49ers receive draft day punishment for tampering with Lance Briggs

Michigan

NEW YORK - Following a detailed investigation, the NFL determined that the San Francisco 49ers indeed tampered with Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs while Briggs was under contract with the Bears, and Commissioner Roger Goodell forced the 49ers to give up their fifth-round draft pick in the 2008 draft.

Goodell also ruled that the 49ers and Bears would flip-flop draft selections in the third round, meaning the Bears now have the seventh selection of the round while the 49ers will drop to 12th.

"The 49ers organization respects Commissioner Goodell's ruling today, however we do disagree with it," said 49ers General Manager Scot McCloughan. This was not a malicious act; we believe that our intent was within the NFL guidelines. Going forward, we will take the necessary steps to ensure we are in compliance with the NFL's interpretation."

The Bears filed tampering charges against the 49ers and went to New York to meet with NFL officials about the incident.

"We are appreciative of the efforts of the league office on this matter and support the Commissioner's decision,'' said Ted Phillips, the Bears president and CEO.

mreuter

I think the 49ers are being punished enough with the players they have.

gotsparks09

<< <i>I think the 49ers are being punished enough with the players they have. >>



I agree. Good thing I'm a Red Sox fan, too.

What is "tampering with" mean? Did they just try to steal him from the Bears? "Tampering" makes it sound like they did something "naughty" to him. {insert San Francisco joke here}

edited to add: This punishment aint gonna hurt us, none. We've got all those great, dominant players...like Frank Gore...uh...Willis...ummmmm...that guy that wears all the funny hats...hmmmmm

Michigan

I believe "tampering" meant contacting him about coming to the 49ers while he was still under contract with the Bears.


There is apparently a fine line in what kind of communication is acceptable in those kinds of situations and the 49ers felt that what
they did was not "tampering" but the Bears felt differently and filed a complaint. Goodell agreed with the Bears.

IrishMike

49ers talked to his agent about a contract extension before the trade was made and before they had permission from the Bears to do so. Their protests not withstanding this was an obvious infraction of the rules but sometimes is overlooked unless the team actually signs the player. The net affect of what they did precluded them from signing him. Either they were stupid or or thought it was no big deal, but this time it got enforced.