The trade talk dominated message boards and filled airwaves. But it appears any angst, or excitement, was wildly premature.
The Redskins approached the Bears about a possible trade in which Washington would give up the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL Draft in exchange for Pro Bowl weakside linebacker Lance Briggs and the No. 31 pick.
However, it appears the desire to trade is one-sided in favor of Washington. And, at this point, it’s unlikely to happen.
According to sources in Chicago, the Bears aren’t wild about trading into the top 10, where they’d have to pay a draft pick a much larger signing bonus. Also, one league source, who doubted the trade would happen, said general managers often fear a move like this would set a bad precedent by having an agent publicly orchestrate a trade.
Chicago placed the franchise tag on Briggs earlier this offseason. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has told Chicago to either pay his client a hefty sum or trade him. He took Briggs to the owner meetings in Phoenix this week to meet with other teams.
CBS.SportsLine.com reported that Redskins owner Dan Snyder and vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato initiated the trade talks. However, a source close to the situation said coach Joe Gibbs signed off on the deal as well.
The odd part is this: Washington essentially used two second-round picks to select weakside linebacker Rocky McIntosh last year, surrendering this year’s second round pick to move up to get him.
The Redskins can also play linebacker Lemar Marshall on the outside. They need help along the defensive line and would pass up potential premier pass rushers to make this move.
