[CBFF] Absolutely. Positively. Get him out of here. Tonight!

Fri Mar 30 02:23:25 MDT 2007

Why not make the deal with the Redskins AND bring in the ex-Bear Warrick Holdman (another former Urlacher sidekick once thought
invaluable).
Jan

----- Original Message ----
From: Tom Shannon <tshanno at gmail.com>
To: post at chicagobearsfanforum.com
Sent: Thursday, 29 March, 2007 5:24:13 PM
Subject: [CBFF] Absolutely. Positively. Get him out of here. Tonight!

http://www.chicagosports.com/sports/columnists/cs-070328pierson,1,984477.col
umn?coll=cs-columnists 

Absolutely. Positively. Get him out of here. Tonight!

Take the Redskins' foolish offer and get rid of Lance Briggs now

Don Pierson

On Pro Football

March 29, 2007

PHOENIX -- Bears general manager Jerry Angelo left the NFL owners meetings
Wednesday promising to get back to the Redskins on whether to trade Lance
Briggs for a swap of first-round picks from 31st to sixth.

"We have to digest what it is from a [salary]-cap standpoint," Angelo said.
"The sixth pick is an inordinate amount of money, and there are cap issues
in terms of our plan.

"They want to know as soon as possible, and I understand that. I told them I
would get back to them in a timely manner."

Angelo was understandably upset Briggs' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, paraded his
client in front of every suitor he could find this week, making it appear
the Bears would be capitulating if they let Briggs go.

But this is no time for sentiment, honor, principle or ego. Angelo needs to
get back to the Redskins before they come to their senses. He needs to grab
the sixth pick and figure out later what to do with it.

If the Bears make the mistake of staying in love with a player who is in
love enough with himself, they jeopardize their future.

Why the Redskins would want to give up the sixth pick and pay Briggs untold
millions is their problem. Until this week, they had kept a relatively low
profile in the free-gent scramble. Usually they like to make a splash and
buy all the stars billionaire owner Daniel Snyder can afford.

Last year they outbid the Bears for receiver Antwaan Randle El and safety
Adam Archuleta. This year their main move is giving 32-year-old Buffalo
linebacker London Fletcher-Baker $10.5 million to sign. You would think they
wouldn't need Briggs, but again, that's their problem.

Instead of resenting Rosenhaus, Angelo should thank him for finding a
willing sucker in the Redskins to overpay for an overrated, disgruntled
player.

Obviously, the Bears think more highly of Briggs than that.

"When we put the tag on him, it was with the intent he would play for us
next year," Angelo said.

Coach Lovie Smith said Wednesday morning he still expects Briggs to line up
for the Bears, even though Briggs has promised never to play in Chicago
again, or maybe show up after 10 games if he needs the dough. Smith is
trying to ignore all the rhetoric and said he'd even welcome Briggs back
after an extended holdout.

"We welcome all Chicago Bears back. So, of course, we will then," Smith
said. "I mean, we may have a few players who get hurt and miss some time,
and when they are ready to come back we welcome them back."

But Angelo also said, "We told them we would entertain offers if offers were
presented to us if we felt it was in the best interests of the team."

Just because the sixth pick in the draft might be Notre Dame quarterback
Brady Quinn doesn't mean Angelo should shy away. That only would add value.
If Angelo wanted to trade down, he's pretty good at that.

Sure, it looks like Briggs has manipulated the system. But so has Angelo.
First, he stopped at his six-year, $33 million offer a year ago and decided
to end negotiations. Instead, he would use the franchise tag to keep Briggs
off the free-agent market and pay him handsomely, $7.2 million for one year.

But he also knew Rosenhaus is a hard-liner. He's the agent for Thomas Jones
too. He knew Briggs would raise a stink.

The Bears also know they could lose Briggs and get nothing in return. When
Angelo offered to remove the franchise tag in 2008 in exchange for an
all-out effort in 2007, the Bears were conceding they eventually might get
nothing.

Briggs became a Pro Bowl player because he plays in Smith's defense next to
Pro Bowl player Brian Urlacher. Briggs doesn't rush the passer, doesn't make
interceptions, doesn't force fumbles and doesn't disrupt offenses. In the
long line of Chicago outside linebackers, he's good but he's no Wilber
Marshall, Otis Wilson, Doug Buffone, Joe Fortunato, Larry Morris, Rosevelt
Colvin or Ross Brupbacher.

But if Angelo delays his decision, it's liable to tip off the Redskins. They
are liable to watch the Super Bowl tape of the Indianapolis Colts running
over the Bears with Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai.

Smith and the Bears need to take a lesson from Tony Dungy's Colts. They play
the same defense, and Dungy has lost linebackers Mike Peterson, Marcus
Washington, David Thornton and now Cato June in recent years and just won
the Super Bowl.

What's puzzling is the Redskins need Briggs less than the Bears do. Besides
Fletcher-Baker in the middle, they have ex-Colt Washington on one side and
last year's second-round pick, Rocky McIntosh, on the other. They also still
have ex-Bear Warrick Holdman, another former Urlacher sidekick once thought
invaluable.

Even if Smith is right about Briggs backing off his inflammatory statements
and happily letting bygones be bygones, why take a chance on the mind-set of
a player who has admitted he is envious of Urlacher's spotlight?

Smith pointed out Wednesday the Bears got to the Super Bowl "without
arguably our best player on our team, Tommie Harris, or our best safety on
the team (Mike Brown)." He didn't sound very convincing when he mentioned
Leon Joe and Rod Wilson as options to Briggs, but he added, "You always have
to have a Plan 2 in place with every position, which we have."

Angelo said he's not convinced the Redskins' offer is as good as it looks.

"I'm not saying that's a no-brainer," he said. "You have to deem there's
going to be a player up there you really covet because the money is pretty
big."

It's more money than they want to pay Briggs, that's for sure. But it's also
a chance to make bold moves that not every Super Bowl team finds in its lap.

The sixth pick in last year's draft was tight end Vernon Davis, who got a
five-year, $25 million contract from San Francisco.

The Bears could be looking at outstanding LSU safety LaRon Landry, Clemson
defensive end Gaines Adams or Penn State offensive tackle Levi Brown.

Or they could trade down and land any two prospects among Nebraska defensive
end Adam Carriker, Arkansas defensive end Jamaal Anderson, Penn State
linebacker Paul Posluszny, Miami tight end Greg Olsen and Texas safety
Michael Griffith.

Remember, Briggs himself was only a third-round pick, eminently replaceable.
Angelo said he is not surprised the Redskins offered their No. 6 because
Briggs is "a good player." But a sixth pick should be a special player.

Remember this too: The Redskins are so inept they didn't know what to do
with Archuleta once they overpaid him, and now the Bears have him anyway.
Who knows? In another year, the Bears could end up having Briggs back too.

dpierson at tribune.com 

Copyright C 2007, The Chicago Tribune 

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