Bears stuff

I'm actually starting to get kind of intrigued as to how the Bears are pursuing the whole Lance Briggs thing. I mean, on one hand, you've got the Bears who have Lance Briggs and his bastardized agent by the balls, and on the other hand you've got Lance Briggs acting like a complete bitch.

In an attempt to play fairly with Briggs, Jerry Angelo met with him alone, and I can only assume it was over a romantic candle-lit dinner. Following the formalities and small-talk, Angelo went into business mode. He said he would remove the franchise tag from Briggs next season, as long as Briggs played this entire season. The deal, by the way, is more than fair, since the Bears have every right to put the franchise tag on Briggs AGAIN next year.

So here's the deal. Angelo, like he did with Thomas Jones last year, is trying to make a deal with Briggs to get him to shut his fat fucking mouth, stop his bitching, and next year they'll let him go. Which is something Angelo doesn't need to do. I'm serious, I would love it if the Bears fucked over Briggs again next year.

But now Briggs and his shit-agent are saying that Briggs will play for the Bears in six games next year, and he'll sit out ten, and that constitutes a season under league rules. That means that Briggs will get his money or something. But it doesn't require the Bears to play Miss Bitchpants at all. And, I believe the Bears could choose to suspend/not dress/whatever Briggs's ass if they wanted to for those 6 games. He still gets the money, but he doesn't get to dress or play.

Ultimately what the Bears could do is lower the value of Briggs. By not playing him for one (or even two) years, what team is going to be willing to pay $10 million per season to a dude who hasn't played in two years, and is two years older?

If Briggs would quit his fucking bitching, the Bears would gladly trade him next year, or even possibly let him walk away. But Briggs, while backing down, continues to be a piece of shit about the situation. BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING HE CAN DO. He can't force the Bears to do anything. He's fucking himself over.

But, rather than deal with this bullshit anymore, the Bears are considering trading him for a top 10 draft pick this year, and possibly a draft pick next year too. The Redskins have been named, and they have the number 6 pick. I would hope that with that pick the Bears could pick a linebacker, but I just haven't paid enough attention to the draft so far to know who would be available.

And just a word of advice to Briggs: It didn't work out too well for T.O. when he complained enough to get traded, and then bitched his new team out, and then got traded again, and now nobody really wants him. Skill only gets you so far, and if you want to be a bitch, then by all means, go for it, but don't expect to keep paying your bills that way.

Anyways, in other news, I read two different reports yesterday about Ian Scott. One said that the Bears were close to re-signing him, the other said that the Falcons were close to signing him. I didn't really know which to believe, but today I read that the Falcons have backed off on him, and I believe we're the only ones in pursuit. This is awesome because I believe that Ian Scott makes the other two tackles better. Add to that we don't know how Tommie Harris is going to come back as far as strength is concerned, and we're not sure what's going to happen to Tank in lockdown.

I think that's about all I've got for now. Hopefully we can just get Briggs out of town and get something back for him, because he's not worth the headache. And then hopefully he'll suck whereever he goes, and then we can all laugh and laugh about it. We'll also get a really awesome pick (or two), and the player (or players) will morph into a better version of Lance Briggs. Like maybe Lance Briggs minus the bitching.

Taken to task: Lance Briggs

I would like to reiterate what I've said before, that I am a big fan of Lance Briggs on the field. When the Bears took him in the THIRD ROUND of the draft, I was like, ok, that's probably a good pick, but in no way did I see it leading to two consecutive Pro Bowls before his initial contract was up.

Since I'm such a fan of Lance Briggs, I would like to offer this piece of advice: Quit being such a bitch. Seriously. Quit it.

Point #1: YOUR agent when you were a rookie negotiated your contract for you. So whose fault is it that you were a restricted free agent this year? Is it the Bears' fault? IS IT? NO. It's YOUR agent's fault. And also possibly yours. Of course, no one had the foresight to see how good you'd be, except for yourself perhaps, but if that's the case, then it's YOUR FAULT you agreed to such a contract stipulation.

Point #2: Because of YOUR contract, the Bears have the right to do whatever they want with you. Because they're working WITHIN THE REALMS of YOUR contract, they could have let you walk for nothing, they could have signed you to an extension, they could have traded you, whatever they wanted. Is it their fault that they chose to do something they were allowed to do? Also, THEY OFFERED YOU AN EXTENSION, and you chose to reject it. Perfectly reasonable on both sides, but don't say they're not doing anything to re-sign you, because we both know that's complete bullshit. And, just as a sidenote, MAYBE PAYING YOU LESS ALLOWS THEM TO IMPROVE THE TEAM THIS SEASON. I know, it's crazy to think that the Bears might be trying to do something else than make you miserable.

Point #3: You say you want to be "the man" somewhere. That's fine, a lot of people want to be the best at something. But did you ever think that maybe it's BECAUSE of Brian Urlacher that you're able to excel so well. I'm not saying you suck by any means. But if a team has to gameplan for 2 Pro Bowl linebackers, as opposed to, say, one, they're going to have to spread out blocking schemes, etc. for 2 linebackers. Whereas if there was only one awesome linebacker, it would be much easier to contain him. Unless he's some sort of freak athlete.

Point #4: Your constant bitching to the media. You say that you're prepared to sit out all season in order to make your point. You'll even take out loans if you need to, because you're sure to get paid next year, right? About that:
1.) You're fucking getting paid $7 million if you play. If you're willing to walk away from that, I would like to simply ask if you're a retarded person.
2.) Did you see the contracts in free agency? Let's do a little math. If you play this season, you make $7 million. If you get a free agent contract within the range of Nate Clements (which you totally should if you don't turn into a shitty player suddenly), you could make $10 million a year. So, let's see, $10 million + 0 = $10 million. $7 million + $10 million = $17 million. I mean, if you're cool with not making any money for a year, then go ahead. And obviously you're not big on team loyalty (not that many people are any more), so why not just sit out.
3.) With all your bitching, you look fucking insane. Remember Maurice Clarett? He sat out a year and came back out of shape. He's now in jail. I'm not saying it will happen to you, but how do you stay in shape when you've got nothing to do for 16 months? And why would a team want someone who's bitching about making $7 million a year?

Point #5: "When I did talk, you guys criticized me." Well no shit genius. Of course people are criticizing you. You're acting like a jackass and a little whiny bitch. Maybe you're right though. Maybe you should be allowed to bitch about the owners not paying you what you want, even though it doesn't seem like you even want to be in Chicago any more. I'm pretty sure the Bears are cool with not paying you and letting you sit out the season if you're going to be a prima donna. If I were to bitch about my job and demand more money, I'd probably get fired. But let's all give you the benefit of the doubt, because the Bears won't give you $10 million more. Fuck you, shut up.

Point #6. Remember Thomas Jones? That other jackass who said he was going to hold out with you last year? He got traded. He worked out a deal with Jerry Angelo where he would get traded following the 2006 season if he played the season hard. And did you see TJ getting his carries, and respect? Angelo is obviously true to his word.

Awww, but you want more money? TOUGH SHIT. The Bears have every right to slap the franchise tag on you. It's your own fault you're being a pussy about it. My only concern right now is that if the Bears were to trade you, they wouldn't get ENOUGH for you back because you're being such a whiny bitch. Maybe you should just shut your fucking mouth and stay focused on football. Don't worry, we'll be ok without you.

Bears grumblings

Last week I made a post about possible moves and stuff that the Bears could do. Well, we're a week further along in the offseason, so why don't I reflect on what's going on with the Bears now. You care what I think, right? Right?!

First, the Bears slapped the big fat franchise tag on Lance Briggs, which we all knew they'd do. At least right away. They had a coaching extension that was their top priority to take care of, And then after that maybe they'd renegotiate some contracts.

Well, now Briggs is pissed off. He's got the franchise tag, so no teams can offer him a contract without giving up a first-round pick as compensation. Regardless of how good a player is, very few teams are going to give up a first round pick.

But, whatever. Briggs is seeing these contracts and I think he's getting pissed off because he knows the money is out there for him. He also is probably pretty concerned about the Bears opening up their checkbooks in order to give him the money he feels he deserves. And his agent is first-class prick Drew Rosenhaus. Rosenhaus has to be telling Briggs that he can get a deal better than Nate Clements (thanks for that one 49ers), because he totally should be able to.

So Briggs either wants the tag removed or he wants to be traded. There is no way I think the Bears do this. It's not their style to renegotiate contracts when they don't need to. And I'm not sure that the Bears have decided whether or not Briggs is in the long-term plans or not. He's doing a good job of making the decision easier though by being a jackass about the whole thing.

Listen, I like Lance Briggs. He was an absolute steal in the draft. While some times I personally feel like his tackling is questionable, his ability to be in the right place at the right time is pretty amazing.

Briggs says he loves Chicago the team, but not Chicago the management. So, basically, he loves the Bears, but hates the front office. Join the club Briggsy. But he's pretty much acting like a dick right now. He's in line for a huge raise because of the franchise tag, but he's too impatient to wait for it.

If the Bears don't give Briggs what he wants, the only reasonable thing I can see him doing is holding out. Because Rosenhaus will tell him to. Prick. If not, Briggs will play just as hard as always to make sure he gets the big payday (and next year he'd get even MORE money with how the market has ridiculously blown up this year). But I probably see the Bears just letting him complain, doing nothing about it, possibly while he holds out, then probably letting him walk next year. Briggs should just man up and play out his contract. Seriously, I'm pretty sick of the whining about it.

The Briggs news came right around the same time that I found out that the Bears had traded Thomas Jones and their 2nd round pick to the Jets for the Jets 2nd round pick. I was really excited when I saw "The Bears have agreed to trade Thomas Jones..." and then I was waiting for the player they were going to get back and I saw "and the 2nd round draft pick..." and then I saw the rest.

I do not know how to feel about this. Basically we get two picks close to each other, which we could possibly package and trade up (like 4 spots at most probably).

I think I'm disappointed with this, mainly because we're getting virtually nothing in return. Well, that's not true. But we're getting potential as opposed to impact. Why couldn't we get a DT, since we'll probably be losing at least one. And the Bears love depth. Also, I kind of look at this like Jerry Angelo is so confident in his ability to scout and recognize potential that he's confident he can get just as good of a player at 37 (I think that's the pick we get) as Thomas Jones, a former top 10 pick. Is it possible?

Well, as we all know, I personally felt that TJ was overrated. I don't think he did anything that Cedric Benson couldn't do. And now that Benson is the feature back, I think Benson will show that he can be just as good (or better) than TJ.

But let us also not forget that TJ's accomplishments in the past two years were a product of an absolutely amazing offensive line and an offense with a.) pretty incapable QB's for almost an entire season, b.) a QB who was very streaky, c.) a dedication to the running game. His yards/carry, while fairly solid at 4.1, is nothing that can't be achieved by most other capable RB's in the league. So the problem is just making sure that we have other capable RB's.

However, I am kind of disappointed that we couldn't trick people into thinking those stats were outstanding. I think that's why we didn't get more for Jones.

Ultimately, I'm ok with the trade, aside from being slightly disappointed. Assuming Benson can stay healthy, I expect him to be just as good as Jones. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Bears drafted a speed running back later, just sort of as a change of pace.

One final note: Lovie Smith said he didn't want to trade Thomas Jones. This is a firm reminder to Smith, following his contract extension, that while his opinion is possibly valued, he is not the GM of this team, and he will not be the decider in who stays and goes. I'm not sure how I feel about that. But I'm glad TJ is gone.