Lance

Briggs

As if they were really going to bench an All-Pro because he skipped some off-season work. Perhaps this means the Bears won’t hesitate to make Thomas Jones the starter again if he plays well.

Briggs, who is represented by Drew Rosenhaus, is looking for a new contract with one year left on his deal. A training camp holdout is possible, but a deal should happen before the season.

Briggs reportedly turned down a long-term offer from the Bears a month ago. He now intends on having another big season and hitting the market in 2007.

Briggs, a Pro Bowler in 2005, is scheduled to make $721,600 in the final year of his rookie contract. Briggs has plenty of leverage and we still think Chicago will find a way to get a deal done before September.

Coach Lovie Smith is slapping Briggs on the wrist for missing voluntary workouts. The Pro Bowler will be back with the starting unit well before meaningful football takes place.

Chicago doesn’t think Briggs can do better than the deal they have offered with $12 million guaranteed and $5 million per year. If Will Witherspoon did, however, why not Briggs?

Briggs has been asking for a new contract for the past several years. The new deal likely includes an up-front bump, in addition to keeping him under the Bears’ control through his age-33 season. Still playing at a high level, Briggs has been to seven straight Pro Bowls and last year graded out as a top-eight run-defending 4-3 outside linebacker, according to Pro Football Focus. Briggs has cleared the century mark for tackles in seven of the last eight years.

The two years on Briggs’ old deal were essentially ripped up. He gets a $3 million signing bonus, a base salary of $3 million, and a $250,000 workout bonus all in the first year. Briggs has a $4.25 million base salary in 2013, of which $2 million is guaranteed. Briggs got a bit more first-year money in exchange for sacrificing some of his future non-guaranteed base salaries. He’s all but locked in with the Bears through the 2013 campaign.

Named to his seventh consecutive Pro Bowl, Briggs leads the Bears with 140 tackles and is tied for the team lead with eight tackles for loss. He had requested both a raise and a trade before the season. Now 31, Briggs is due to earn roughly $4 million in 2012.

Briggs left Soldier Field with a walking boot on his right foot following Sunday’s win over the Vikings. It sounds like the boot was precautionary. The Bears play the Seahawks in Week 13, and Briggs should be all systems go.