Osi for Briggs speculation in Chicago

[spiderblue43]

It's just speculation but would a trade of two peaking star players work for you guys?. Apparently, Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times thinks so today, and the buzz about the Bears needing to pair Peppers with one-trick pony Osi in exchange for Lance Briggs, who wants a new deal, of course (when his isn't leaving his car on the freeway, naturally). The logic is the Giants need an upgrade at LB with their overflow of DL's and the salary cap issues down the road, the Bears with augmenting their big investment in JP with Osi. And with JPP's emergence, he is now a second fiddle, etc. with Big Blue they can't afford.

Osi is just terrific being a situational player with the Giants rotation and the NASCAR package. An every down player not so much. With Briggs, you get an aging star (31) yet consistent tackler who is perfect in Lovie's scheme. And who wants to get paid-a lot more.

That bothers me most. Undeniably, Briggs is a high quality player but I'd rather find an alternative and keep Osi for another year in an insanely pass happy league because of the rule changes. Keep Osi with a memo minder incentive clause.


 

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[jimmyz]

No thanks to Lance Briggs in general.  Three years ago...okay.  But last thing we need is Keith Bulluck redux.

Instead, if we draft a LB, we get one much cheaper and for 10 years.

[bighitterdalama]

Spider,

Nice idea in a different day and age. Problem is, when it comes to salary, Briggs equals Osi in his belief that he is under-payed. In fact, worse. The guy is a perennial PITA who thinks he should make more money than A-Rod.

Sounds more like a Chicago writer with nothing to write about earning his pay by speculating about nothing.

Big Hitter 

[Painter]

Let's not mix up our facts in forming our opinions. Lance Briggs showed little or no sign of decline in his play last year. He remained among the best WLBs in the NFL. He again led the Bears in tackles; third time in the last four years, and is an above average pass defender. Of course, his tackle numbers reflect the fact that he lines up behind Julius Peppers who cares nothing about a ball carrier who isn't a QB. Funny, but I never hear anyone refer to Peppers as one-dimensional.

Frankly, leaving the extraordinary J P-P out of it, I don't know that I would take Peppers/ Briggs over Osi/ Boley, today.  In this discussion, however, we are talking Briggs for Osi which brings Briggs over Boley into play. That is unless you see Briggs on the strong side; a whole other topic.

As for the similarities between Briggs and Osi regarding their requests for contract extension or trade, neither one of them has let it affect their play to date. We will have to see what this offseason brings but Briggs/Rosenhaus may be the more adamant. The Bears cap situation would seem amenable to a deal with Briggs (they gave Urlacher an extension), or to pay Osi what he feels he should have gotten (was promised?). But for Osi to do what for DaBears; rotate with Peppers?

Cheers!

[pagan43]

...As for the similarities between Briggs and Osi regarding their requests for contract extension or trade, neither one of them has let it affect their play to date...

I think that Osi's decision to postpone knee surgery until the week before the opener was a pretty blatant "I'm not playing under these conditions" statement.

He effectively shortened his season, burdened his teammates to win without him and screwed the Giants for not giving in to his renegotiation demands.

I still wouldn't trade him for Briggs...

pagan43

[St Marys]

Briggs wants more money and JR will be looking closely at his purse strings.   If Osi is gone, I'm thinking that he'll be looking for a younger, cheaper, less PITA option to mould.

[MightyGiants]

I had heard of this.  Like Painter I was considering what sort of upgrade the Giants would get going from Boley to Briggs.   That is unless the team would try to move Boley or Briggs to a different position.  Plus the Giants have the promising J Williams who is another natural will backer.

[Rambo89]

Cap wise I.don't see how the Giants do this.

[zephirus]

If someone could ensure a happy Lance Briggs was coming over I'd be OK with it, at the right price.  And therein lies the problem.  Both of these men think they are under-paid.  Not to mention both flourish under their respective teams.  I don't see the Bears and Giants making deals with any of these guys.  As long as they are under contract they will be forced to play out the string.  I see Osi trying to rock the boat in the off-season and getting nowhere again.  Same thing with Briggs.

[jerseyguy]

don't most NFL players feel they are underpaid, and if thats true then its on the owners who started giving new contracts to whining players before the contract  they signed was finished...

[ozz]

Do we, as Giants fans with a rich, storied tradition of excellent linebackers surrounding our favorite franchise, overvalue linebackers today?  It seems like we've been after the team to upgrade its linebacking for years now.  But somehow the team's getting it done with a former DE, a school teacher in training that was sitting on a couch a couple of months ago, and an underrated Michael Boley. 

Obviously it would be great to have backers that we see on the 9ers or even the Texans.  But it seems like the team can be successful if the backers are merely above average.

[MP21WAYS2PAY]

Jerry Reese will prefer, and probably hold out for and get, a second round pick.

[Gmo11]

Both these guys want a new deal.  That much we know.  And you can't have either one without the contract.  So if the Giants were inclined to spend a little money on one or the other, why on earth would they do it on the guy who would be new to the team, and learning a new position presumably rather than the guy who has been one of the top 5 sack artist in the league for the better part of the last decade who knows the team and the system and the players, and who his teammates absolutely adore?  Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

[todge]

It makes sense because the Giants have Kiwi, Tolly, JPP and Tuck to play DE next year.   They have Herzlich and Goff to play the Sam and Mike positions. 

This trade sounds like a no-brainer to me.

[Section 101 Steve]

The trade part is not the problem. Paying a 31yr old with a lot of tread on the tires a big money contract will negate this trade from happening. We are close to the cap now and have to get ready to pay big contracts to jpp, nicks and cruz in the near future. My prediction is that reese will finally draft a backer in the first or 2nd round that is an actual backer and continue to rebuild the ol with the other top pick. In the past 5 years we have been to the super bowl twice and if al capone didn't shoot himself in the leg arguably could have been 3 out of 5. I like how reese is building with youth for the most part and his late round picks and udfa have been off the charts. Looking forward to Jerry working his magic in april again