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Updated: Mar/27/2007 01:20 PM
Sorry, Briggs
A source close to Washington owner Daniel Snyder on Tuesday denied the club is close to making a deal for Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs.
"Not true," he said.
Reports indicated that Washington is willing to switch first-round positions with Chicago -- sacrificing the sixth overall pick for the 31st -- to gain Briggs, the Bears' unhappy franchise player. But that's not true, either, said the source.
"That's just Drew talking," he said.
Drew is Drew Rosenhaus, the agent for Briggs, and it was he who escorted the Bears' linebacker to a table Monday night where Snyder was dining at the annual NFL owners' meetings. Also there, according to others, were Washington's vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato and Baltimore owner Steve Bischiotti.
Anyway, the source said, Rosenhaus said something about how much Briggs could do for the Commanders and suggested Snyder make a deal for him. Snyder responded by saying the Commanders and Bears should switch first-round positions to gain Briggs.
"It was innocent and meant as a joke," said the source, "but it's taken off."
Briggs last month was tagged as the Bears' franchise player, a move that prevented him from becoming an unrestricted free agent and that angered him so much he threatened not to play this season. That changed this week when Rosenhaus said Briggs would stay out the first 10 games of the season, then report for the last six to earn another year's credit.
That ploy hasn't worked in the past. When wide receiver Keenan McCardell attempted it in 2004, the Tampa Bay Bucs let him sit until trading him in mid-season to San Diego.
The Bears have insisted they will not act on Briggs' demands and that they expect him to play for them this season. In fact, team president Ted Phillips this week told reporters in Phoenix that Briggs turned down a lucrative extension last year and that the Bears notified him and Rosenhaus that they would consider protecting Briggs with a franchise tag if he remained unsigned.
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Sorry, Briggs
A source close to Washington owner Daniel Snyder on Tuesday denied the club is close to making a deal for Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs.
"Not true," he said.
Reports indicated that Washington is willing to switch first-round positions with Chicago -- sacrificing the sixth overall pick for the 31st -- to gain Briggs, the Bears' unhappy franchise player. But that's not true, either, said the source.
"That's just Drew talking," he said.
Drew is Drew Rosenhaus, the agent for Briggs, and it was he who escorted the Bears' linebacker to a table Monday night where Snyder was dining at the annual NFL owners' meetings. Also there, according to others, were Washington's vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato and Baltimore owner Steve Bischiotti.
Anyway, the source said, Rosenhaus said something about how much Briggs could do for the Commanders and suggested Snyder make a deal for him. Snyder responded by saying the Commanders and Bears should switch first-round positions to gain Briggs.
"It was innocent and meant as a joke," said the source, "but it's taken off."
Briggs last month was tagged as the Bears' franchise player, a move that prevented him from becoming an unrestricted free agent and that angered him so much he threatened not to play this season. That changed this week when Rosenhaus said Briggs would stay out the first 10 games of the season, then report for the last six to earn another year's credit.
That ploy hasn't worked in the past. When wide receiver Keenan McCardell attempted it in 2004, the Tampa Bay Bucs let him sit until trading him in mid-season to San Diego.
The Bears have insisted they will not act on Briggs' demands and that they expect him to play for them this season. In fact, team president Ted Phillips this week told reporters in Phoenix that Briggs turned down a lucrative extension last year and that the Bears notified him and Rosenhaus that they would consider protecting Briggs with a franchise tag if he remained unsigned.
LINK
