Yumcha

[rant]
WTF, he gets franchised...which is in EVERY FREAKING RIGHT of an NFL club because it was a SYSTEM created and NEGOTIATED by the PLAYERS UNION and the owners...WTF is he whining about? Holy fawk. Just heard his "reiteration" about not wanting to ever play another down with the Bears again.

And his rant about wanting be more "the man" than Urlacher...? Uber-retarded. Does he realize that he's good but he's not THAT good? The Cover 2 defence is something that allows him to get the stats he has...
[/rant]


Okay, I'm done.

hrglas

yeah, hes a pure moron...lets not forget that he turned down a $33 million contract just a year before.

then he says he is willing to sit out the entire season......it will only hurt him when he tries to get a better contract in 2008 with another team

IlliNorge

The number 55 is available in purple and gold.

sonnyg80

i was waiting for you to rant about this yumyum...

you're right...he wouldn't fair far as well on another team's defense as he does with the bear's defensive scheme

he just wants da money!

synth19

It's his fckn agent that is messing with his head. You know the bears don't tolerate these kinds of tactics. The bears won't back down. Lance is going to sit out for a year, get fat... and fck up his future career. What a moron.

Mokos23

What Illinois teams do you root for?

Yumcha

Rosenhaus sucks balls...he's basically the Scott Boras in football.

But, absolutely...let Briggs sit out. The Bears have found good compliments for Urlacher in the mid-rounds before (Briggs, Holdman, Colvin)...and this year won't be any different.

IlliNorge

Fighting Illini..............that is all.

Yumcha

He cheers for the Minnesota teams.

Mokos23

terrible man,

do your officemates or neighbors tease you at all? they all must be either cubs/white sox, bulls, or bears fans.

IlliNorge

Let's see, White Sox and Cubs fans were pretty quiet last year. Bulls? We talk NCAA around here. And I accidentally forgot to watch the NFL this season.

synth19

It could be worse, I have a co-worker who's a Packer fan.... "Since 98 baby" lol

evilstorm

let em sit and then franchise him again next year.

Yumcha

The idiot is passing up at least $15M in guarateed money. WTF is his fawking problem...?

jupitersolo

It's only 7.2m for this year only. The tag is a one year guarantee. Thomas signed with Pats for 20 million guarantee. Briggs is just as good.

Briggs was a third round pick four years ago, making league minimum each year. He has proven that he's a good LB. He can/will sit out this year for the first 10 weeks of the season, come back and make his tenure and will be gone next year.

Chicago needs to man up and pay him. If not let him go. Chicago offered him a contract last year that was under, Briggs played out to show that he is worth more with a long term contract. If he had hurt himself, the Bears would have dropped him quick as shit.

hrglas

we all know the McCaskeys, i mean the bears organization is cheap, but they are abiding by the rules as set forth by the PLAYERS ASSOCIATION. do i think briggs is a great player...yes

do i agree when he says he wants to feel wanted (by getting something longterm)...YES

but he even admitted on the nfl network, that he wants to be in a situation where he is the main man.....not gonna happen in the CHI.

then he goes on to say that hes prepared to do whatever is necessary for his best interest......how is sitting out the season, and piling up loans in your best interest?..........................hes a butt-nugget!

he deserves this award........

jsong83

wouldnt you think about your own best interests if youre negotiating a contract?

i am currently in the process of negotiating a salary at my work so i know what briggs is going through. why would i, who puts so much hard work into my company, settle for anything less than what i think i deserve? you wouldnt take a pay cut if you were placed in that situation at work but why do fans expect the same from pro athletes?

now people are going to say hes going to make $7.2mil this year so why is he crying? because if youre an all pro nfl player and youre making $7.2 one year but you see others getting long term contracts with large amounts of guaranteed money (can't believe 9ers gave clements $22m guaranteed) you wouldnt be satisfied. everyone wants to be paid what theyre worth and pro athletes are no different.

when i go into my office tomorrow to negotiate again, if my boss offered me a low salary, i will politely decline and give my 2 weeks notice. that is essentially what briggs is doing and what everyone of you would do in the same situation.

hrglas

the comment was how is sitting out the season and piling up loans in his best interest

trust me, i'm all for him getting his money. he has played well and deserves it. fact still remains that he passed up a long term deal last year, and again, the BEARS are cheap, but are still within the rules on how they are handling this.......at best, he needs to be trying to better his play for this year, so when the season ends, he can get the deal elsewhere. sitting out the season is not smart if he wants to get that lucrative deal with another team.

jupitersolo

Briggs was on 6pm SportsCenter with John Clayton. He said sitting would be no problem. He can sit out the year, come back at week 10 get his tenure, get paid 3 million for the remaining games and be a free agent the next year. He said he knows that Urlacher in the leader of the team. Briggs and Urlacher were 1, 2 last year in tackles. I don't think the Bears will try again after he sits for the 10 weeks. No one has since Sean Gilbert back in the 90's.

On both sides it's business, both are looking out for their own interests. The team has the right to hit him with the tag and he has the right to sit out.

He's played his off ass of for the Bears. They need to pay up.

Scottman111

Yumcha

I know that. But, Briggs would've been eligible for the tag next season as well and if he could not agree to a long-term deal, the Bears would've tagged him again and thus, $15M.

Yumcha

Well, okay...Briggs is an idiot. But, he's not as big as an idiot as half the jail-time Bengal roster, mkay?

Scottman111

I just like waltzing into a thread and seeing you already pissed off. Makes my job 10x easier

Scottman111

And how about you send Briggs our way...









Not that we need him or anything, I'm just saying if you don't want him............ya know, we could take him off your hands for ya........................know what I mean?.......

BustedJack

What! I'm a Packers fan, since 1990 kid ........


Packers suck now but hey........ we are still rivals.

JediMindTricks

there are two sides to this argument, and i understand both parties.

i can understand briggs wanting what he's worth and trying to take care of himself. i'm sure we'd all want the same things too if we're being underpaid at our jobs. sure, we scoff at him and say $7.2m is a lot of money and he's being greedy. but he's wanting what he's worth.

however, with that said. i'm going to side with the bears on this one. they have every right to franchise him. as said before, the franchise tag is what the players and owners agreed on. i remember when details of the new cba came out and all the talk was that owners got owned.

i heard the briggs interview saying how he might be willing to sit out and wanting a fair market deal. if i'm mistaken, the $7.2m is the average of the 5 highest salaries for his position. i'm sorry, but that is a fair market deal to me. he's not wanting a fair market deal. he just wants the bonus and guaranteed money.

i'm sorry, but he should just take the deal.

jupitersolo

That would be fair market value for a free agent this year. Look at how much Guarantee Money has been giving out this year for free agents. Of course the CBA doesn't account for this, so he will sit out. Which is his right under the CBA as well.

jupitersolo

~OK, I see were you came up with your numbers. If Briggs gets hurt this year the Bears will dumped him, that's why he's wanting a long term contract. He wants a commitment from the team just as they want a commitment from him.

If he's not that good then why are they not letting him go and are willing to pay him 7.2m as if he is that good? Also why would you want someone that bad playing for your team?

Yumcha

You're putting words in my mouth, sir. Did I not say that Briggs is good...? There is no doubt that he is a good LB. However, he is NO Urlacher. To me, Briggs is like Warrick Holdman from a few years back--someone who's decent but had the advantage to play next to Urlacher. And what I mean by that is that by playing next to Brian, the other player does not get blocked as much.

Briggs also has the great advantage of playing in a Cover 2 system that naturally plays to his position and so helps pad his statistics. Of course, you've gotta have talent and ability to still deliver and Briggs is certainly good at what he does. BUT, from his comments and pouting over a MERE $7.2M franchise tag that the NFLPA negotiated for FOR the players, he's an idiot.

If he really wants to pout and fume, go to Gene Upshaw and kick his butt.

jsong83

^you cant really judge briggs based on how he does in the chicago system. he is an all-pro linebacker in that system but he has only played in that system. so to say that he cant do it in another system is not true because he never played for another system.

also the CBA, to my knowledge, is drafted by the players union and owners. people say that the bears have as much right to tag him because they are just following the rules. but briggs also has the right to hold out, receive fines, and demand a trade for another team. you can put a negative injunction and a judge can rule that briggs doesnt have to play for the bears with the current contract but you cant make him play for them

JediMindTricks

i agree. that's why i said that he's just wanting the bonus and guaranteed money. each side has the right to do what they're doing/wanting.

like i said, there's two sides to this story, and i can understand both points. but i'd have to side with the team in this case.

jupitersolo

What if it was you, honestly, what you do? If you were Briggs. Go work for a 1 year no guarantee or try to get your most value. Briggs is 25 or 26 yrs old. He has the rest of his life that he's worrying about. This is his time to make his money. Those old farts have owned the Bears all their lives and are set.

jupitersolo

He can't be fined he's not under contract, so he can wait until week 10 and sign the contract. The Bears cannot take away the deal (this deal) until next year unless they release him this year.

jsong83

yes he is under contract for this season. hes still currently under his rookie contract thats going to pay him, i think around $500-$700k...or else there would be no possible way the bears can fine him if he starts sitting out games.

i think what youre referring to is that he can sign the franchise tag tender offer of $7.2mil this season before week 10 and he will receive the pro rated amount of that which will probably be around $2.7mil minus the fines he will get from the bears for skipping week 1-10. if he doesnt sign by week 10, then he doesnt receive squat this year and i think the bears still have the right to tag him again next year.

that is my knowledge of the situation but i could be wrong.

JediMindTricks

jsong, that's my understanding of the situation also.

but what would i do if i were briggs? it doesn't look like the bears are going to pay up. so i'll take the $7m and look for the big contract after next season.

jupitersolo

He's a restricted free agent, he is not under contract. He was drafted in 2003 and signed a 4 year contract 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The Bears would not have put the Franchise tag on him if he was still under contract.

jsong83

that would be a reasonable situation for briggs but im pretty sure the bears have the right to franchise tag him next season also.

thats why nate clements of the bills told his team that they can franchise him for the 06 season but they have to sign a contract to not franchise him again in 07 so thats why he was able to move to SF this offseason. briggs' problem is that chicago is not willing to sign them because their plans might be to try to keep him around on a year to year basis because the bears arent going to pay him more than the $33 mil they offered last year.

unless briggs can arrange a trade with another team for the CBA agreed 2 first round picks for a franchised player, his only option is to sit out. and i wouldnt blame him if he did because jerry angelo is giving him no choice.

jupitersolo

The Bears could Franchise him again next year. So he'd be in the same situation. So he sits out this year, coming back in week 10. Get's paid more money than he made all the last four years. Get his Tenure and goes some where else next year. The Bears wouldn't tag him again in 2008, then they would just be assholes.

The CBA affords veteran players more leverage against a team when it comes to their contracts. That why the tenure is needed. That's what John Clayton kept talking about yesterday on SC when Briggs was on there.

evilstorm

they can and will tag him again next year if he is not traded and sits out and id like to see him sit out again and them franchise him again. Sitting out a year has never helped a person get more money and will kill how much money he could've made total for his career.

jupitersolo

The only other Team that has tagged a player twice was the Rams and Sean Gilbert. It was a mess for both. No other team has done it, but there was some much shit from it.

Boy you people in Chicago really hate this guy, don't you. Who you should hate is the cheap SOB's the own the team. Chicago won't get back the the Super Bowl for another 22 years. They raped Chicago for a new Stadium and won't spend that money to players that have proved themselves.