Let Briggs Go?

Lance Briggs has burned his bridges in Chicago. I see little or no way for him to play for the team again, nor do I want him to. Unfortunately, he and his uber-ass agent Drew Rosenhaus have so terribly misplayed their hand that Briggs has come across as a Terrell Owens-like petulant child.

Make no mistake, Briggs had a chance to come across as the victim in this situation, no matter how crazy it is that a 26-year old man (my age!) could be upset at making $7.2 million this year. After the awful PR that the Bears management received for their stone-walling of Lovie Smith, and with a decades-old reputation for being cheap, the Bears could have easily been portrayed as mistreating a loyal defensive playmaker who has played hard despite being terribly underpaid ($400k a year) and operating in the shadow of fan-favorite Brian Urlacher.

Yet Rosenhaus and Briggs managed to turn the whole thing around, alienate everyone inside Chicago and out, and come across as the bad guys. At long last, another team appears stupid enough to try and take Briggs off our hands. The gullible sap, willing to overpay for a petulant free agent? Dan Snyder of the Washington Redskins, of course:

Drew Rosenhaus, the agent for Bears' disgruntled Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs, told FOXSports.com that the Redskins informed him Monday that they would like to swing a deal that would send Washington's first-round pick, No. 6 overall, to Chicago for the Bears' first-rounder, No. 31, and Briggs.

When asked about such an offer Redskins owner Dan Snyder confirmed to FOXSports.com that he in fact wanted to make the move and they were waiting to talk to Chicago.

I have mixed feelings on this offer. On the one hand, we get rid of Briggs. We send him to a team that doesn't really need him (check out profootballtalk.com for why), so he'll probably be exposed for the Urlacher-dependent player he is. We get the chance to draft a potential star of the future with a high first-round pick.

On the other hand, I don't think it is enough. I'd like to see the Redskins throw in a third or fourth-round pick, especially with Angelo's recent success with mid-round picks. And the problem with high first-round picks is that you have to pay them like high first-round picks, with no guarantee of success.

Briggs is a known commodity, and if we could make him a part of our team again, it would be better. But if that's off the table, and it seems to be, then the Bears have to make the most of it. I say hold out for a mid-round pick. Otherwise, let Briggs sit out the season, franchise him again, make him sit out another season, and let Rosenhaus and Briggs suffer the consequences of their stupidity.

UPDATE: You've got to love sports fans. While I and other Bears' fans adamantly demand more compensation for Briggs, Redskins' fans are just as adamant that their team get more than just our first round pick in addition to Briggs. Hilarious.