Lance Briggs - Open your franchise now

by James on April 3rd, 2007

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Lance says - No long term deal, No helmet and jersey

He has no drive in window.

There are no fries.

You can’t wash your car, get coffee, or rent a limo.

Hey, what kind of franchise is Lance Briggs anyway?

Jerry Angelo, GM of the Chicago Bears, will not give Lance Briggs a long term deal, so they franchised him.

Just how do you franchise a player? You give him the franchise tag. When you do that they get pay equal to the top five at their position in the NFL.

It only gets worse. If another team signs an offer sheet for Lance, the Bears have the right to match it or let him go. If the Bears let Lance go, then the team that signed him has to give up number 1 picks in 2007 and 2008.

That, my friends, is a very steep price.

The ‘Skins are offering the number six pick in the draft. At that slot in the draft a 15 to 20 mill bonus would be offered.

Unless the Bears planned on trading that pick away, Briggs, at a franchise price of less than 8 million, seems like a bargain.

Let’s complain about our Franchise Tag

It seems like every year some major star complains about being franchised, but it seems to always work in their favor.

Defensive end John Abraham was paid $6.66 million by the New York Jets in 2005, and he resented every cent of it. That same year, the Indianapolis Colts paid Edgerrin James more than any running back in the league. And as coach Tony Dungy remembered, “He was mad the whole time.” Former New Orleans Saints defensive end Darren Howard? He spent the season “slapped in the face” $7.8 million times. source

Get franchised more than once and it gets even better.

In fact, the players who receive multiple tags before landing their long-term deal commonly are looked back upon as being the most lavishly paid players at their positions – if not the league – at that time. In Peterson’s case, his two seasons under the tag and the ensuing guarantees in his long-term contract essentially delivered a guaranteed minimum of $31.6 million into his pocket. Cornerback Charles Woodson? He made more than $29 million over the last three seasons. Howard, who called the Saints “cheapskates” in an interview with Yahoo! Sports last summer and now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, was paid over $14 million his last two seasons by the Saints. source

So maybe if you are lucky, your boss will put the franchise tag on you!

Meanwhile, Lance Briggs is wearing the franchise tag all the way to the bank!

NFL Football Fan Question Should the franchise tag rule, originally intended for quarterbacks, be revamped?

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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