Flypaste Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Bears trade Brian Griese to Tampa Bay March 3, 2008 BY BRAD BIGGS The Bears found a taker for Brian Griese after all. Hours before the team was expected to release him, the team struck a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Terms of the deal are not known, but it is expected the Bears will receive a draft pick in 2009. Griese was notified last Thursday the team would seek to trade him instead of releasing him before free agency opened. They had a deadline, however, because the Bears were not going to pay him the $300,000 roster bonus he is due tomorrow. The Bucs will now pick that up. The 11-year veteran started six games last season and had a 3-3 record. He took over in Week 4 after Rex Grossman was benched. He helped direct a 19-16 comeback victory at Philadelphia Oct. 21 that sparked controversy after he said he had been calling the plays because the headset in his helmet faltered in the two-minute drill. That didn’t go over well with offensive coordinator Ron Tuner, and Griese made an awkward clarification of events the next day. Griese suffered a minor injury to his left shoulder Nov. 11 at Oakland and was relegated to the sideline for the rest of the season. The Bears signed Griese to a five-year contract worth between $14 million and $20 million depending on play-time incentives two years ago. General manager Jerry Angelo hailed it as a major accomplishment as it brought stability to the position that had been missing. The team has already announced competition for the starting job will be between Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton, and the club is expected to draft a passer next month. Griese has been with four teams and was let go by the Buccaneers in 2006 for salary-cap reasons. He had a strong relationship with coach Jon Gruden and Tampa’s new quarterbacks coach Greg Olson has always liked Griese. Olson lobbied for the Bears to wait for Olson to be cut by Denver in 2003 to sign him instead of going with Kordell Stewart. That idea didn’t go anywhere, but Griese wound up here eventually. His contract calls for a base salary of $1.4 million in 2008, $1.8 million in 2009 and $2.2 million in 2010. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Wow - that was lucky. I'm surprised we got anything at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Billy Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Now that CHI has stepped on their dicks & signed Grossman to another year, they'll have to eliminate all QBs who can outplay him so they only look incredibly stupid instead of completely lacking of any alpha waves at all. Unfortunately for CHI fans, that means getting rid of all QBs who can currently draw a breath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goopster24 Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Now that CHI has stepped on their dicks & signed Grossman to another year, they'll have to eliminate all QBs who can outplay him so they only look incredibly stupid instead of completely lacking of any alpha waves at all. Unfortunately for CHI fans, that means getting rid of all QBs who can currently draw a breath. Did I miss something? Did Griese outplay Grossman last year? And I am talking about when Grossman came back as the starter after being benched and Griese's injury. I have come a long way after strongly supporting Grossman and I still don't endorse the re-signing 100% but to say Griese outplayed Grossman last year is simply false. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pope Flick Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Now that CHI has stepped on their dicks & signed Grossman to another year, they'll have to eliminate all QBs who can outplay him so they only look incredibly stupid instead of completely lacking of any alpha waves at all. Unfortunately for CHI fans, that means getting rid of all QBs who can currently draw a breath. He wasn't liked by the coaches - you experienced something not too dissimilar while he was in Denver. They're also planning on going back to the draft, so they only had room for Grossman and Orton - especially after they both re-signed recently. They kept the right two now let's see if they get the draft pick correct - that's what you should be laughing over, not the cutting of a journeyman QB who wears out his welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 I'm more curious why Tampa picked him up. Between Gradkowski, Garcia, McCown, Simms, and the rights to Plummer,have to wonder what their game plan is. I didn't remember Gradkowski being all that bad, but then again not a homer and didn't see everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TripleW64 Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 I'm more curious why Tampa picked him up. Between Gradkowski, Garcia, McCown, Simms, and the rights to Plummer,have to wonder what their game plan is. I didn't remember Gradkowski being all that bad, but then again not a homer and didn't see everything. My thoughts exactly. How many sub-par QBs does one team need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly Rodgers Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 I'm more curious why Tampa picked him up. Between Gradkowski, Garcia, McCown, Simms, and the rights to Plummer,have to wonder what their game plan is. I didn't remember Gradkowski being all that bad, but then again not a homer and didn't see everything. They are not comfortable giving the ball to either Gradkowski (who was that bad) or McCown if and when Garcia goes down. Feel free to check out Griese's numbers when he was in Tampa. He knows the system and plays well in it. As for Plummer and Simms, they are done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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