Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, who’s openly complaining about his contract, says his complaints aren’t just about himself.
Rather, Briggs says, he’s complaining because he thinks a lot of his teammates have been treated badly by the Bears, and he thinks part of his job as a team leader is to speak on their behalf.
“I know I’m going to catch a lot of flak,” Briggs said, via John Mullin of CSNChicago.com. “I’ll be a man about it. But when you’re a leader of the team, you’re also a voice. If I have an opportunity to be a voice, no matter how much heat I’m going to take, I’m going to do it. It’s bigger than just my issue. It’s Matt Forte, it’s Chris Harris, it’s Israel Idonije. There’s a lot of players on the Bears that help us win a championship.”
Briggs also pointed to one player who’s no longer a teammate, center Olin Kreutz. According to Briggs, the Bears’ decision not to re-sign Kreutz, and to sign Chris Spencer to a two-year contract to become the Bears’ new center, is a sign that the front office is out of touch with the locker room.
“No disrespect to Chris Spencer, because I really like the guy and I’m glad he’s an addition to our team,” Briggs said. “But for the price they brought Chris Spencer in and number of years, I don’t see why Olin Kreutz, who is a one-of a kind leader for us . . . why not just keep Olin? It’s not my decision but I didn’t quite understand that.”
There’s clearly a lot about the Bears that Briggs doesn’t understand right now.