Mariotti Prematurely Demands Shrute Bucks for Briggs
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Jay Mariotti's farsightedness towards understanding basic principles of economics must stem from an inordinate excessive duration of staring at a brightly lit monitor screen while furiously banging out nonsensical rhetorical garbage such as this latest Sun-Times back page offering.
A short while ago, the pint size alleged columnist huffed and puffed over "Malice Hall" refusing to discipline Lance Briggs for a rather dubious motor vehicle [accident on the Chicago Eden's Expressway at 3 AM. The story grew more suspicious following Briggs' rather public recanting of a stolen vehicle claim for a more truthful admittance to driving and crashing his $400,000.00 Lamborghini. While Bears fans held their collective breaths, the player was only issued a few misdemeanor traffic violations and the matter was resolved recently in court. Life moves on.
Never one to pass up a moment to belittle Brian Urlacher's linebacking skills or highly personal parental custodial disputes, Mariotti lays claim that Lance Briggs is now the superior Chicago linebacker and deserves to be paid accordingly. The pundit eschews, "I would hope Lovie Smith’s reaction to Briggs’ remarks is the first sign of a financial reconciliation to come. Now that the Bears have shed their Misers of the Midway tag — do you realize they’re the only NFL franchise with less than $1 million in salary-cap room this season? — there’s really no reason not to lock him up when Grossman’s imminent departure frees up millions."
Well apparently fulfilling the role of ignoramus buffoon for the daily televised taping of the talking sports bobbleheads (infamously recognized as Around The Horn) seems to be restricting Mariotti's capacity to conduct actual legitimate research towards the manufacturing of news opinionated columns. Especially, when the topic in question involves comprehension of the National Football League's Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Prior to the 2006 NFL season, the Chicago Bears offered a reportedly seven year deal worth $33 million to Briggs with the cautionary tone that should the contract be refused, no further deals would be offered and that he would be franchise tagged for the 2007 season. Hardball negotiating perhaps, but then again the Bears were only operating under the provisions and guidelines set forth by the current binding CBA. Perhaps assuming that a bluff was in play on part of management, Briggs flatly turned down the offer and diverted his attention to providing stellar linebacking skills alongside Urlacher in 2006.
Following the Super Bowl, Briggs and wunderkind legend in his own mind sports agent Drew Rosenhaus regrouped with Bears management to hammer out a new contract. Staying true to his word, Jerry Angelo informed Briggs that it was management's intention to declare him a "non-exclusive franchise player" and that the contract offer would be calculated exactly as mandated by the NFL's CBA. Consequently, $7.2 million for one season's worth of service to play football was not suffice to Briggs, prompting several foolish and premature declarations to the media that his playing days as a Chicago Bear were definitively over.
Now what the heck exactly is a "non-exclusive franchise player"? Good question. And unfortunately to the trees needlessly massacred in order to manufacture the paper mulch for this column of inconvenient lies, this definition of rather heavy significance was never investigated by Mariotti. But why let boring facts distort an irritating rant? Anyways, here is the definition: > > A "non-exclusive" franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for an amount equal to or greater than the average of the top five salaries at the player's position in the previous year, or 120 percent of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater. A non-exclusive franchise player may negotiate with other NFL teams, but if he signs an offer sheet from another team, the original team has a right to match the terms of that offer, or if it does not match the offer and thus loses the player, to receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.
During his holdout from mini camp, it was debated among the Jay the Joke faithful, that by acting as Briggs' representative, was Rosenhaus tampering by negotiating with Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins?
As it turns out, evidently not as the Bears were absolutely free to match any offer from the Redskins or choose to accept 2 first round draft picks or accept any proposed trade offer.
History demonstrates that none of the above scenarios involving the linebacker's departure from the Bears occurred. Despite the typical outraged player rhetoric expressed during contract disputes and subsequently ravishingly lapped up by column hype junkies such as Mariotti, Briggs realized that his plan to sit out ten games in 2007 would only dent his pocket book and direct fate's hand to being re-issued the franchise tag in the following season.
Perhaps it was finally recognized by Lance Briggs that the fight was in fact not with Halas Hall but rather the franchise tag option presented in the CBA that was ratified by his own players' union. The linebacker ultimately relented and has played admirably in a somewhat turbulent season for the team.
And because of Briggs' play after a grand total of five regular season games, Mariotti is imploring Jerry Angelo to open the vault for his player currently perpetually languishing in franchise tag purgatory as a reward.
Uhhh, how?
The collective bargaining agreement clearly stipulates: > > Any Club designating a Franchise player shall have until 4:00 p.m., New York time, on July 15 of the League Year (or, if July 15 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the first Monday thereafter) for which the designation takes effect to sign the player to a multi-year contract or extension. After that date, the player may sign only a one-year Player Contract with his Prior Club for that season, and such Player Contract may not be extended until after the Club's last regular season game. Source: NFL CBA, Article XX Section 2 paragraph k
Ever get tired of tasting the leather from your own shoe, Jay? The Bears are not obligated, in fact are not even permitted, to negotiate any new deal with Lance Briggs until the end of the NFL regular season. Might that possibly be the reason why neither the player or his agent and the Chicago Bears are not currently discussing a new deal?
In the meantime, perhaps Mariotti can mail a few garbage bags of Schrute bucks over to Halas Hall as extra motivation to Lance Briggs to play even better this season. It seemed to really inspire the Dunder-Mifflin Scranton branch, so Jay, why indeed not try?
Tyrone Briggs is a self-confessed idiot savant with no life purpose other than to rip Jay Mariotti.
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