More on Briggs

[BACH]

PFT:

BEARS DUMPING INJURY RISK ON BRIGGS

A day after telling Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com that he will never play for the Bears again, linebacker Lance Briggs is softening. A little.

On Tuesday, Briggs told ESPN that "there are a lot of options out there, but [sitting out] is one of them."

In essence, Briggs' beef is that, at a time when he could be reeling in $20 million or more in guaranteed money, he'll have to play in 2007 for roughly a third of that amount.

"The $7.2 million -- although it's a good number, it looks nice -- there's no job security in it," Briggs told ESPN. "I played four years as a third-round draft pick. I played four years as a third-round draft pick at the league minimum, and there've been no talks of a contract negotiation this year. . . . In my opinion, there is no intention on a long-term deal here.

"And if you don't have me in your plans for the long term, then I don't want to be here."

The reality here is that the Bears are dumping the injury risk onto Briggs. If in 2007 he suffers a torn ACL or a ruptured Achilles' tendon or some type of a career-ending boo-boo, the Bears will have saved $14 million.

If Briggs gets through 2007 unscathed, the Bears can tie up him again, at a salary of $8.64 million. If he gets hurt, the total savings are $6 million or so.

The price tag rises considerably in year three, when the franchise tender (per the new CBA) is the average of the five highest-paid players in the NFL, regardless of position. (This is commonly referred to in league circles as the "quarterback money" year, since the highest-paid players in the NFL usually are the elite quarterbacks.)

Other players have played the franchise game to perfection. Seahawks tackle Walter Jones, for example, collected three years of franchise money before signing a long-term deal, which paid in the first three years another big chunk of money.

But all it takes is that one wrong move at the wrong time, and the player suddenly has far less value.

Briggs clearly wants his $20 million payday. And if he's not going to get it from the Bears, he wants it from someone else.

One think I forgot in this situation is that Briggs was a 3rd rounder.

Most teams would have given him a new deal based on his PB play as a 3rd rounder. I repeat: "The Bears are cheap"

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

PFT:


One think I forgot in this situation is that Briggs was a 3rd rounder.

Most teams would have given him a new deal based on his PB play as a 3rd rounder. I repeat: "The Bears are cheap"

The Bears are notoriously cheap. Unless their hand is forced, they aren't giving out any money. It must be in the blood of those football families that originated in Chicago. A guy on the radio had a good point when refering to Lance Briggs saying it's all about a business decision as an excuse fof his actions. Well, it's also a business decision by the Bears. They don't think he's worth the long term risk.

 

[TheCardFan]

"The $7.2 million -- although it's a good number, it looks nice -- there's no job security in it"

This sentence by itself is pretty silly if you just happen to hear it.

 

[ajcardfan]

"The $7.2 million -- although it's a good number, it looks nice -- there's no job security in it"

This sentence by itself is pretty silly if you just happen to hear it.

No one should confuse the NFL with the real world.

 

[Totally_Red]

"The $7.2 million -- although it's a good number, it looks nice -- there's no job security in it"

This sentence by itself is pretty silly if you just happen to hear it.

Ain't it the truth! Who was the guy who said he couldn't feed his family on $14 million per year?

 

[abomb]

Ain't it the truth! Who was the guy who said he couldn't feed his family on $14 million per year?

Latrell Sprewell.

 

[Shogun]

Ain't it the truth! Who was the guy who said he couldn't feed his family on $14 million per year?

Latrell Sprewell, which made his point even MORE ******** as NBA money is practically guaranteed.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Latrell Sprewell, which made his point even MORE ******** as NBA money is practically guaranteed.

Add to that he turned down a 7 mil a year deal and ended up out of the league because of it.

 

[john h]

PFT:


One think I forgot in this situation is that Briggs was a 3rd rounder.

Most teams would have given him a new deal based on his PB play as a 3rd rounder. I repeat: "The Bears are cheap"

I watched an interview with Briggs on Tuesday on Sports Center. I am convinced he is prepared to sit out. After the interview was over the interviewer said even if he does sit out he just loses the money and Bears still retain the rights to him and I think he said they could do the same thing next year but that does not make sense. To my way of thinking he has a contract that was negotiated under the collective bargaining agreement which allows the bears to do what they did. This is not like Curt Flood. I think he would be foolish to sit out.

 

[BACH]

I watched an interview with Briggs on Tuesday on Sports Center. I am convinced he is prepared to sit out. After the interview was over the interviewer said even if he does sit out he just loses the money and Bears still retain the rights to him and I think he said they could do the same thing next year but that does not make sense. To my way of thinking he has a contract that was negotiated under the collective bargaining agreement which allows the bears to do what they did. This is not like Curt Flood. I think he would be foolish to sit out.

He could just pull a stunt like McCardell did in Tampa.

Sit out until week 10, then show up out of shape and free-ride the rest of the year. That way, the year counts and the Bears have to apply the franchise tag again next season.

 

[Faithful]

Could he just retire, then "come out of retirement"? Would that keep him out of the Bears' organization's clutches?

 

[football karma]

"The $7.2 million -- although it's a good number, it looks nice -- there's no job security in it"

This sentence by itself is pretty silly if you just happen to hear it.

Yeah -- but the real comparison is;

$7.2 mm guaranteed vs $16 - $18 mm guaranteed

For a physical position like linebacker, this could very well be the last contract of value that Briggs signs. I dont blame him for at least trying to get what he could. Worst case, he works the "I will sign the tender,but only if you promise not to franchise me next year" thing

For what its worth -- $7.2mm after tax is "only" $4.3 mm

Lets assume that has to last him another 50 years if he ends up disabled because of some injury in the 2008 season -- thats "only" $86k per year. Realistically, his income would be definately more because he will earn money on his $4.3mm in savings, but even if you double the annual income, while decent money -- its hardly "lifestyles of the rich and famous."

 

[SuperSpck]

Yeah -- but the real comparison is;

$7.2 mm guaranteed vs $16 - $18 mm guaranteed

For a physical position like linebacker, this could very well be the last contract of value that Briggs signs. I dont blame him for at least trying to get what he could. Worst case, he works the "I will sign the tender,but only if you promise not to franchise me next year" thing

For what its worth -- $7.2mm after tax is "only" $4.3 mm

Lets assume that has to last him another 50 years if he ends up disabled because of some injury in the 2008 season -- thats "only" $86k per year. Realistically, his income would be definately more because he will earn money on his $4.3mm in savings, but even if you double the annual income, while decent money -- its hardly "lifestyles of the rich and famous."

Love the quotation marks around the word "only".

And while the bonus money is important to players as a main source of income a lot of the best money is made through endorsement deals. It won't really be the rare national ads that guys like Manning get, but local deals, like opening a new Burger King where he gets $40k for two hours of autograph signing and hand shaking.

I wonder if his current stance will hurt his ability to get those kind of deals in Chicago?

 

[football karma]

Its hard to feel sorry for NFL players, but at the same time--

I suspect that if someone laid out the scenario where --

you get $7.2 mm by signing your name -- and--

if you really rip your employer in the paper, while still guaranteed the $7.2 mm, you could end up getting $18mm from a new employer --

we would all be picking up the phone to call the newspaper

 

[Young Card]

I don’t fault Briggs for this. What if he ends up with dementia or concussions that result in permanent neurological damage? Medical bills have a way of piling up. It’s his prerogative to sit out. The Bears can franchise him and he can sit out the entire season or until week ten.

 

[Mulli]

Its hard to feel sorry for NFL players, but at the same time--

I suspect that if someone laid out the scenario where --

you get $7.2 mm by signing your name -- and--

if you really rip your employer in the paper, while still guaranteed the $7.2 mm, you could end up getting $18mm from a new employer --

we would all be picking up the phone to call the newspaper

darn tootin

 

[SuperSpck]

I don’t fault Briggs for this. What if he ends up with dementia or concussions that result in permanent neurological damage? Medical bills have a way of piling up. It’s his prerogative to sit out. The Bears can franchise him and he can sit out the entire season or until week ten.

Good point.

 

[AZCB34]

PFT:


One think I forgot in this situation is that Briggs was a 3rd rounder.

Most teams would have given him a new deal based on his PB play as a 3rd rounder. I repeat: "The Bears are cheap"

Briggs turned down a $40 million dollar extension last year. The Bears tried...don't know how it was structured off hand but it isn't like they never tried.

 

[BACH]

Briggs turned down a $40 million dollar extension last year. The Bears tried...don't know how it was structured off hand but it isn't like they never tried.

The Bears organisation are trying to spin this their way with that extension, but in reallity the deal was pretty bad for Briggs. IIRC it averaged $4.2M a year with relatively small signing bonus.

 

[vinnymac]

I don't blame Briggs for sitting out. I remeber Julian Peterson holding out for that big deal with the 49ers. Then Peterson decided to sign the one year offer and tore his acl. The same thing happened the next season. So i say hold out. Get your deal Briggs.

 

[cardsfanmd]

Yeah -- but the real comparison is;

$7.2 mm guaranteed vs $16 - $18 mm guaranteed

For a physical position like linebacker, this could very well be the last contract of value that Briggs signs. I dont blame him for at least trying to get what he could. Worst case, he works the "I will sign the tender,but only if you promise not to franchise me next year" thing

For what its worth -- $7.2mm after tax is "only" $4.3 mm

Lets assume that has to last him another 50 years if he ends up disabled because of some injury in the 2008 season -- thats "only" $86k per year. Realistically, his income would be definately more because he will earn money on his $4.3mm in savings, but even if you double the annual income, while decent money -- its hardly "lifestyles of the rich and famous."

Wow, that just got me really worried about my future. My son better be a damn basketball player.