Briggs remains a Bear

[JackFinn]

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribu ... l-sta.html

6/36 deal.
Is "extremely" happy about it.
Well alright.

.

[dougthonus]

Nice deal for us. Especially if it's front loaded.

For one, there's jack squat else we're going to spend our FA money on, so you might as well front load the hell out of it.

Two, it's a fair deal for a LB of his age and talent level.

Three, had we not signed Briggs, it would have been a sign that we had not chance to compete this year coming up.

[richard]

this is a pleasant surprise. i thought rosenhouse would make it a living hell for angelo.

it looks like they will go cheap on offense and address their needs through the draft, though.

[dougthonus]

Other than Turner, who would you even want to get on offense?

[richard]

alan faneca or flozell adams for OL.

they should have gotten a replacement for muhammad. stallworth was available, but they weren't interested. who are the wr's now, bradley and rasheed davis???

[Posey H8er]

Other than Turner, who would you even want to get on offense?

Obviously we need help at receiver and the offensive line. But from what I have read so far is that the free agent class at those positions are not that strong. We would probably waste a lot of $$$ for talent we could find at a cheaper price in the draft. Although a veteran receiver would now be nice.

*

who are the wr's now, bradley and rasheed davis???

Hester and Hass are also on the depth chart.

[The Sheik]

^^ Very weak...Berrian will probably get payed and why waste money on Hackett and others. We need to add a vet and draft a WR in the 2nd rd, everyone says this is a Deep WR draft.

I am also very surprised that we re-signed Briggs, but that is a very good thing.

[NLK]

I'm liking this resigning! Now, if we can fix other gaping holes on the offense (which seems highly unlikely with Angelo and Lovie).

[Chewie]

Wow. Raise of hands for people who thought we'd actually get Briggs back? The well dried up when the 49ers and Saints went with high priced guys on defense. Bears actually gambled and won - amazing!

Time to get a vet for the OL (then draft two more for good measure).

[NoSkyy]

I love this signing. Unlike what it would of took us to get Berrian this is a incredibly amazingly fair deal.

[For Da Team]

Keeping the LBing core intact is huge. The key remains the DL, specifically if we can get healthy there, Harris and Dvorcek(sp?), the D is all good! Now we must work on the OL, which IMO, was a major factor in the O's problems. Solidifying the OL will lead to both a better running and passing game, no doubt.

[Ruben Douglas]

I am stunned. Think about it...Berrian signs for 6 years at 42M, Briggs signs at 6 year 36M. I'm sold. I think it's a great deal. It saves this off season for the Bears. Either JA is damn lucky or he's a genious (as far as defense is concerned).

Now, if the Bears sign Bryant Johnson (who I think is better than Berrian) for a cheap deal, I will not be disappointed this offseaso.

[WEFFPIM]

At least the offseason hasn't been a complete debacle thusfar.

[ChronicKerr]

Why the sudden change of heart from Briggs?? Were teams not as pro-actively going after him as he thought they were?? I mean Berrian got signed to a bigger contract. I'm thinking that since it's frontloaded and NFL contracts aren't guarenteed that Briggs will probably be screaming for a restructed contract in a year or two into this deal if he continues to perform like he has been. Either way this is a pleasant surprise. If we were to lose Briggs we didn't have a chance to contend next year IMO.

[PJ Brown]

I can't complain to loudly so far. I'm impressed by the Briggs signing, and can't say I'm unhappy the didn't overpay Berrian. So many holes, though. So many holes.

[emperorjones]

Man, Briggs miscalculated big time. Thats basically the same off the Bears put on the table a year & a half ago isn't it? Wasn't their first offer $35m for six years that he turned down and started all that drama?

[dougthonus]

Man, Briggs miscalculated big time. Thats basically the same off the Bears put on the table a year & a half ago isn't it? Wasn't their first offer $35m for six years that he turned down and started all that drama?

Well getting 6/36 after being paid 7 million makes it the equivalent of 7/43 vs 6/35.

It doesn't sound like he miscalculated to me. Of course the structuring of one deal vs the other could make a huge difference. However, by getting 7 million last year and getting the same deal, he made a lot more money.

It's not like he's going to make up the money later on when he's 33 or older. Granted, he started a lot of drama to basically accept the same offer, but he certainly didn't end up losing out on anything here.

[SportsWorld]

Awesome signing for us. I don't think anyone expected this to happen.

[emperorjones]

-= original quote snipped =-



Well getting 6/36 after being paid 7 million makes it the equivalent of 7/43 vs 6/35.

It doesn't sound like he miscalculated to me. Of course the structuring of one deal vs the other could make a huge difference. However, by getting 7 million last year and getting the same deal, he made a lot more money.

It's not like he's going to make up the money later on when he's 33 or older. Granted, he started a lot of drama to basically accept the same offer, but he certainly didn't end up losing out on anything here.

True. But didn't the Bears offer that deal one year earlier before he became a free agent? I thought he played out an extra year on his initial salary rather than restructuring early? If not, then he did well other than hurting his image a bit - but people will forget that in a hurry in football.