Lance Briggs has said he is so angry with the Bears' cheapness in their contract negotiations that he's done playing for them. In fact, he said he'll sit out the entire 2007 season before he'll play under the franchise player offer of $7.2 million a year. There is zero chance of Briggs going through with that threat. If he does, he wouldn't just be sitting out a year earning nothing when he could be earning the $7.2 million that comes with the franchise tag the Bears placed on him. He'd also be preventing himself from earning the unrestricted free agency he so desperately wants.
Under the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the union, players accrue years of service in each season. A player who sits out an entire season doesn't accrue a year of service. In Briggs' case, if he refuses to report the Bears can keep him for that same franchise tag next year.
If Briggs really wants to drive a hard bargain, he can refuse to report until the 10th week of the season -- players who report by Week 10 still accrue a year of service. But there's no way he'd hold out past November. Doing that would give him less leverage, not more.
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