Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 17, 1994 TAG: 9404170108
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WILL MCDONOUGH BOSTON GLOBE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
One has the Patriots giving up their first- and second-round picks - fourth and 34th overall - and two players, including tight end Marv Cook.
A second has the Patriots offer Chung ing their first pick, plus guard Eugene Chung from Virginia Tech and running back Leonard Russell.
Another says the Bengals have a choice of draft picks and players, as proposed by the Patriots. The Bengals reportedly could take two picks and two players from a group specified by New England.
Which one is it, Patrick Forte?
"None," said the Patriots' vice president. "We have not made a single trade proposal to Cincinnati. I don't know where all of this stuff is coming from. That's not the way it is going to work."
The way it probably will work is this. If Bengals president Mike Brown decides to trade the top pick, he will inform the Patriots and others and await offers. Brown probably won't make that decision until Thursday or Friday.
The Bengals have contacted the agents of Ohio State defensive lineman Dan Wilkinson and San Diego State running back Marshall Faulk for preliminary talks. Brown wants to gauge the contract demands of the prospective top choices.
Keep this in mind. More than any other negotiator, Brown does not put up with ridiculous demands. Neither will he blow his draft budget on one pick, then be forced to give the rest of his draftees minimum contracts ($108,000).
So smart money will bet that Brown attempts to negotiate a deal with Wilkinson or Faulk before the draft, and if neither is satisfactory, he'll try to trade the pick. Then the proposals could be shaped into a single offer by the Patriots.
\ QUARTERBACKS, QUARTERBACKS: Step into the spotlight, Steve Bono. The stage is yours.
It was not a great week for veteran quarterbacks. Mark Rypien said a few weeks back he would not discuss taking a pay cut to stay with the Washington Redskins. So, they cut him to get their hands on his $3 million salary.
Charley Casserly, Washington's general manager, used some of that money to sign free-agent wide receiver Henry Ellard from the Los Angeles Rams. When new Redskins coach Norv Turner was an offensive assistant under John Robinson with the Rams, Ellard was the team's most consistent receiver. The rest of the Rypien stash will be used on the 'Skins' top draft choice, third overall, which they will use on a quarterback - Tennessee's Heath Shuler or Fresno State's Trent Dilfer.
At the moment, the top of the draft looks like this. Cincinnati would like to make a deal with Wilkinson. The Indianapolis Colts reportedly will take Faulk next. Then the 'Skins will take Shuler. The Patriots, up next, do not want a quarterback, but the Rams, in fifth, covet one. The Patriots trade back one pick, getting an additional draft choice, and make the deal with the provision that the Rams take a specific player - Dilfer. That way, the Patriots still have all of the players they want on the board.
If the Dallas Cowboys decide not to match Pittsburgh's offer to wide receiver Alvin Harper, they would have the 17th (Steelers) and 28th picks, and might use those two to move high for a single pick.
San Francisco wants to trade Bono to Dallas, using his salary slot to sign Cowboys linebacker Ken Norton. With Bernie Kosar leaving Dallas for Miami and Wade Wilson re-signing with New Orleans, the Cowboys have no veteran to back up Troy Aikman.
The 49ers tried for weeks to trade Bono to Minnesota, but that possibility died when the Vikings signed Warren Moon after acquiring his rights from Houston.
Bono seemed a nice fit with the Vikings because he is familiar with the system used by head coach Dennis Green, a former San Francisco assistant. But Green again is gambling on a veteran quarterback. A year ago, he shot the works with Jim McMahon, who could not get it done.
The Oilers wanted to unload Moon's salary of $3.25 million a year more than they wanted to let him go. Owner Bud Adams did not want to make the deal but realized in the end it was best for his team, and for Moon.
Backup Cody Carlson will become No. 1 in Houston, but he won't step into the role for at least a couple of weeks. Carlson was on a three-week safari in Africa when the switch was made.
"The money will help us dramatically," said Floyd Reese, Houston's general manager. "We just couldn't keep them both. We wanted to, but we just couldn't get it done."
Kosar might be playing more than he thinks. Word out of Miami is that Dan Marino still is limping, having undergone Achilles' tendon surgery in October and a recent operation for bone spurs. Kosar signed for less with Miami. "I have a home here and my family loves it here," he said. He also is friends with Marino.
Two years ago, Kosar was worth more than $3 million annually. This season he will play for $750,000. Rypien was making $3 million. As of today, he is making nothing. Wilson went back to New Orleans for $2 million less than his old contract.
Some in the league are surprised the 49ers are so hot for Norton, even though they need defensive help badly and will use both first-round picks (15th and 23rd) to address that need.
One player personnel director offered this assessment of Norton: "I don't think he would fit into San Francisco's style of defense like he did in Dallas. The Dallas defense was different than any other in the league. They use four down linemen and play in the gaps, tying up blockers. This allows them to play their linebackers a little deeper than any other team and just run to the ball. Norton did that well.
"San Francisco doesn't play that style of defense. Norton has never had to take on offensive linemen before, but he will have to now, and he isn't that strong."
\ NOTES: Wayne Huizenga, the Dolphins' new owner, met with Don Shula last week for about an hour to discuss the coach's future with Miami. This is the final year of Shula's contract, and he wants to keep coaching. Huizenga still is weeks away from taking complete control of the team, but when he does, he is expected to make a deal with Shula.
Some city officials in Orlando, Fla., have been trying to put together a deal that would lure Al Davis and the Raiders from Los Angeles. Davis is entertaining offers from several cities, but won't really deal with the situation until after the draft. If he feels it is in the team's best interests to move again, he will.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB