Bears Land Briggs, Still Pursue Tampering Charges Against 49ers

You'd think that since the Bears ended up re-signing Lance Briggs (at a bargain-basement price, too!), they would've forgotten about the allegations of tampering leveled against the 49ers, who were also interested in Briggs. And you'd be wrong.

As the 49ers tell it, they talked to the Bears about a possible deal for Briggs, contacted the appropriate folks about signing Briggs to a new contract, but because Briggs was designated a franchise player and not eligible to sign a new contract, San Francisco ended the talks.

FanHouse's Josh Alper asks a good question: "Unless the Bears are claiming that they never discussed trading Briggs, which seems quite unlikely since they spent most of the summer trying to trade him, where's the tampering?"

Of course, a few days later, the Bengals also complained that the 49ers tampered with former defensive end Justin Smith, a player they would eventually sign to six-year $45 million deal.

And today, FOXSports.com's Jay Glazer reports "that there is a hearing scheduled in New York City for Monday to help determine if the 49ers tampered with Briggs and/or his agent Drew Rosenhaus during the 2007 NFL season."

The Bears have a large contingent flying to New York, including team president Ted Phillips, general manager Jerry Angelo, and perhaps head coach Lovie Smith among others, a sign that they are taking these charges quite seriously.

An NFL front-office source said commissioner Roger Goodell was hoping the two sides could work out a solution to their discrepancy prior to Monday's hearing. If not, Goodell would likely make a ruling on a penalty if he finds San Francisco guilty.

If the 49ers are found guilty, they could incur a fine, lose some draft picks, or both. To me, making them re-sign and start this guy would be punishment enough. And if he decides to retire, I say call Mike Martz's bluff.