Updated: March 13, 2007, 2:52 AM ET
Briggs reportedly 'prepared to sit' if Bears won't dealESPN.com news services


The glow of a Super Bowl appearance can't extinguish the shadows that are creeping up on the Chicago Bears.



Briggs
Top running back Thomas Jones was shipped to New York last week and now this week, Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs took his war of words to the next level.

"I am now prepared to sit out the year if the Bears don't trade me or release me," Briggs told FoxSports.com on Monday night. "I've played my last snap for them. I'll never play another down for Chicago again."

Frustrated that he couldn't work out an extension with the Bears and angered that the team slapped the franchise designation on him, Briggs told ESPN.com a week ago that a trade would be in the best interest of all parties.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo countered that he felt the $7.2 million the team would pay Briggs next season was very fair. The linebacker reportedly turned down a seven-year, $33 million deal in March 2006. Now, he's ready to gamble again.

"People think I can't afford to sit out the year -- I can take out loans to get me through that year just fine because eventually I'll have a deal somewhere," Briggs told FoxSports.com. "There are things I can do to make sure I'm fine financially if I sit out. I can also decide what other course of action I can take as the season gets closer. The Bears have shown I'm not in their long-term plans so if that's the case, I don't want to be here."

Money might not be the only reason Briggs wants out of Chicago. He said he wants to be the leader of a team and knows he'll never overtake Brian Urlacher in Chicago.

"I've talked to Brian about it," Briggs told the Web site. "I'm a competitor and I want the same thing he has. I've learned a lot from Brian as a player and a leader and I eventually want to be 'the man' somewhere. I want to be like him and have everything put on me too. Obviously I'll never be able to do that there.

"Still, had the Bears made me a long-term offer that I found acceptable, I probably would have sacrificed this desire and stayed. I don't want to be somewhere I'm not wanted long-term."

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“Be Who You Are and Say What You Feel Because Those Who Mind Don't Matter and Those Who Matter Don't Mind.” ~ Dr. Suess


Nice Guys Finish Last

Thank you,and have a nice day !

And I'll cry and pout if I don't get my way, just like any good leader would.

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Hey Briggs...go fuck yourself.

You passed on a lucrative long term contract, and now you're bitching about receiving a one-year 7.2m dollar contract.

You'll never be the linebacker Urlacher is, so don't think you are entitled to his type of contract.

I hope you rot on Arizona, or Cleveland, or the Bucs.

Asswipe.

Your agent can go fuck himself too.

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RFDC thinks I'm retarded.

Fuck Briggs. But Country, it doesn't matter if he'll never be Urlacher. He will get more then him next year. The cap is greater per team and the market is higher for every position.

That's not the point. The Bears are doing nothing wrong. If Jerry can find a deal he likes then make it. And Jerry will. He won't allow himself to be raped by Briggs stance.

Briggs can talk tough but if the Bears don't trade him he will play next year and play hard. You can't ever make up the 7.5 million. So whatever Briggs signs for in his eventual long term deal he'll have to automatically subtract 7.5 of lost money if he sits out this year.

I heard our local celebrity Grid last night on THE SHOW and I agree with his point - not to steal his thunder, but if Briggs wants to be pissed off, he should be mad at the NFLPA for setting up the franchise tag and if the Bears want to tag him until he is 50 and he wants to sit out, then more power to him

I also read that if Briggs holds out during the regular season he'll be fined ~$495K per game. If he wants to piss away his money on fines because he's mad at the Bears, good for him.

I'm glad Jerry isn't returning calls from Briggs and Douche Rosenhaus. I don't blame the Bears one bit in this pissing match.

If Lance is mad, he should call Gene Upshaw and bitch at him.

Beardown, do you know what Urlacher's current contract is worth and what is the length of his contract? I thought it was 10 yrs.

Briggs wanting to "run his own show" makes me laugh. What an ass.

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RFDC thinks I'm retarded.

Briggs can sit out if he wants, but then in 2008 the Bears have the right to franchise him again. And if he wants to sit out that year as well, the Bears can franchise him in 2009. So unless Briggs wants to sit out the next 3 years, he should really bend over and take that 7.2 million.

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May 1, 2007 - CSFMB Civil War
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

Country that's not a fine. That's what he'll miss out on of his 7.2 million (breaks down to 495k for each of the 16 he misses). That's understood. He says he's willing to do that. It's not like its additional money he pays. Because the Bears are fixed into paying him that 7.2 million. You can call it a fine but that's just him not receiving his game check. That kind of goes without saying.

Urlacher makes about 5 million per year if you prorate what he got in his signing bonus. I think he's locked through the 2011 season. That was the market when he signed. Briggs will get more. Just current NFL economics. I don't hold that against him.

I don't know how the offer last April was structured, but if Briggs sits out this year he will have left over 12 million or more on the table the last two years- 5+ mil in 2006 and 7 mil in 2007. Doesn't sound like he is getting good advice to me or he is just a primadonna that wants to be the man. Either way it is just a bad business decision. He will never recover the money he has lost, no matter what his next contract is.
Do you guys remember the UPS strike a few years back? I read that the employees would have to work 3 years under the new contract to make beck the money they lost while on strike, because the new contract wasn't as lucrative as they would have liked. I see Briggs situation the same way. It seems he has dug in his heels and it will cost him dearly one way or the other.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

Well he will recover it Reason. 7.2 for this year is more then a long term deal yearly average would have been. The market is higher then what the Bears offered last year. If he gets his huge bonus next year plus the current market yearly average he will more then make up for what he turned down. He wouldn't have earned that in interest no matter how well he picked stocks.

Of course that's assuming he doesn't get seriously hurt.

Not true Bear, lets just look at signing bonuses because that is all that matters in football. Let's say his next contract has a 22 million dollar signing bonus, in real numbers he is only getting 10 million in bonus because of the money he has already left on the table- 12 million.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

I hope he does it. I hope he has the guts to take out a loan. I then hope the Bears franchise him the next season. I can understand going to the media once. You brought and made your point on not being happy with the Bears.

The Bears will hold the stance that they are within their rights to use the franchise tag and he is free to do what is in his power.

Yeah but you only get that bonus once. It doesn't matter when you get it. Plus the bonus he'll get next year is certainly bigger then the one the Bears offered. The market has gone way up with the cap increase. The Bears were offering him an extension last year. He would have still made his 700k on his rookie contract last year if he signed it

Reason. If you meant by sitting out and forfeiting 7.2 million this year then obviously you are correct. He will never make that up. But he's not gonna do that. It's just tough talk to force a trade so he can get a deal with another team.

If that is the case, which I think it is too, isn't he shooting himself in the foot by lowering his trade value? What team would give the Bears a legitimate offer if they think that Briggs will refuse to play for the Bears?

He may hold out of training camp, but will ultimately be on the field for their first game.

Right. But Jerry will make it clear that he won't be raped. Plus other teams know that Lance will play eventually. So if they really want Lance they know they'll have to give the Bears a fair deal.

Keep in mind guys. If a trade happens it has to happen before the draft. It could happen after but some teams will draft LB's and reduce the market for a Bears potential trade. With less teams bidding it will reduce what the Bears can ask for becasue of the lessor competition.