By PFW staff
March 2, 2008

Lance Briggs

The sting of losing WR Bernard Berrian to the division-rival Vikings Saturday evening was lessened considerably just a few hours later when the Bears announced they had reached a new six-year agreement with OLB Lance Briggs, who was widely considered among the top five free agents available this offseason. Briggs’ deal reportedly is worth $36 million, with $21.6 million in salary the first three years and guaranteed bonuses in the neighborhood of $12 million to $13 million.

The three-time Pro Bowler was widely expected to move to greener pastures once the free-agent market opened for business, but with teams around the league initially opting for less-expensive alternatives at linebacker, Briggs apparently wasn’t in as much demand as expected. When the Bears upped their initial contract offer to Briggs on Friday, it was the first ray of hope that a deal just might get done after all. As a result, the Bears have managed to hang on to one of the key players in a defensive unit that is expected to bounce back among the league’s best with better health. Briggs had a team-leading 10 tackles for loss last season and finished with 102 tackles, second on the team to fellow LB Brian Urlacher.  

The PFW spin

Clearly, the Bears’ emphasis so far this offseason has been on keeping key holdovers rather than any major revamping, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all. With Briggs’ surprising re-signing coming on the heels of DE Alex Brown’s well-deserved contract extension, the Bears appear more concerned with keeping their defensive core intact than anything else, with attempts to reach new deals with both Urlacher and DT Tommie Harris taking up as much of their time these days as any free-agent shopping they might be doing.

Interestingly, the deal Briggs ended up striking with the Bears isn’t all that different from the original seven-year, $33 million offer from the Bears that became such a major bone of contention last offseason, when Briggs reluctantly was saddled with the team’s franchise tag. Briggs did have his share of suitors this offseason, but teams appeared to be scared away by his Adalius Thomas-like asking price. The Niners appeared to be a very serious suitor, but after spending heavily to acquire ex-Bengals DE Justin Smith, their interest in Briggs waned.

Meanwhile, with Berrian no longer on the payroll, the Bears’ budget suddenly was more than big enough to accommodate a player whom many daily team observers considered even more of a priority to keep around than Urlacher.

But while things appear to be looking up for the Bears’ defense, the Bears’ offense has a gaping hole at wide receiver with Berrian no longer on board. The party line is that Devin Hester has what it takes to be a top-grade No. 1 guy, but many in league circles consider that assessment to be very wishful thinking. Does the addition of Berrian in Minnesota make the Vikings more of a force in the NFC North than the Bears?

Unless the Bears come forth with another major surprise and pull Randy Moss out of their hat — they certainly have enough money to do so — the Vikes probably do indeed deserve better billing.