Bears

[HarveyWallbangers]

They are having more problems than we are with Tank Johnson, Lance Briggs, trading the wrong RB, keeping Rex Grossman as the starter, and now Alex Brown.

Bears DE Alex Brown seeking trade

CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago Bears expect to see starting defensive end Alex Brown at their minicamp this weekend even though Brown says he's seeking a trade.

Brown told Sirius NFL Radio on Wednesday that he asked the Bears for permission to work out a trade. But coach Lovie Smith plans to have Brown at the three-day minicamp beginning Friday.

"I just know we have a minicamp coming up this weekend and Alex has been working awful hard with our program," Smith said. "We'll see him there this weekend working out with us. So that's about all I can tell you right now."

Brown admitted he's comfortable with the Bears, but is eager to explore other opportunities. Still, he has three years remaining on his contract.

"We're just trying to see what's out there," Brown said. "That's what we're trying to do. It's not the Bears. They don't want to get rid of me. It's just that I want to see what else is out there.

"If it was up to me I'd get a new contract here and play the rest of my career here. I totally understand some of the things the Bears are saying. We're handling this in a real low-key fashion and that's the way we want to keep it."

Brown had seven sacks last season in a very effective line rotation that helped Chicago reach the Super Bowl, where it lost to Indianapolis.

A fourth-round pick out of Florida in 2002, Brown signed a contract extension in 2004. He said when he broached the subject of a trade, the Bears told him, "No way. We love you. We don't want to get rid of you."

Added Brown: "It took a while to even get them to talk about it."

[b bulldog]

Bad management in Chitown

[Guiness]

Don't get it - what's wrong here? (other than the fact he has to put on a Bears uni)

Is he unhappy with his extension and the money in it? With 3 years left, he's pretty much screwed.

[Partial]

Bad management in Chitown

Selfish players. Cat has 3 years left on his deal. He wants to cash in since the cap went WAY up. Idiot shouldn't have signed a long term deal, then.

[Iron Mike]

[Iron Mike]

[Packgator]

They are having more problems than we are with Tank Johnson, Lance Briggs, trading the wrong RB, keeping Rex Grossman as the starter, and now Alex Brown.

Bears DE Alex Brown seeking trade

Brown admitted he's comfortable with the Bears, but is eager to explore other opportunities.

It's just that I want to see what else is out there.

He has three years remaining on his contract.

Brown signed a contract extension in 2004.

It couldn't happen to a better team. But this contract situation is getting out of control everywhere. Asking out with three years left? The fact that he's a Gator can only mean one thing........look what playing for the Bears does to a guy!

[Iron Mike]

What the hell, let's do it again:

[Ballboy]

Brown doesn't want a new deal....he sees that his playing time will be alot less this year as the Bears will us Anderson more in his spot. What will happen to Brown is that when he is a FA, his numbers won't look as good as he won't get as much playing time.


They like Anderson vs. run because of his size, but has good pass rush skills.

[Joemailman]

Behavior analysis: Bears already done as '07 contenders


Clark Judge May 17, 2007
By Clark Judge
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer



Remember that hex the Super Bowl puts on losing teams the following seasons? It's alive, well and living in Halas Hall.

There you'll find the Chicago Bears, last year's Super Bowl losers and the first club to be DQed from this year's NFL championship game. Normally, you wait until November or December before telephoning the league coroner, but the Bears will spare you the trouble.

Make that call now.

It's not that the Bears don't have the talent to win. They do. It's not that they made dumb offseason moves, either, because they didn't. It has nothing to do with the draft or with Rex Grossman imitating the Venus De Milo or with a division that is barely visible in the rear-view mirror.

Nope, this has to do with the Bears' behavior. It stinks, and, yeah, I'm talking about Lance Briggs, Alex Brown and Tank Johnson.

Once they couldn't stop making plays, fixtures in the NFL's toughest defense. Now, they can't stop making news, with Brown stepping forward this week to announce he asked the Bears' permission to seek a trade.

Not because he's unhappy. Not because he becomes a free agent next year. Not because he doesn't like the coaching staff. But because "I just want to see what else is out there," Brown said on Sirius Radio.

Swell.

No, I don't get it, either. But what I am beginning to understand is that these Bad News Bears look more like a bunch of misfits than a football team, and that's not how you overcome the post-Super Bowl blues.

Lest you forget, teams that lose a Super Bowl one season typically go into the jar the next. Five of the past six, in fact, not only failed to reach the playoffs the following seasons; they couldn't win more than they lost.

Seattle broke that skid last year when it won its division with a 9-7 record, but then it fizzled in the playoffs against Chicago.

So at least there's hope for the Bears, especially when you survey the field in the NFC North. But football is a team game, and if you don't behave as a team, you don't go far -- which Chicago seems intent on proving.

Earlier this week, I was talking to an AFC offensive coordinator when the conversation turned to the Bears, and it wasn't long before he started wondering how a club this dysfunctional survives the season. When I reminded him they play in a division with the Packers, Vikings and Lions, he stopped wondering.

"Still," he said, "I can't see them doing much."

I can't, either, and that's not a knock on general manager Jerry Angelo, coach Lovie Smith or Smith's assistants. It's an acknowledgement of a disturbing trend involving Super Bowl losers, as well as disturbing behavior by some of Chicago's top defensive players.

At the head of the class is Briggs, who rebelled after he was designated the team's franchise player -- demanding a trade and insisting he won't play for the Bears again. That means he doesn't show up for training camp, which means training camp just got a whole lot more interesting.

Look what happened with Dallas last summer when then-coach Bill Parcells was barraged with Terrell Owens questions. First, he bristled. Then, he just stopped answering. But at least T.O. was there. What do you think happens when Briggs pulls a no-show?

And he might not be the only one missing from the lineup. Johnson met with commissioner Roger Goodell this week after Johnson spent two months in prison on weapons charges. Johnson appealed for leniency, but I don't see how it happens. I mean, Jamal Lewis did time in the big house, too, and he was suspended two games by a commissioner more lenient than Goodell.

Plus, the timing is all wrong for Tank. He comes along when Goodell is determined to clean up the NFL's Guys Gone Wild and after the commissioner brought down the hammer on Pacman Jones and Cincinnati's Chris Henry.

The prevailing opinion is that Johnson sits down, with a half a season a possibility.

Then there's Brown, and don't ask me what happens there. The Bears don't have to budge, and they won't. I don't know what that does to Brown, but I have a pretty good idea what it means for team chemistry.

Give me that pen. I need it to delete Chicago from the Super Bowl.


For some reason, I like this article better than all the Favre articles we've been reading.

[BallHawk]

Chicago has a reputation for being cheap.

I like that....

[Fritz]

I don't put this one on the Bears. The guy has three years left and wants to "see what's out there?" And he's not really even unhappy? I wonder what woud happen to the guy if he trotted this stuff out on his wife...

[MadtownPacker]

Chicago has a reputation for being cheap.

I like that....

Guess who else is getting that rep?

[The Leaper]

Chicago has a reputation for being cheap.

Guess who else is getting that rep?

I don't agree with that. We paid Kampy. We paid Barnett. We paid Harris. We paid Driver. Thompson also forked out pretty good coin in free agency for Woodson.

Thompson IS willing to fork out coin for guys he feels are reliable players on HIS team...with the caveat that it only happens on HIS schedule. The problem is that we don't have many players on our roster that are reliable players at this point. Quite a few weren't...which is why they weren't resigned this offseason.

If we had guys the caliber of some of these Bear players, I think Thompson would do what it took to keep the ones he felt were key pieces going forward.

Thompson and Green Bay aren't viewed as cheap...just overly conservative on taking risks.

[Tarlam!]

Leaper, you speak the facts, but Mad spoke the pulse of what players think.

No doubt, TT is not cheap, but he is selective. Since other teams seem to value players differently than TT, his selective way makes him appear cheap.

IMO, you are both right.

I thnik a player on a blockbuster deal in GB should be honored, since TT only gives away those deals if he is totally convinced.

Marquand is hardly on a blockbuster deal. Woodson only gets paid if he performs.

I am OK with TT's ethics.

[The Leaper]

Leaper, you speak the facts, but Mad spoke the pulse of what players think.

I still don't believe it.

The players do not view Green Bay as cheap IMO. To me, I would think the general lack of conviction toward "winning now" and the fact that Green Bay doesn't offer many of the perks other larger cities do is what actually is the biggest turn off to available NFL players at present.

Players know full well that Driver, Kampy, Barnett, and Harris all got paid recently. Who on the Bears has been paid recently? I just don't think there is any real evidence that players feel Green Bay is cheap. If Mad has some, I'd be glad to see it. I just hear much more regarding the lack of "city amenities" Green Bay offers...and you know the rebuilding process also scares guys away who are looking to win now.

Woodson got a huge payout last year...whether or not he performed. Fortunately, to his credit, he did.

Manual didn't get a huge payday because he wasn't a proven NFL starter.

I'm sorry...I just don't see it.

[the_idle_threat]

Best. Double post. Ever.

[BooHoo]

The Bears slide is good news for us.

[MadtownPacker]

I don't agree with that. We paid Kampy. We paid Barnett. We paid Harris. We paid Driver. Thompson also forked out pretty good coin in free agency for Woodson.

Thompson IS willing to fork out coin for guys he feels are reliable players on HIS team...with the caveat that it only happens on HIS schedule. The problem is that we don't have many players on our roster that are reliable players at this point. Quite a few weren't...which is why they weren't resigned this offseason.

If we had guys the caliber of some of these Bear players, I think Thompson would do what it took to keep the ones he felt were key pieces going forward.

Thompson and Green Bay aren't viewed as cheap...just overly conservative on taking risks.

You are right LL. Im not saying that TT is cheapo and taking care of your own certainly looks good but Im talking about what Tarlam said and that is perception.

TT had mega $$$ to spend this offseason and didn't even buy a loaf a bread. He ould have had players TE MCMichael and FB Griffith had he gave them a lil extra $$. IMO those kind of signings would have come cheap and looked good on his track record regardless of if they panned out or not. Throw in a moss trade with the 2007 draft and TT is the talk of the football world.

None of it happened and Im cool with that but all of those things could have happened and TT would have still had the same roster today plus the playes mentioned above. It doesnt show a commitment to failure but it doesnt show a commitment to winning now either.

As a fan I want to win now and later but Im guessing that current NFL players want to win now. Thats what I meant by rep.

[BEARMAN]

Yuk it up , you cheese heads. You all will eat these hateful words as this season rolls on ! Oh yeah, and farve is sooooooooooo happy in gb? Everything in gb is just peachy? When this season is done and in the book, Da BEARS will have won the SB and gb will be dead last(again) !
I can BEARly wait to see farve wriething in pain as the BEARS "D" eats him alive, and raw ! MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm farve meat an cheese MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm GOOD !