[CBFF] CT - Mr. Briggs goes to Washington? Nope

[Jerry Madsen]

The last paragraph had me on the floor, laughing outloud.

Jerry

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Mr. Briggs goes to Washington? Nope
Bears won't deal LB to Redskins—for now; deal could resurface
By John Mullin
Tribune staff reporter

April 3, 2007, 8:24 PM CDT

Disgruntled linebacker Lance Briggs will not be moving from the Bears
to the Washington Redskins, at least not in the immediate future,
because the Bears rejected the Redskins' offer to send their No. 6
overall pick of the NFL draft to the Bears in exchange for Briggs and
the 31st pick, a team official said Tuesday.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo has talked with Redskins officials,
who said Monday night their offer of the swapped draft choices was
final.

The Bears were unwilling to part with Briggs for that deal, despite
his threatened holdout in protest of the Bears tagging him as their
franchise player. The Redskins were unwilling to increase their offer.

The two teams are expected, however, to have additional contact before
the April 28-29 draft.

The Redskins proposed the deal last week at the NFL owners meetings in Arizona.

The Bears' deliberations included not only studying the players that
might be available at No. 6 but also what the projected cost would do
to their salary cap.

The Bears already have Cedric Benson (No. 4, 2005) and Brian Urlacher
(No. 9, 2000 plus an extension) carrying top-10 contracts. In
addition, potential second contracts for Rex Grossman, Tommie Harris,
Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher are due soon.

Prospects for dealing Briggs took a hit during the owners meetings
when agent Drew Rosenhaus escorted him on a meet-and-greet tour of
general managers and personnel heads.

Several teams voiced displeasure at the spectacle and lost whatever
slight interest they had in Briggs, who is demanding a long-term
contract with guaranteed money in the range of $15 million to $20
million.

jmullin at tribune.com
Copyright (c) 2007, The Chicago Tribune