[CBFF] Briggs: If wanted, I will remain a Bear

[mactbone]

Briggs: If wanted, I will remain a Bear
Fred Mitchell | AROUND TOWN
Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, in the midst of a one-year, $7.2 million contract, spoke publicly for the first time Monday about his renewed desire to reach agreement on a lucrative, long-term contract to remain in Chicago.

"What's fair is what's fair," Briggs said. "I have never said that I am asking for anything more or anything less. But what's fair is fair. If that's the case, I will retire a Bear. A happy Bear. I will be a happy Bear that day.

"But that's in the future. I am not talking with them now. Like years in the past, I have no idea what's going on right now. All I can do is say, 'Let's play football.' It is not a case where I have input and say that this is going to happen or that is going to happen. We are in the middle of something. We are in the middle of trying to win these last five games. That's all I know and all I can be concerned with."

Briggs is having another Pro Bowl-caliber season, although the Bears' defense as a unit has been far from dominant. Briggs alienated many fans during the off-season when he declared he would never again play for the Bears because they would not lift the franchise tag that guaranteed him the average of the top-five salaries at his position. He finally agreed to the one-year deal that allows him to become a free agent at the end of the season.

"You have to maintain that confidence within yourself," Briggs said. "You have to know that regardless of what's going on, or what's being said here or what's being said there, that you stay true to yourself. I know what has been done here and my heart is in Chicago, it always has been in Chicago. Whatever has happened from a business standpoint, I felt needed to happen. Just as I said years before, once football season starts, it's about football.

"We will see what happens. All I can do is play football, and at the end of this season, we will see what happens. If the Bears want me, they will want me. You have to be wanted. If you are, then obviously we will continue our relationship."


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