What is your main gripe with the proposed Briggs deal?

If we do get him, they should cut Holdman right?

understood on the draft day thing, but it was important enough on that one to make the trade when we did.

just to clarify, we didn't give up a 1st for JC, we only swapped 1st rnd picks w/Denver, their's in 05 for ours in 06.
They may thought it was a steal at the time, but because we finished 05-06 in the playoffs, they ended up picking about the same place as they would have in 05 (#25). So the net result was a 3rd rnd. to denver.

I guess if you want to look at it that way, but we didn't have a pick in the 1st round last year which is how most people see it. Either way we got a good QB out of the deal and at least we didn't get bent over by Denver like the Duckett deal.

If we do get him, they should cut Holdman right?

Holdman has already been cut. Thank God.

Like some have stated, good linebackers can become All-Pro behind very good DTs. Harris and Johnson give Chicago's LBs time to make plays, as run stoppers, qb pressure guys and intermediate d-backs. Even during Ray Lewis' dominance, he was working behind Goose and Adams. Dominant tackles keep blockers off the linebackers, making their jobs look easy.

Having Briggs would shore up the LB position, but what's the cost? Then again, if the staff doesn't feel like McIntosh is the goods, I'm against forcing PT to justify the price tag to get him.

What I dislike most is that we aren't realizing our position here. We have the leverage in this deal!! The Bears have a pro-bowl player who wants no part of the team. If they don't trade him he's gonna sit out 10 games. And it doesn't seem like any other teams are interested. Hmmm, I wonder why that is? We need to be a little tougher. Why not ask for their 2nd or 3rd rounder? Aren't we giving up something like 1000 draft points in this deal (the equivalent of the 16th overall pick)? Too much.

I understand we can get Briggs and still end up with a good Dlineman at 31, but then we have no other picks till round 5. I thought we wanted to acquire more picks? The way I see it, if we pull the trigger on this deal we are getting a high maintenance, overpaid player (you KNOW we'll overpay him) who may just be the product of a system, and we're losing all ammunition to acquire more picks.

On the flip side, I'd love to hear some opinions on our current LB corps. Rocky is the only starting caliber player that will be under 30 when the season starts. Marcus is coming off multiple surgeries, Lemar, as much as I like the guy, is too small and not that good. Behind the 3 projected starters and Rocky, we have NOTHING. (Don't tell me Khary Campbell). So we do need another LB in my opinion, I just don't like this deal.


that was my point too about the LB situation. Our LB play was not all that great last year. When our D was strong - Marcus - Pierce - LaVar(little here and there) and Marshall on the outside was strong. Removing a couple of those peices seemed to hurt. I just think we can address both the LB and DL by making the deal. WE could also address both with a trade down, but I dont think this staff will take a 2nd or 3rd round LB and expect him to start righ away. This way we get a really good LB to play with Fletch and Washington, mixing in Rocky here and there and can still get a DL that should contribute.

Either way, we will be ok.

The more I think about the Briggs deal, the more it occurs to me that Danny Snyder is like a free agent junky. The FO tried to get him to go cold turkey (OK, so they let him buy some unexciting toys such as Fletcher and Smoot), and he seemed to be doing all right. Then the Briggs trade got waved under his nose -- a high-profile player we don't need and can't afford -- and he just goes off the wagon completely. I think that the adults are trying to talk him out of it. That's what's going on right now.

The proposed Briggs is exasperating.

If we really wanted to upgrade our WLB, why didn't we pursue one in free agency? It's not a position of need. Lemar Marshall performed there well when he had a chance plus we have Rocky. This would not only be a waste of money and draft pick for a non-need, it would further weaken team morale. I think Briggs is a very good, but not ELITE player. This only makes sense if it is for an ELITE player, Lawrence Taylor like: Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher at the top of their games. I do not believe that Briggs is in this category.

It's obvious to everyone that our biggest need is D-line, creating a pass rush. Why not draft Okoye at tackle or the best end available? That would make too much sense.

The moves over the years by the front office make it difficult to continue to be enthusiastic about this team. I really thought they were doing something different this year and making sound decisions, but, nope, same old story.

This feels so Snyder-driven. Until he is no longer in control, we may never be able to be successful.

that was my point too about the LB situation. Our LB play was not all that great last year. When our D was strong - Marcus - Pierce - LaVar(little here and there) and Marshall on the outside was strong. Removing a couple of those peices seemed to hurt. I just think we can address both the LB and DL by making the deal. WE could also address both with a trade down, but I dont think this staff will take a 2nd or 3rd round LB and expect him to start righ away. This way we get a really good LB to play with Fletch and Washington, mixing in Rocky here and there and can still get a DL that should contribute.

Either way, we will be ok.

We could use another decent LB for sure, but we have 3 solid starters now, plus a decent 4th OLB in Lemar. I don't think we need to make a move this drastic for our LBs to be very effective. Now if they threw a 2nd/3rd pick and we used the 31st on a Dlineman I suppose I'd be happy. But I worry about the MAN we're getting, not just the player. He has not handled this situation well and has made an ass of himself in the media. Plus there's all this talk that he be a product of the Tampa 2 D and all the great players around him. I smell another Trotter disaster.

The proposed Briggs is exasperating.

If we really wanted to upgrade our WLB, why didn't we pursue one in free agency? It's not a position of need. Lemar Marshall performed there well when he had a chance plus we have Rocky. This would not only be a waste of money and draft pick for a non-need, it would further weaken team morale. I think Briggs is a very good, but not ELITE player. This only makes sense if it is for an ELITE player, Lawrence Taylor like: Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher at the top of their games. I do not believe that Briggs is in this category.

It's obvious to everyone that our biggest need is D-line, creating a pass rush. Why not draft Okoye at tackle or the best end available? That would make too much sense.

The moves over the years by the front office make it difficult to continue to be enthusiastic about this team. I really thought they were doing something different this year and making sound decisions, but, nope, same old story.

This feels so Snyder-driven. Until he is no longer in control, we may never be able to be successful.

See, I think the problem is that we're looking at this as an either/or situation. Getting Briggs doesn't necessarily hurt our chances of getting a DT/DE. The draft is deep enough at that position that we could still get one later in the draft as opposed to at #6.

On a side note, for those that have seen Okoye actually play (not highlight reels), how good is he really. I mean is he demonstrably better than say a Justin Harrell? Or is the fascination with him largely due to the fact that's he so young?

See, I think the problem is that we're looking at this as an either/or situation. Getting Briggs doesn't necessarily hurt our chances of getting a DT/DE. The draft is deep enough at that position that we could still get one later in the draft as opposed to at #6.

On a side note, for those that have seen Okoye actually play (not highlight reels), how good is he really. I mean is he demonstrably better than say a Justin Harrell? Or is the fascination with him largely due to the fact that's he so young?

I haven't really broken down a whole lot of film on the man, but Okoye is young, he gets VERY high grades for his character and smarts, has a non-stop motor, and is fast enough to play end but big enough to play some DT. With the way we rotate Dlineman he would fit very nicely. I think that combination is the reason for his high draft grade. But if we picked at 31 and ended up with Carriker, Spencer, or Crowder I'd be pretty happy.