CHICAGO — Unhappy with his contract, Bears Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs told the Chicago Tribune he is seeking permission to look for a trade.
“The Bears made their decision, now I have to make mine,” he told the newspaper. “It’s just how the business works. It’s not going to take away from what I do on the field. I’m 100 percent a Bear, until I’m not a Bear anymore.”
He said agent Drew Rosenhaus has filed a formal request to seek a trade.
A six-time Pro Bowl pick, Briggs has three years left on a six-year, $36 million deal and is scheduled to make $3.9 million this season, including bonuses. He recently approached the Bears seeking a raise, but management apparently is not budging. Chicago has about $19 million in cap room.
This isn’t the first time Briggs has butted heads with the team over a contract. He vowed he would never play “another down for Chicago again” after the Bears slapped the franchise-player tag on him for the 2007 season. He wound up accepting a one-year, $7.2 million contract and agreed to that six-year deal in March 2008.
No HGH testing before season
NEW YORK — The NFL told teams in a memo that blood testing for human growth hormone, which was conditionally part of the new collective bargaining agreement completed last month, would not begin with the start of the regular season Thursday.
The league said the players union had concerns about the validity of the tests used by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Until an agreement is reached on growth hormone testing, the NFL will use the performance-enhancing drug policy from 2010 — which does not allow drug suspensions to be appealed to an independent third party, a right the players won in the new labor deal.
The league and the union committed to include testing for growth hormone, pending the completion of details of the testing, on Aug. 4. At the time, there was broad optimism from both sides that there would be little trouble completing the agreement in time to allow testing — including, the league said, game-day testing — for the season openers. But since then, the union has dug in, saying WADA has failed to provide information it has requested about the efficacy and accuracy of the tests.
• Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams, Saints defensive end Will Smith and two players without teams — defensive linemen Pat Williams and DE Charles Grant — have been suspended for the first two games of the regular season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Also, Redskins cornerback Phillip Buchanon was suspended four games and Ravens receiver David Reed one game for violating the NFL substance- abuse policy.
Footnotes.
Alex Smith was named the 49ers’ starting quarterback heading into the regular season.
• The Packers agreed to a contract extension with starting right guard Josh Sitton that will keep him with the team through 2016.
• Giants linebacker Clint Sintim has been placed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury in the preseason finale.
• Former Buccaneers defensive end Lee Roy Selmon is in critical condition at a Tampa, Fla., hospital after suffering a stroke.
