Thoughts on Saints lack of interest in Briggs
I do know he ended up going back to the team he swore he'd never play for again.
My theory on that, and I could be way off, is that...
While I don't think Briggs is a bad guy, and would have loved to have him, I do think he's a bit of a loose cannon, the kind of guy who's all about RESPECK™ and who likes to swing his **** around. He fancies himself Mr. Big Man. He's an ego guy.
Again, that doesn't make him a
bad guy.
But I think the whole thing about him never playing for the Bears again was posturing. He was running his mouth because he felt like the Bears were showing him DISRESPECK™ and he felt like he had to bow up to save face.
But he never really wanted to leave. For one, the Bears' front office and Lovie Smith have shown via Tank Johnson (among others) that they're pretty <s>weak</s> tolerant of guys who "do their thing" or whatever. They're not exactly quick with the discipline. Dude's got at least 3 or 4 more 3am car crashes in him before anybody at Halas Hall is gonna get fed up. That's a pretty good situation for a guy who likes to think he's too big a deal to be come down on.
And for another, having the Bears eventually give him his money means he "wins." Eventually they realized they had to show the man his proper RESPECK™. Had he signed elsewhere, even for more money, Briggs "loses" considering that kind of mindset, because ultimately the Bears didn't blink. They let him go. The fact that it was the Bears who eventually paid him adds at least a couple of inches, know what I'm sayin'?