Why Briggs is so mad

Lance Briggs got all fired up today after the reality of the Bears' franchise tag set in. As a franchise player, Briggs is guaranteed a salary equal to the average of the top players at his position. However, that number, over $7 million, pales in comparison to the money he would have made on the free agent market.

First, he's guaranteed just a one-year deal. Nate Clements, a corner who's good but not elite, just received $80 million over 8 years from San Francisco. Now Briggs is probably a better LB than Clements is a corner. However, linebackers generally aren't paid quite what corners are. Still, using that as a measuring stick, it's fair to assume that Briggs could land a deal in the 6 year, $55-$60 million range. That's probably a conservative estimate. As it stands, he'll get one year, $7+ million. That's $48 million worth of anger.

Why did this happen? Well, the cap rose by more than most teams anticipated this year. That means a bunch of teams have more cap space than they though. On top of that, the free agent class is fairly thin. The result is more demand (cap room) and relatively little supply (weak FA class). Even if Briggs plays a year and becomes a free agent (there's no guarantee the Bears wouldn't slap the tag on him again next year), the same market gap might not exist. He might even get hurt or have a down year. He's got good reason to be upset.