Fark that shit.

not a HUGE deal but it sucks nonetheless, every draft pick can be important.  It's too bad we'll never actually know what did or didn't happen with this Briggs nonsense.    

Seriously I might just be totally over this franchise.

My understanding was that the 49ers talked to the Bears about a trade in October before talking to Briggs's agent in contemplation of a possible trade during the season. Obviously, if they didn't get permission then they tampered.

However, the fact that they talked to the Bears first and then contacted the NFL and Briggs's agent indicates to me that they possibly did get permission, or at least they thought they had permission. If that's the case, there are 3 possible scenarios for what happened.

   1. They talked to the Bears and got permission, but now the Bears are lying to steal a draft pick. (possible). If this is the case, the 49ers are getting totally screwed by the Evil Bears.

   2. They talked to the Bears and were denied permission to talk to Briggs, but they went ahead and did it anyway. (Doubtful/very unlikely unless the 49ers are morons, which is possible.) If this is the case, the 49ers are lucky to only lose a 5th rounder and 6 spots in the 3rd round.

   3. They talked to the Bears and were neither given nor denied permission to talk to Briggs. This option is the most likely in my estimation. It's conceivable that the 49ers thought they had (or didn't need) permission based on talking to the Bears first, but due to ambiguous communications, the Bears don't think they gave permission. If they thought they had permission, but really didn't, then the penalty is too harsh. If they knew they didn't, but didn't think they needed it, then they probably got penalized the right amount, though, it's not like Briggs signed with the 49ers, so no harm no foul anyway.

Thus, my overall thinking, based on this mini-scandal, is that the 49ers are poorly run...then again, I already thought that.

I am really getting sick of Roger Goodell.  When is he going to realize that the NFL is the story not him.  I don't know if you guys remember when Troy Smith confronted Goodell about his portrayal of the NFL as a band of thugs.  Frankly, I would give Goodell more credit if he wasn't such a hypocrit. Lets punish some people to the fullest extent and turn a blind eye to others.  It is all just a bunch of BS.  Ask yourself how often did you here about Tags when he was in charge?  If Goodell keeps this up the NFL is going to end up like the NBA. Its getting to the point where I think Goodell's antics are doing more damage to the NFL's PR than the "crimes" he is punishing.

Cincy will be jumping on this bandwagon shortly about us tampering with Justin Smith.  Goodbye 6th round pick and swapping 2nds.