The Bears Offseason Thread

[da bears]

Does King actually watch football. Did he actually say Briggs makes Urlacher better, and not the other way around. Ugh.

[Jon]

Take notice, west coast Bears fans:

 

Chargers.com[/url]"]The Chargers have halted season ticket sales for the 2007 season, leaving a very limited number of tickets for all 10 Chargers home games to go on sale Wednesday, July 25 at 8 am PT only at http://www.chargers.com.

 

“We decided to cap our season ticket sale to ensure that tickets are available to the single-game buyer,” said Jim Steeg, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Chargers. “We’ve set aside a limited number of tickets for each game and we expect them to go within a couple of hours. We have a great home schedule. Wednesday morning will almost certainly be the last chance for fans to buy individual tickets to these games.”

 

The Chargers also announced the beginning of a Waiting List for future season tickets. Fans on the Waiting List will be sold season tickets on a first-come, first-served basis if season tickets become available next season.

[Soul]

It's that time of year folks!!! It's time for the media to drool over the Lions!

 

From this week'sPeter King article:

 

The Lions. If they're not a top-five offense this year, I'll be stunned. We're all forgetting Tatum Bell, you know. The man's averaged 4.9 yards per rush in three Denver seasons, and now he moves to the artificial turf, where his cuts will be truer and he'll be running behind a pretty good line.

 

A Grossman dig for good measure:

 

Rex Grossman battling the boobirds and the doubters. They're out there, and my guess is he'll hear some of them when he bounces a few throws three yards shy of Bernard Berrian in camp.

 

King acknowledged last weekthat he has an almost annual love for the Lions...

13. Detroit: Some year I'll pick the Lions to do something good and actually be right about the prediction. This is the year they make a quantum leap, I believe, because the defense will adjust to Rod Marinelli and new coordinator Joe Barry and play well. I like a second year in the Mike Martz offense. If you let Jon Kitna slide past the fourth round in your fantasy draft, you're absolutely crazy. Keep one name in mind on defense: Ikaika Alama-Francis, who, at 6-5 and 280 pounds, will get the chance to be the kind of interior pass-rush presence Marinelli needs to make his defense work.

 

Well there you go. One year out of 20 they'll finally be right, and then they'll all jump for joy and pat themselves on the back for their prognosticating powers, while ignoring the other 19 years they were wrong.

[E.J.]

ESPN 1000 reporting that Tillman has just signed a 6-year extension for around $40-42 million.

[rawaction]

ESPN 1000 reporting that Tillman has just signed a 6-year extension for around $40-42 million.

 

Wow. That sounds a little excessive.

[jersey cubs fan]

ESPN 1000 reporting that Tillman has just signed a 6-year extension for around $40-42 million.

 

Wow. That sounds a little excessive.

 

Unless it's heavily backloaded, I'd say very excessive.

[Handlebar McSkullet]

ESPN 1000 reporting that Tillman has just signed a 6-year extension for around $40-42 million.

 

I LOVE THE BEARS.... DO THE THINGS I WANT THEM TO DO...

 

I want free season tickets....

 

ok jerry get it done.

[Handlebar McSkullet]

Tillman agrees to six-year contract extension

By Larry Mayer

 

 

 

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears further solidified their strong defense Tuesday, agreeing to terms with cornerback Charles Tillman on a six-year contract extension through 2013.

 

Tillman has appeared in 53 games with 49 starts in four seasons since joining the Bears as a second-round pick (35th overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft from Louisiana-Lafayette.

 

The 6-1, 196-pounder registered five interceptions last season for the second straight year, increasing his career total to 14, second among current Bears behind fellow cornerback Nathan Vasher, who has picked off 16 passes in three seasons.

[Jon]

Apparently $18.5 million is guaranteed.

[MPC]

wow. i think this contract says a lot about the bears interest in keeping the core of this team together for the next 3-4 years.

[UMFan83]

I knew this was coming, but its funny that the Bears say they can't sign Briggs longterm because its too much of a financial commitment for one position, and then go out and give Vasher and Tillman huge extensions.

[rawaction]

I knew this was coming, but its funny that the Bears say they can't sign Briggs longterm because its too much of a financial commitment for one position, and then go out and give Vasher and Tillman huge extensions.

 

I think it shows what position(s) they value more than others.

[jersey cubs fan]

I knew this was coming, but its funny that the Bears say they can't sign Briggs longterm because its too much of a financial commitment for one position, and then go out and give Vasher and Tillman huge extensions.

 

I hate all that "one position" talk. QB is one position. MLB is one position. LB and CB are not. If guys are on the field at the same time, they aren't playing the same position. You should pay your best guys the most money. If you have great LBers, you can't just let one go because you are paying them more than your safeties.

 

I think this just indicates how little they want to keep Briggs here long term. They think he's replacable, and don't think the CBs are. At this point I'd have to give mgmt the benefit of the doubt, given their impressive track record.

[Soriano12]

http://www.hort.cornell.edu/4hplants/Fruits/Images/Peanut-22.jpg

[Soriano12]

ESPN 1000 reporting that Tillman has just signed a 6-year extension for around $40-42 million.

 

Wow. That sounds a little excessive.

 

Deal is probably backloaded, and I don't think he will see the last 2-3 years of it.

[jersey cubs fan]

ESPN 1000 reporting that Tillman has just signed a 6-year extension for around $40-42 million.

 

Wow. That sounds a little excessive.

 

Deal is probably backloaded, and I don't think he will see the last 2-3 years of it.

 

The Bears typically don't do stuff like that though. At the most, I could see it being structured so that year 6 is more or less not going to happen, but that's even a stretch.

[Chocolate Milk]

Peanut Deal is very reasonable. I am glad to see it.

[Soul]

I knew this was coming, but its funny that the Bears say they can't sign Briggs longterm because its too much of a financial commitment for one position, and then go out and give Vasher and Tillman huge extensions.

 

I think it's wrong to suggest the Bears are somehow being disingenuous here, or treating Briggs unfairly just because they extended Tillman. The Bears offered Briggs a deal. It was Lance who balked at it.

 

#1 CBs will always be worth more on a positional basis than weak side LBs. Briggs wanted much, much more than either Tillman or Vasher got. He wanted Urlacher money -- superstud cash.

 

The Bears wouldn't be signing Tillman or Vasher if they had done that. Wouldn't have a prayer to resign Harris either, for that matter. It's a ridiculous demand, and I think Rosenhaus is starting to realize it.

[David]

Looks like an agreement will be reached with Briggs and there will be no holdout from training camp.

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-070724briggs,1,5604166.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

 

There were strong indications Tuesday night the two sides either were coming close to an agreement that would end a messy contract dispute or had solved it altogether.

 

Reached on his cell phone, Briggs said "no comment" when asked if he had agreed to sign the one-year contract tender worth a guaranteed $7.2 million and report on time Thursday to the start of training camp in Bourbonnais.

 

But earlier in the night a Bears teammate who had spoken with both Briggs and a league source said the linebacker had agreed to sign the deal and avoid a holdout the Bears had been dreading.

 

Asked about the rumors Briggs had agreed to sign the contract and report on time, the player said, "True."

[Banedon]

Looks like an agreement will be reached with Briggs and there will be no holdout from training camp.

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-070724briggs,1,5604166.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

 

There were strong indications Tuesday night the two sides either were coming close to an agreement that would end a messy contract dispute or had solved it altogether.

 

Reached on his cell phone, Briggs said "no comment" when asked if he had agreed to sign the one-year contract tender worth a guaranteed $7.2 million and report on time Thursday to the start of training camp in Bourbonnais.

 

But earlier in the night a Bears teammate who had spoken with both Briggs and a league source said the linebacker had agreed to sign the deal and avoid a holdout the Bears had been dreading.

 

Asked about the rumors Briggs had agreed to sign the contract and report on time, the player said, "True."

 

That's excellent news. When the deadline passed, I figured something would happen before TC started.

[Chocolate Milk]

Well done, Bears. They stared this guy down. Briggs had nowhere to go.

[Soul]

Good news on Briggs, hopefully it's true.

[UMFan83]

I really like how the Bears handled this. I don't like the prospects of him returning after 2007, but who cares. They completely owned Drew, they knew he had no leverage, and they got what they wanted with minimal damage to the team.

[RynoRules]

Well done Jerry. =D>

 

I also applaud Briggs as he enters his "farewell" season. He still gets 7 mill this year and gets to earn his next contract rather than cutting his nose off to spite his face a la Todd Bell and Al Harris in 85'.

[Soul]

I really like how the Bears handled this. I don't like the prospects of him returning after 2007, but who cares. They completely owned Drew, they knew he had no leverage, and they got what they wanted with minimal damage to the team.

 

Well, I still care :) I wish Briggs would be a Bear for life but it's just not happening.

 

You're right we got what we needed, which is another year of Briggs so we can work on his replacement.