Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, who got the franchise designation and wasn't too happy about it, told FOXSports.com's Jay Glazer that he'll never suit up for the Bears again. "I am now prepared to sit out the year if the Bears don't trade me or release me," Briggs told FOXSports.com via cell phone Monday. "I've played my last snap for them. I'll never play another down for Chicago again."Lance Briggs is not playing around.
I don't know if it's such a good idea to make a bold proclamation like that. It sort of leaves you nowhere to go. It's usually never a good idea to limit your own options.
Still, I understand his stance. He wants a long-term deal, and the way NFL contracts work, things are slanted very heavily into the favor of organizations. Threatening to not play at all is about the only course of action Lance Briggs has.
And not only that, it might make financial sense for him, too. Yes, he leaves $7.2 million on the table by not playing. But if he decides to play for that $7.2 mil and become a free agent in the off-season ... what happens if he goes that route, and gets hurt this season? Then, he gets his $7.2, and that's it. What if he has a down year, what if the Bears defense as a whole isn't very good? Long-term, there's a chance it could cost Lance Briggs a lot of money to play this year.
Bears coach
That's the question posed by Carol Slezak in today's Chicago Sun-Times. Lovie Smith, who was in consecutive years, the NFL's Coach of the Year, and then a Super Bowl participant, has a contract that will pay him less than any other coach in the league this year, and contract negotiations are going nowhere.
Why do the Bears hate their coaches?
Ron Rivera needs a new agent. He went from Super Bowl defensive coordinator and one of the hottest head-coaching candidates in the league to Chargers linebacker coach. Isn't he supposed to be moving upwards?
Bears linebacker Lance Briggs was also
I think that's a pretty reasonable possibility. You look at the list of free agent quarterbacks out there, and it's less than inspiring. There are very few, if any, of these guys, that I would consider a clear upgrade to Rex Grossman.
As the Super Bowl afterglow dims, and we move towards the off-season, it seems like a lot of teams out there have their eye on Jeff Garcia ... the
For the sake of our space exploration program, the Chicago Bears are just going to have to stop getting to the Super Bowl. If you're the sort that believes in sports jinxes, I think this one is the strangest of all time ... every time the Bears make the Super Bowl, something catastrophic happens to NASA.

