Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 10, 1995 TAG: 9509120032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: IRVING, TEXAS LENGTH: Medium
Deion Sanders abandoned the world champion San Francisco 49ers Saturday to become the second-highest paid member of the rival Dallas Cowboys.
Sanders spurned the 49ers best offer for a big chunk of Jerry Jones' empire, including a $12 million bonus.
Jones, who paid $140 for the franchise in 1989, wouldn't say how much Sanders got overall, but sources said it was a five-year deal for at least $30 million.
Only quarterback Troy Aikman, who has a $50 million package, will be making more than Sanders, who wants to catch some of Aikman's passes besides playing cornerback and returning kicks.
Sanders signed the contract early Saturday in Chicago, where he was playing outfield for the San Francisco Giants. He told Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones: ``I'm glad to get it done. Now I won't have to cover Michael Irvin anymore.''
Sanders will fly to Valley Ranch on Monday for his first ``prime time'' appearance with his third NFL team. Sanders was lured away from the Atlanta Falcons last year by San Francisco.
Irvin said Sanders' salary wouldn't cause problems within the team.
``I know the dollar situation isn't a problem on this team,'' Irvin said. ``I hope nobody tries to make it a problem.''
Irvin said he would share passes with Sanders.
``I've never seen him play wide receiver but maybe he will take some of those slant passes over the middle,'' Irvin said. ``I could use a good decoy, too. You never have too many of them.''
Jones won his one-on-one war with San Francisco president Carmen Policy for Sanders' services.
``We got Charles Haley away from San Francisco and won two Super Bowls with him,'' Jones said. ``Maybe we can do the same with Deion.''
Jones said the deal will stand the scrutiny of the NFL office which can mete out a $2 million fine if it's a salary cap breaker.
``This is for significant dollars,'' Jones said, ``but we did not jeopardize our future because the salary cap will go up. And it will stand up to any league scrutiny.''
Aikman gave up $2 million on this year's salary so Jones could use the money for Sanders.
``Troy was the only player who had to restructure his deal,'' Jones said.
Policy said the Dallas offer was stratospheric.
``Their offer was beyond significant,'' he said ``We feel that it was not only inappropriate and irresponsible to match that offer, we feel that had we done so, it would have had a very destructive affect on the 49er team chemistry and the financial structure and sanity of this organization for years to come.
Policy had this message for Sanders:
``Good luck to you personally, and may your team fail.''
Policy congratulated Jones and joked, ``I'll probably be fined by the league for doing that.''
Policy added that Jones ``put his money where his mouth was, and we will not criticize his deal. Everyone in the NFL must run their own business their way. It may very well work for Dallas. It may allow them to win Super Bowls. It is our opinion it will not work for us.''
``We couldn't look our players in the eye if we were to honor a bid such as this for a part-time player,'' Policy said.
Jones said he was driven to sign Sanders.
``I didn't want to live without not doing something that kept us from going to the Super Bowl,'' Jones said. ``I don't care if somebody says it's overpriced. The whole damn thing [the NFL] is overpriced. Getting the job done is what matters around here and that job is to get us to the Super Bowl.
``Some people might say I paid too much. Well, anytime I've ever paid too much for something it has been for quality.''
Cowboys players were told in a team meeting that Sanders was going to wear a silver star on his helmet.
The players immediately shouted, ``Prime Time. Prime Time.''
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB