Niners forfeit fifth-round draft pick after tampering with Bears' Briggs

[WoodysGirl]

Updated: March 24, 2008, 6:32 PM ET

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NEW YORK -- The San Francisco 49ers have forfeited their fifth-round pick in next month's NFL draft after commissioner Roger Goodell deemed them guilty of tampering with Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs.

Goodell also determined the teams will switch picks in the third round of the April 26-27 draft. Chicago, which had the 12th pick, will get San Francisco's seventh pick and the 49ers will get Chicago's choice.

Goodell determined that the 49ers violated the NFL's anti-tampering policy by contacting Briggs' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, about his client during the 2007 season.

Briggs, an all-Pro in 2007, had been designated as Chicago's franchise player, signing a one-year tender that meant he could not leave the Bears.

He had been expected to leave as a free agent after last season but instead re-signed with Chicago for $36 million over six years. Briggs will earn $21.6 million in the first three years of the deal and $13 million of the contract is guaranteed.

There had been reports of contact between the 49ers and Rosenhaus last season, and the Bears filed a tampering charge with the NFL. Goodell said both teams cooperated with his investigation into the allegations.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3310056

 

[jchocolate82]

I wonder how crazy blown up and crazy this would of been through the media if it had been the Cowboys

 

[Chief]

Too bad Sheriff Goodell wasn't around when the 49ers took cheating to new heights back in the '90s.

Boy, football in the Bay Area ain't what it used to be. :laugh2:

 

[Rampage]

goodell seems like he's abusing the power he posesses as the commish.

 

[The Rawhide Kid]

goodell seems like he's abusing the power he posesses as the commish.

He's just trying to cover himself after the Spygate debacle. He is displaying an iron fist against any type of infraction, hoping we all forget that the Pats kept the 49er's pick. Poor Niners, they just want this draft to get over with before they lose all their picks.

 

[sago1]

Nope, that's part of his job.

 

[Woods]

I really dislike the 49ers. I don't feel sorry for them (esp since they broke the rules).

 

[Bizwah]

Too bad Sheriff Goodell wasn't around when the 49ers took cheating to new heights back in the '90s.

Boy, football in the Bay Area ain't what it used to be. :laugh2:

Exactly.

I still consider us the "real" 94/95 NFC Champs.

They literally stole our Super Bowl.

 

[Wolfpack]

They literally bought their Super Bowl.

This is closer.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

:laugh2: and the sad part is they didn't even get him!

 

[AmishCowboy]

I wonder how crazy blown up and crazy this would of been through the media if it had been the Cowboys

It would lead Sportscenter and be Front Page at ESPN.com.

 

[tyke1doe]

Nope, that's part of his job.

Quoted For Truth.

 

[Bizwah]

This is closer.

No, it was right in my original post.

They CHEATED the cap to "buy" those players. They were reprimanded, IIRC, several years ago.....a slap on the wrist.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

My only problem with this is that it seems like a case of he said/she said. I don't know how, at all, you'd prove one way or another that the permission was or wasn't given by Chicago for the Niners to contact him.

So this one just doesn't sit right with me cause it seems very much like one of those things that its a flip of the coin to decide whose telling the truth and who isn't.

 

[Da Hammer]

I wonder how crazy blown up and crazy this would of been through the media if it had been the Cowboys

to be fair this would have been huge if the Niners were even semi competent :laugh2:

 

[Big Country]

Exactly.

I still consider us the "real" 94/95 NFC Champs.

They literally stole our Super Bowl.

Darned right!!!

I was crushed after the Cowboys spotted the 69ers 21 points in that NFC Championship game and ultimately losing...

Leased defense will do wonders.

 

[theogt]

The 49ers Might Have Been the League's New Sacrificial Lamb
Tom Mantzouranis
Posted Mar 25th 2008 10:42AM

Yesterday word came down from up high that the 49ers broke the league's tampering rules (shock!) while dealing with Lance Briggs. The punishment isn't anywhere near what the Patriots got for their little Spygate thing (you might have heard of it), but dropping picks in the third round and losing a fifth-rounder entirely will have an impact on the 49ers, leaving them justifiably miffed. Especially seeing as how they might not have ever really tampered.

From what I can gather, the only solid evidence against the 49ers during the hearing was a phone record of two calls the club placed to agent Drew Rosenhaus, who represents Bears linebacker Lance Briggs.

One story is that there were two "missed calls" with no voice messages. The second version - essentially corroborating the first report - was that there were two "20-second" phone calls. In other words, a 20-second phone call is a "missed call."

Obviously, two 20-second missed phone calls (if these reports are believed) don't indicate any discussion regarding Briggs whatsoever, especially with Rosenhaus representing many 49ers that the calls could have legally been about. Matt Maiocco also reports that the 49ers and Bears talked trade, essentially permitting them to speak with Briggs, and that furthermore the 49ers' interest in Briggs was minimal.

PFT has a great take on this perplexing issue. Why would the league punish the 49ers when they've got no credible evidence and 31 other teams committing the same crime? They're being made the sacrificial lamb, as the Patriots were for every team that films another team's signals. Because the league wants to prove to Arlen Specter everyone that it's on top of its own legislation, the 49ers are getting screwed.

 

[Verdict]

If they are talking about Chicago swapping 1st round picks with the 49ers, the only team who really gets damaged in the swap is the Patriots, because they own the 49ers pick, right?

If so it would seem as though Goodell is trying to up the punishment for the Pats a little due to the perception he went light on them before.

 

[Woods]

If they are talking about Chicago swapping 1st round picks with the 49ers, the only team who really gets damaged in the swap is the Patriots, because they own the 49ers pick, right?

If so it would seem as though Goodell is trying to up the punishment for the Pats a little due to the perception he went light on them before.

I think swapping picks in Round 3, not Round 1.

 

[Verdict]

I think swapping picks in Round 3, not Round 1.

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I should have read it more closely.

It is hard to fathom why the Pats didnt get hammered harder since Goodell has been Mr. Law-and-Order as to everyone else.

One thing I have seen as a trend is when someone is all law and order when it comes to their job, they usually not nearly as squeaky clean in their personal life. It is usually just the opposite. That is a generalization, obviously, but it just seems to hold true more often than not.