Thread: Lance Briggs Gate II (Briggs Want Raise, Not a Trade)

Originally Posted by GermansbombedPH

I think this is a story that gets much more attention than it should

Lovie seems to agree with you pal.

Bears coach Lovie Smith downplays Lance Briggs’ posturing for contract

By Mark Potash and Sean Jensen mpotash@suntimes.com sjensen@suntimes.com August 29, 2011 11:00PM

Chicago Bears running back Marion Barber (24) is stopped by New York Giants' Dave Tollefson, left, J.T. Thomas, center, and Lance Briggs, right, during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game Monday, Aug. 22, 2011, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)


Updated: August 30, 2011 2:10AM

Asked about the impact of linebacker Lance Briggs’ dissatisfaction with his contract, Bears coach Lovie Smith pointed to one of the fields at Halas Hall.

“I go on this right here,” Smith said. “Whether a player is disgruntled or something like that, I don’t know about any of that. But I base it on what they do every day. “Lance hasn’t missed a meeting. He’s out here every day. Even when he’s injured — you see him — he’s coaching up the guys. I couldn’t be more pleased with Lance on the football field. As a pro, you have a job to do and you do it every day, and that’s what Lance has done.”

Briggs did not stop when approached by reporters after practice Monday.

Briggs has made the last six Pro Bowls, and he’s among the league’s top weak-side linebackers. But after a slew of new deals for linebackers around the league, his six-year, $36 million contract from 2008 has lost its luster. He’s now the 20th highest-paid linebacker in the NFL.

At training camp, during an extensive interview, Briggs insisted he wasn’t worried about being cast in the shadow of fellow linebacker Brian Urlacher. ‘‘All that matters most to me is you pay a man for his work,’’ he said at the time.

But former Bears coach Mike Ditka told ESPN Radio 1000 that his former club cannot re-work his deal. “I mean you just can’t do it,” Ditka said. “The Bears aren’t going to do it. Anybody in their right mind wouldn’t do it. If you do it, you’re a fool.”

Ditka said the club has to “draw a line in the sand.”

Originally Posted by soulman

Lovie seems to agree with you pal.

Bears coach Lovie Smith downplays Lance Briggs’ posturing for contract

By Mark Potash and Sean Jensen mpotash@suntimes.com sjensen@suntimes.com August 29, 2011 11:00PM

Chicago Bears running back Marion Barber (24) is stopped by New York Giants' Dave Tollefson, left, J.T. Thomas, center, and Lance Briggs, right, during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game Monday, Aug. 22, 2011, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)


Updated: August 30, 2011 2:10AM

Asked about the impact of linebacker Lance Briggs’ dissatisfaction with his contract, Bears coach Lovie Smith pointed to one of the fields at Halas Hall.

“I go on this right here,” Smith said. “Whether a player is disgruntled or something like that, I don’t know about any of that. But I base it on what they do every day. “Lance hasn’t missed a meeting. He’s out here every day. Even when he’s injured — you see him — he’s coaching up the guys. I couldn’t be more pleased with Lance on the football field. As a pro, you have a job to do and you do it every day, and that’s what Lance has done.”

Briggs did not stop when approached by reporters after practice Monday.

Briggs has made the last six Pro Bowls, and he’s among the league’s top weak-side linebackers. But after a slew of new deals for linebackers around the league, his six-year, $36 million contract from 2008 has lost its luster. He’s now the 20th highest-paid linebacker in the NFL.

At training camp, during an extensive interview, Briggs insisted he wasn’t worried about being cast in the shadow of fellow linebacker Brian Urlacher. ‘‘All that matters most to me is you pay a man for his work,’’ he said at the time.

But former Bears coach Mike Ditka told ESPN Radio 1000 that his former club cannot re-work his deal. “I mean you just can’t do it,” Ditka said. “The Bears aren’t going to do it. Anybody in their right mind wouldn’t do it. If you do it, you’re a fool.”

Ditka said the club has to “draw a line in the sand.”

Does anyone else but me find it ironic that the one guy Halas had constant hassles with over money, and was finally traded because of it, is now casting his lot with the team over a salary issue?

Updated: August 30, 2011, 5:41 PM ET
Bears not team to please Lance Briggs

It's time for team to part ways with perpetually dissatisfied Pro Bowler

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By Scoop Jackson
ESPNChicago.com
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Does he have the right? Is he right? Can we blame Lance Briggs for his latest demand? The question I think we all need to ask in Lance Briggs Gate II is whether Briggs has outperformed the nature of his contract, the one he publicly lobbied to get just three years ago?

Blame him for going to the media to demand a trade? Blaming Briggs is secondary. This is what he does. He complains when it comes to money. He did the same thing in 2007, even though he didn't ask for a trade the last time. Saying, at points during his unhappy stage, he would "never play another down for Chicago again," "I'm prepared to sit out the year if the Bears don't trade or release me," and that he'd "do everything in my power not to be with [the Bears] organization." All because he wasn't happy with his then-contract, which at the time, three Pro Bowls in, was understandable. So it's not a matter of blame.


[+] EnlargeJeff Hanisch/US PresswireLance Briggs was so adamant about a new deal in '07 he said he wouldn't play for the Bears again.



That's why the central issue here is "outperforming," a term every attorney and agent uses when in discussion with teams about their clients' performance in relation to their pay. It's not a term of endearment; it's a term of leverage. It's a term Briggs himself used a couple weeks ago when explaining why Matt Forte deserves an extension from the Bears.

Back in 2007, Briggs had outperformed the deal he was under. Back then it was time to reconstruct the financial conditions under which he was playing. That's part of how the NFL works. Comes with the turf. This time, can we say the same? Better yet, can Lance? Coming off a season with the second-lowest tackle total (89) of his career, I don't think he has a bruised knee to stand on.

Making the Pro Bowl for the sixth time is not enough. Only three years into a six-year deal for $36 million, continuing to make the Pro Bowl is to be expected. Even after Julius Peppers arrives. There are players who have the right to complain. Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson's gripe seems legit. So was New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis' last season. If he wanted, Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews could pitch a sermon on Brookwood Drive. The Falcons' Jerod Mayo and Curtis Lofton, as well as the Colts' Pierre Garcon, all could do a "Briggs" and be justified, because for multiple years they have outperformed the financial agreements with their teams.

And if Arian Foster has another season this year like he did last year, Houston's going to have a real problem.

“When you sign a contract, you have an obligation. ... Now all of a sudden you play for a while the contract is no good anymore? Stop it. When the contract is over, then you go in and ask for a raise.
”-- Mike Ditka

But does Briggs have the RIGHT to complain?

The answer: Yes, he does. Only because, at this point, we should expect nothing less from him. Again, this is what he does; this is who Briggs has proven himself to be. He's habitually unsatisfied when it comes to contracts. Making noise through the media, demanding trades, acting like The Game, that's just him, 25/8/366. He's going to complain regardless. Now that doesn't necessarily make Briggs wrong, but at this point with him it should be expected. By all of us.

For us in The Chi, it's like understanding and dealing with Carlos Zambrano. We all knew what was going to happen with him. We knew there would be another blow-up, another tirade. We've seen that film before. Not that Lance is Big Z, but the analogy fits. He trends consistent. Briggs has proven -- whether he is right or wrong -- that he is going to be publicly vocal and use us, the media, as pawns in his negotiating strategy to get more money out of the Bears.

Are the Bears cheap? Yes. Does it appear at times that they play financial favoritism? Yes. Do they often overpay the wrong players and underpay players who should be bouncing banks? Yes. But in the NFL -- and you can judge this by how many players hold out or demand contract restructuring every year -- that's the rule much more than the exception. Which means you can go to damn near any city in the country and hear the same arguments, same beefs between labor and management, player and ownership.


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Briggs is who we thought he is ... and at the same time what we sometimes don't want him to be.

A player always has the right to complain. A team always has the right to decide whether they want to put up with the noise or distance itself from it. Lance said a few days ago that if the Bears don't renegotiate his latest contract, by this time next year he will demad a trade. And though he's softened his stance a bit since then, it doesn't change anything. Mike Ditka preached the gospel by saying the Bears should not budge on this. In actuality, they should go one further.

Love Lance Briggs to death, but since he's made it clear with this last episode of unhappiness that he may never be satisfied monetarily, I think the Bears should acknowledge that and go about the business of making Briggs happy. Accept him at his word, give him a chance to fulfill his promise, let his demand come true, honor his latest threat. Let another team find out what we already know.

It's the business of football. It ain't that hard to say goodbye.

Scoop Jackson is a columnist for ESPN.com.

There went our run defense. lol.

He's not going anywhere this year but if you follow along with what Jackson is saying there's a good possiblity that he's trying to stir up enough crap in public to get the Bears angry enough to trade him. If we're smart we just let it pass. He has zero leverage right now and he knows it. This isn't any different then all the posturing that went on last time he pulled this shit. He's played three more years than he said he would ever play for the Bears again and if we don't accomodate him he'll have to play another two after this one unless we trade him or he retires. I wouldn't trade him under these circumstances. No way.

Briggs' timing couldn't be worse
Bears don't need huge distraction to disrupt focus

Matt Bowen

Scouting the Bears

6:01 AM CDT, September 2, 2011

It will start in the team meeting room. That awkward feeling players have when an underlying story exists in the locker room.

Squirm in your seat a bit and wait -- anxiously -- for the head coach to address the team. Some small chatter between the veterans, the ones who have been around the team for years, while the new free agents and rookies sit quietly.

You want to hear what the coach has to say about the distraction, the player who wants out.

I experienced it during my NFL career, and this Bears team will be no different after linebacker Lance Briggs announced publicly he wants a trade.

Uncomfortable? You bet, and it gets worse when you have to face the media in the locker room.

As a player, you begin to prepare your answers and know what to expect. I've had that microphone in my face and shelled out carbon-copy responses centering on the team, worrying about the next opponent and so on.

You put on a rehearsed skit in front of the media to hide what you really want to say: Let him leave if he wants to go.

You want to get rid of the distraction and get back to football, your game plan, film study and everything else that goes into the preparation for an NFL Sunday.

Players in this league are accustomed to routines -- from schedules to playbooks to how they line up.

When that routine is broken, it is noticeable throughout the facility. You work around it on the practice field and in the meeting rooms, but it never really goes away.

Forget the Falcons or opening day at Soldier Field because Briggs is the story for the Bears. No way around it. And if this situation isn't addressed quickly, it will begin to wear.

That won't be easy. It's a grind, really. It will take leaders such as Brian Urlacher or Julius Peppers to keep the focus on football, especially with Olin Kreutz now playing for the Saints.

Less than two weeks till the regular season? An obnoxious time for Briggs to make this demand and put his team in an awkward situation. It isn't right, no matter how much money is being handed out across the league.

Teams can crumble quickly in the NFL, and I wonder if the Bears can avoid that if they send Briggs on his way -- and get back to their routine.

Glenbard West and Iowa product Matt Bowen spent seven seasons in the NFL as a strong safety. You also can find his work at nationalfootballpost.com.

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