Don Banks:
Though the Redskins are more than willing to do the dance, any potential trade for disgruntled Bears linebacker Lance Briggs is going to require clearing significant hurdles on Chicago's end. At the NFC head coaches media breakfast Wednesday at the Arizona Biltmore, Washington's Joe Gibbs said nothing is "imminent'' in terms of swinging a deal for Briggs, because "everybody's got to keep talking about it and saying does it work?''
Gibbs said Washington, which holds the No. 6 pick in next month's draft, has had serious trade conversations with three teams in addition to Chicago: Two of those scenarios involve the Redskins moving up in the draft, and the other moving down, in addition to the Briggs talks. Washington is willing to flop first-round draft slots with Chicago (No. 31) in exchange for Briggs, who requested to be traded or released after the Bears applied their franchise tag to him this offseason, effectively keeping him off the free-agent market.
A league source I talked to said the Bears "have things to overcome'' before consummating a deal with Washington, and that the likelihood of Briggs eventually joining the Redskins isn't high. The following issues concern Chicago:
The Bears aren't sure they want to move up to the No. 6 slot in the draft, which entails a much bigger financial commitment than staying at No. 31. Chicago also wants time to study the potential prospects available in the top 10, to ensure that there's a player special enough to justify the move. And lastly, the Bears aren't happy that Briggs' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, came to Phoenix to instigate the trade talks with Washington, believing it casts them in the role of being dictated to by a player and his agent.
"If there is a trade, that would just give any other Bears player who was unhappy a blueprint of what to do in order to get the outcome they wanted,'' the source said. "That's good for the player and the agent, but not for the Bears. So even if Washington's offer was attractive, that may end up nixing any chance of a trade.''
The Redskins' preference is to move back in the first round, but Gibbs conceded that with so many teams wanting to move down in the draft, it would likely be easier for Washington to move up. How the Redskins would manage that isn't clear. Washington has no second-, third- or fourth-round picks this year, and Gibbs said the Redskins are committed to keeping their 2008 draft choices intact.
"From what you hear, your best bargains this year will be in the second round,'' Gibbs said. "That's where a lot of the players are. It's almost as if once you get past all the hype of the first round, that's where all the guys that you want will be.''