Bears Re-Sign LB Lance Briggs to 6-Year $36 Million Deal

After over a year of posturing and contentious bargaining, free agent linebacker Lance Briggs is coming back to the Chicago Bears for good, signing a 6-year $36 million contract that will pay $21.7 million over the first 3 years of the deal, and includes $13 million in guaranteed money. Briggs rebuffed the Bears' offer of 6-years and $33 million last offseason, and Chicago placed the franchise tag on him in 2007, paying him $7.216 million for one season of duty. Hoping to cash in this offseason instead, Briggs played well again in 2007, but the mega-offers he was hoping for never materialized, and he decided to re-up with the only team he has known during his impressive 5-year NFL career.

Originally a 3rd round draft pick out of Arizona in the 2003 NFL Draft, Briggs has consistently been a playmaker for the Bears, and is regarded as one of the top outside linebackers and coverage 'backers in the league by most personnel experts. He has been invited to three Pro Bowls (2005, 2006, 2007), and has twice been an NFL All-Pro selection (2005, 2006). Despite being the top linebacker available in this year's free agent class, many teams simply don't value linebackers that highly, and would rather pay big money to 'shut-down' cornerbacks and pass-rushing defensive ends. This, coupled with the Bears filing a tampering charge against the San Francisco 49ers for their alleged pursuit of Briggs, seems to have led to a tepid market for Briggs' services.