Doesn't sound good for us keeping Briggs either:shrug:
Jones sent to Jets -- will Briggs go next?
Angry about tag, All-Pro LB says he won't play for Bears 2006 season
March 6, 2007
BY BRAD BIGGS Staff Reporter
The Bears didn't waste any time getting back to their offseason of upheaval, and they were able to upstage disgruntled linebacker Lance Briggs in the process.
Five days after securing the futures of coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo with long-term deals, the Bears prepared to ship off one player, Thomas Jones, who wants a new contract and were attacked by another, Briggs, who is seeking the same thing. So much for the idea projected from Super Bowl XLI that this was one big, happy family. Five coaches are gone, one star player is exiting and another is hoping to jump ship.
The Bears struck a tentative deal Monday with the New York Jets to trade workhorse running back Jones and their second-round pick (63rd overall) for the 37th pick, a second-rounder that originally belonged to the Washington Redskins. The swap is contingent on the Jets reaching terms with Jones and agent Drew Rosenhaus on a new contract today and on Jones passing a physical, but a source said both are expected to happen. The deal was being hailed as a coup in New York on Monday night.
The trade came on the heels of Lance Briggs' critical remarks about the organization made to ESPN.com and WSCR-AM (670). Briggs lashed out at the Bears for placing the franchise tag on him, which would pay him $7.2 million next season, and vowed to do whatever he could to ensure that he is wearing a different uniform in 2007.
''I don't want to be there anymore,'' Briggs told ESPN. ''I won't play for them.''
Jones didn't have to take his case public. He met with Angelo after the season and made clear his desire for a new contract, something the Bears were not going to do with more than $15 million guaranteed invested in Cedric Benson, the former No. 4 overall pick whom Smith and Angelo badly want to see succeed. Angelo told Jones he would try to accommodate him, and the Bears found a willing partner in the Jets, who must replace Curtis Martin.
With Jones in the AFC, the Bears won't have to worry about him coming back to haunt them. But they better hope Benson produces, or both his selection and the trade will look bad. Benson rushed for 647 yards and six touchdowns in his second season but averaged 4.9 yards per carry in the final seven regular-season games as his workload increased.
Jones was at his best when it mattered most, rushing for 112 yards in the Super Bowl and 123 in the NFC title game. He had 1,210 yards for the season after joining Walter Payton as the only backs in team history to eclipse 1,300 when he ran for 1,335 in 2005. Jones, who will turn 29 in August, is signed through next season at $2.7 million, and has been a bargain since the Bears signed him to a four-year, $10.5 million contract in 2004. His acquisition after a star-crossed beginning in Arizona and one-year stay in Tampa Bay is perhaps the shrewdest move in Angelo's six-year tenure.
There are farther-reaching effects of the trade. At this point, it signals the promotion of veteran Adrian Peterson to the backup role. Peterson is capable of the work, but that means special teams could take a hit. He leads the team with 68 special-teams tackles over the last three seasons. As the backup to Benson, he'd likely have a reduced role there.
How the trade is viewed will depend on what the Bears do with the pick. They now have the 31st and 37th selections, giving them ammunition to trade up in the first round or down to acquire even more picks.
Briggs told the Score he went public with his frustrations on his own, but it certainly had the sounds of something orchestrated by Rosenhaus. Rosenhaus declined to comment on the matter. He had been trying to engineer a trade for Jones and eventually must get defensive tackle Tommie Harris paid, too, so he needs a working relationship with the Bears.
But the Bears hold all the cards with Briggs. They have been quietly searching for possible trades, and Briggs' attack only undermines those efforts by taking away what leverage the Bears do hold. When he passed on a six-year, $33 million contract last April that had roughly $16 million guaranteed, the team said the franchise tag was a real possibility.
Rosenhaus and Briggs decided to call Angelo's bluff -- he had been outspoken about not liking to tag players -- and he followed through. Now, if a deal can't be worked out, Briggs will have to settle for being paid 10 times what he made last season.
''They need to either [rescind] the franchise tag and let me move on or trade me,'' Briggs told ESPN. ''Because that's the only way this thing can have any kind of a positive resolution.''
bbiggs@suntimes.com
