Briggs: "It's just business and I've got to provide for my family"

Lance Briggs has been laying low in Chicago since the season ended and his headed to Arizona, where he recently purchased a home, next week. His arrival will coincide with Super Bowl week in Phoenix. Briggs visited with Andrew Siciliano and Krystal Fernandez on FOX GameTime Live Tuesday evening.

Here are some highlights from he radio interview:

Siciliano: You’re going back to Arizona next week, you’ll run into all of your friends. They’re going to ask you, where are you going to be next year. What are you going to tell them?

Briggs: I’m going to tell them I don’t know right now. I don’t know, I can’t say, but wherever it is, I’m going to be happy.

Siciliano: Brian Urlacher said that he doesn’t think you’ll wear the No. 55 for the Bears again. Did you hear him say that and do you believe him?

Briggs: I know exactly why he said it. I think that comes from the fact that the organization, the Chicago Bears, aren’t for putting up that large amount of money. Especially for two guys at the same position. From what I know the price is going to be up there.

Siciliano: Is it good business to pay two linebackers that kind of money?

Briggs: It is when you want to build a championship. You know, you’ve got two guys that have proven themselves and have proven that they play well together. You have special cases. For here in Chicago, me and Brian have been playing next to each other and have been playing well. If there’s one thing that you want to keep, is keep that core.

Siciliano: From a public relations standpoint, can the Bears stand to pay you more than No. 54, the face of the franchise?

Briggs: Hey, why not pay me this year? Pay Brian next year or pay Brian next year and pay me next year. It doesn’t matter what order, as long as it gets done.

Siciliano: Do you want to come back?

Briggs: I do. I do, if the situation is right. You know, if it’s a fair deal. If it’s a fair deal, I’d come back, yeah. I’ve come to love Chicago, I love the city. I love the people. I love my teammates. It’s just business and I’ve got to provide for my family. You never know when that last day of football is.

For the record, with Briggs earning $7.206 million through the franchise tag this past season, the Bears committed 13.35 percent of the salary cap to starting linebackers Briggs, Urlacher and Hunter Hillenmeyer. That percentage could be lowered with a longterm contract depending on how the deal was structured, but probably not by a lot as the three-time Pro Bowler is seeking big bucks. Free agency opens in 36 days on Feb. 29.