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Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reports that an NFL hearing scheduled for Monday in New York is set to determine whether the 49ers tampered with Bears linebacker Lance Briggs.
Glazer cites unnamed league sources saying the Bears believe the 49ers had impermissible contact with either Briggs or his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, during the 2007 NFL season. The Bears and 49ers were close to working out a trade involving Briggs, but the trade fell through at the last minute. Briggs ultimately re-signed with the Bears this month.
According to Glazer, the Bears are taking the matter seriously and are prepared to have team president Ted Phillips, General Manager Jerry Angelo, and head coach Lovie Smith all travel to New York for the hearing.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was apparently hoping the Bears and 49ers could reach some type of agreement before the hearing. But short of such an agreement, Goodell will side for one team or the other. If he finds that the 49ers did break league rules on tampering, the team could be fined or docked draft picks.
March 15th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Would Lance Briggs be able to say whether or not the accusation is true or not without incriminating himself or would him admitting it be just as bad for his agent and himself as it would be for the 49ers?
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March 15th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Eagles tampered with Asante Samuel as well, but of course there will be nothing because tha Patriots are always persecuted.
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March 16th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Briggs already said in an interview that the 49ers stopped talking to him “right before free agency started”. Um, yeah, I’m guessing not good.
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March 16th, 2008 at 4:55 am
Roger Goodell…Are you kidding me????? One week before free agency YOU sent notices to all teams, warning them about consequences from tampering!!!
And now…All you’re concerned with is the 49rs????
What about the Jets, or is that too close to home???What about the Eagles???, or for that matter, ANY team who signed a Free Agent the first day.???
Perhaps you need to consult your competition Comittee, who seem to be off limits . [ Indy throwing the last game to Tenn]
Looks like MANY TEAMS …could lose their number 1 pick…Ooops, 49rs don’t have one.
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March 16th, 2008 at 6:10 am
As a Bears fan, I do have to wonder if this is being taken too seriously. But then again, if a team illegally made things even more difficult for the Bears regarding Lance Briggs, then I can see the anger.
The only problem with appearing uber, uber, uber moral is that once you yourself make a mistake, watch out for that downfall (Larry Craig and his anti-gay stances … and, well yeah, or Eliot Spitzer prosecuting prostitutes, while … well, yeah).
May the correct verdict occur. And, go Bears!
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March 16th, 2008 at 8:39 am
If the pooor Patriots want to file a tampering complaint, they are perfectly free to do so. I don’t know what’s worse, the Pats arrogance or their fans whining.
It seems to me that the Bears elected to file this complaint because the tampering occurred during the season, not in the post-season, pre-free agency period when it’s just a technicality. That may have crossed the line in the “February tampering is OK” gentlemen’s agreement that the owners seem to have.
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March 16th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Drew Rosenhaus possibly involved in something unethical?
Who are we kidding here? Agents start talking new deals before the ink dries on the current one. Rosenhaus is probably the worst agent for such things. How else can you account for the number of players he represents?
The 49er front office has never been the same since Eddie D lost the team. That they would want to tamper with players should come as no suprise.
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March 16th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
The Bears got Briggs for $12 million guaranteed, that’s it. There should be no questioning that if the Niners DID tamper, they only further helped the Bears keep him at a value price.
Besides, this has been explained by the Niners numerous times. They tried to contact Briggs and Rosey on a contract when they were working with the Bears for a trade. When they “found” out they couldn’t sign him because of the franchise tender, they backed off.
Really, if this costs the Niners a draft pick, its absurd. They didn’t even sign the freaking guy, yet the Dolphins sign Justin Smiley to a 5 year, $25 million contract 20 minutes into free agency.
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March 16th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Last year SF signed CB Nate Clements to that record contract on the 1st day of FA and signed S Michael Lewis later in the day. That right there was more than likely tampering. Now this Briggs thing?? (Notice how nobody signed at the stroke of midnight this time around) I understand the Niners wanna sweep this under the rug but if they are found guilty , they should lose a draft pick. . . just like the patriots.
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March 18th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Hey Drew,
just so you know, the 49ers couldn’t sign Lance because the contract deadline had passed, so no new contract could be inked until after the ‘07-’08 season.
Franchise tenders are only for restricted free agents; franchise tags (the Bears used their’s on Briggs last season) are something altogether different.
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March 19th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I haven’t heard anything following this reported hearing. I assume Florio will follow up with it at some point, but it’s already Wednesday night and I haven’t seen anything here or through the original reporter, Glazer, over at FoxSports.com.
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