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Briggs Agrees To 1-Year Deal With Bears

Published: Jul 26, 2007

CHICAGO - Lance Briggs is going to play and not sit. The Chicago Bears Pro Bowl linebacker agreed to a one-year, $7.2 million contract Wednesday as the team's franchise player.

Unhappy when he was initially given the tag, Briggs had threatened to sit out the season, but he reached an agreement one day before the Bears are to report to training camp.

The deal came together after the Bears agreed to not put the franchise tag on Briggs in 2008 and give the linebacker a $1 million advance, agent Drew Rosenhaus said.

Rosenhaus called it a "fair trade-off."

"There was no reason to hold out at this point. We were able to gain something in terms of not having the franchise next year. That will give Lance an opportunity to have a great season and maximize his position for next year," Rosenhaus said. "We did not want history repeating itself. Unfortunately, this is a lengthy process. We were able to get it done."

Briggs, who helped the Bears make the Super Bowl last season for the first time since 1985, is getting the average of the top five salaries at his position.

In 2006, Briggs earned $721,600 in the final season of his first NFL contract after he reportedly rejected a six-year, $33 million offer last spring.

At one point in the offseason, Briggs told the Bears to remove the tag or trade him. A potential deal with the Redskins didn't materialize.

"I've played my last snap for them. I'll never play another down for Chicago again," Briggs said during the offseason.

Now he will.

The Bears report to training camp today at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, about 60 miles south of Chicago. The first practice is Friday. Rosenhaus said he wasn't sure if Briggs would make the first practice because the deal was worked out so close to camp and Briggs had some personal items to attend to.

Briggs skipped the team's offseason workouts and minicamp, but he was still on his teammates' minds. On the final day of drills this spring as players swapped numbers, teammate Brian Urlacher donned Briggs' No. 55.

Briggs made the Pro Bowl for a second time last season, recording a career-high 176 tackles with two interceptions and a fumble recovery while starting all 16 games for a third straight season. He had 117 solo tackles.

The Bears also agreed to a four-year contract with second-round pick Dan Bazuin. The defensive end out of Central Michigan is the last of nine players selected by the Bears to reach a deal.

Chiefs' Holmes To Report To Camp On Saturday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Chiefs running back Priest Holmes has informed the team that he intends to report to training camp Saturday.

Holmes told Chiefs president Carl Peterson on Wednesday that he wants to play for the Chiefs in 2007, team spokesman Brad Kuhbander said. Holmes is under contract with the Chiefs through 2009.

Peterson said the 33-year-old Holmes might be placed on the physically unable to perform list initially to gauge his conditioning and to see how he feels after noncontact drills. He has not played since Oct. 30, 2005, when he was injured by a hit by linebacker Shawne Merriman in a game at San Diego. The hit left him with head and neck trauma, diagnosed by three spinal specialists.

BILLS: Linebacker Paul Posluszny, the 34th overall pick in this year's draft, signed a four-year deal potentially worth more than $5 million a day before the start of Bills training camp.

Buffalo also signed running back Dwayne Wright, a fourth-round pick, earlier in the day. The signings leave the Bills with one draft pick unsigned, running back Marshawn Lynch, taken 12th overall.

CARDINALS: Arizona agreed to terms with second-round draft pick Alan Branch on a four-year contract. Branch, a defensive tackle out of Michigan who was chosen No. 33 overall, is the fourth draftee signed by the Cardinals this year.

COWBOYS: Dallas signed six of its eight draft picks in time for the first practice of training camp, leaving top pick Anthony Spencer and third-rounder James Marten as the lone holdouts.

Signing Wednesday were: receiver Isaiah Stanback and guard Doug Free, fourth-rounders; kicker Nick Folk and fullback Deon Anderson, sixth-rounders; and defensive backs Courtney Brown and Alan Ball, seventh-rounders.

EAGLES: Quarterback Kevin Kolb signed a four-year deal, the last of the team's eight draft picks to sign.

49ERS: San Francisco agreed to a contract with running back Thomas Clayton, a sixth-round pick. He's the sixth draft pick to have reached a deal with the 49ers.

JETS: Linebacker David Harris, the team's second-round pick, signed a four-year contract. New York has signed three of its four draft picks - with first-rounder Darrelle Revis, a cornerback from Pittsburgh, the only one unsigned.

RAIDERS: Running back Michael Bush, one of Oakland's two fourth-round selections, signed, making him the seventh draft pick to sign a deal with the team.

TITANS: Tennessee agreed to terms with veteran receiver Eric Moulds, adding some needed experience to the roster for quarterback Vince Young.

LEGAL: At Kirkland, Wash., Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was charged with negligent driving and avoided charges of drunken driving.

A spokesman for the King County prosecutor said Wednesday that Moon tested below the legal limit in the hours following his arrest for investigation on April 6.