, I think the Bears could use a player with Max Cady's intensity. Sorry about going off topic but I'm just bored and counting the minutes until the weekend.

Roman responds: Well, we all love DeNiro, and rightfully so. But when you get a chance, take another look at Mitchum. Thing with that guy was it wasn't all acting.

Roman--Robert Mitchum's Cady was better-performed, but DeNiro got the better-written character(I don't blame the writer--it was a different time, right?). DeNiro had the misfortune of competing with a better cast, IMHO (I'm not one of those blind DeNiro loyalists, but I dug both versions of Cape Fear equally.

I haven't heard of the football player, myself.

Now,I understand why people keep bringing up Urlacher's contract. When he signed he became the highest paid linebacker in the league. The BEARS aren't exactly known for setting precedents with contracts and they were more than happy to sign him fairly early. If people can't see the discrepency in that they're not looking. Why did they have to surpass Lewis' contract when they were considered equal with Lewis getting more of a nod for intensity? They could have matched it and it still would be better than what they offered Briggs. Urlacher wouldn't have turned down a contract that was equal to the guy that was considered the best/2nd best linebacker in the league. Now,Briggs' not the first guy to turn down a contract he thought was under market. Just look at the ones being signed right now and you'll see where the market has been set yet again. Why did they stop at the 33/7? Why didn't they think to sweeten the pot? Give and take in negotiations? Sounds more like a take it and leave it proposition. And of course Jamar looked good in preseason:he was going against guys who were 2nd string or on the bubble. But then again,that's typical thinking in these parts in regard to 2nd stringers standing out against 2nd string talent during useless games. And why are guys still mad that we lost to Green Bay in a worthless game? I thought that we all decided it was best that we got through the last few useless games without losing anyone to injury. You guys waste a lot of bravado when it comes to comparing different decades in sports. Somewhere between 1986 and now someone lost a player during a useless game and everyone learned from that. It's not like we kept on losing like you guys expected. Remember:you said that if we lost momentum that we would keep on losing? That didn't happen,so why does it come up now that the season is over? Players nowadays are 30/40 pounds heavier than 20 years ago. Those ligaments and tendons don't hold up well after 20 overall games. Look at the BEARS' O line in 85 :avg weight 265. 2006;avg weight 298. Go over the team in every category and the discrepency is the same. Simple fact:these guys don't hold up well over a long season compared to then. Change the year from 86 compared to 63 and you'll see just as big a discrepency. Guys in 63 were tough but they were so small that they didn't have the same injuries compared to now. Different fields. 86 Bears played on turf. 63, natural grass. 2006 ,whatever they put down with the sand. Which one gives you a longer career? If you look at the number of ACL injuries ,there are more than at any time . Before, you tore an ACL that was it. If cartilage was removed ,you had bone to bone. 195 pound guys(1963 linebackers) can overcome almost any type of injury. Tell me a 300 pound guy can do the same?

After reading all these comments..I think everyone needs to stop and remember Lance Briggs is a grown man. If he wants to reject a deal then he has every right to. If he wants to get angry with how he feels he's being treated he has every right to. If he doesn't want to back down then he has every right to. I think Lance Briggs is a great player and an important component to any team and I do not think anyone in their right mind can deny that with a straight face. If he wants to look out for his well being good for him because last time I checked I don't think anyone else is going to.

I'm a grown man too so I have every right to believe he is wrong and should be traded. If he has a selfish attitude and holds a grudge against the team then he certainly will not be an important component to our team. He would be a distraction at the very least and perhaps a divisive and harmful tumor that needs to be cut off asap. This guy needed an attitude adjustment well before last season started. I would have given him one or traded him long ago. My replacement would be fully up to speed by now and we'd be far ahead of where we are now. Lovie likes to let problems go for a year or two before finally, maybe doing something about it. I guess you could call that unreal time. Notice how I did not insult any bloggers. Try to follow suit.

Jerale, you are absolutely correct. Briggs has every right to do whatever he wants. But so do the Bears. If the Bears don't want to back down and they tell Briggs to either take the 7 million or sit out the season, then that's their right to do that.

Thanks for sharing

I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links:

I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links: