No defense for this contract

New England, Milloy both in the wrong in latest round of Patriot games

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- -- My father was fond of saying, "Two wrongs don't make a right." He'd use the phrase most often to remind me that I was being an idiot when I attemped to retaliate against my brother Bob. After witnessing the events of this past weekend, I see his point clearer than ever.

The Patriots and Lawyer Milloy are involved in a tiff. New England signed Milloy to a seven-year, $35 million contract in 2000, and last week erased the contract in its fourth year and tried to get him to take more than $1 million less than his scheduled $4.4 million annual salary. When the two sides couldn't reach an agreement on the size of the paycut, Milloy was fired. Milloy, by his own admission to me on Friday, jumped the gun on his Tuesday release. According to Milloy, Washington had a better offer on the table for him than did New England before it cut him. If that's true, it would be a violation of the NFL's anti-tampering rules.

New England was wrong to write a contract the club knew would never even make it to the halfway point. Milloy and his agent, Carl Poston, were wrong to seek outside deals before he was cut, if that's what they did. Wrong and wronger.

Which one is worse? I don't know. I suppose a player and his agent going outside the rules is more egregious, but I can understand their frustration. Silly, ego-driven contracts like this are the financial scourge of the league because teams never intend to actually fulfill them. Clubs have gotten into this ridiculous game with agents to inflate the value of contracts so the agents can pump out their chests and boast about the great deals they secure for their clients, and players can brag they're making $5 million a year, or whatever. Milloy's contract was never going to come to term; the team knew all along it would have to be redone in the fourth or fifth year.

The Patriots offered Milloy a few alternatives last week, but the best situation for him probably would have been to take the $1 million cut, with the proviso that he'd be a free agent after the season. In the end, the Bills handed him a four-year, $15 million deal, including $7 million in 2003 and $10 million total over the first two years of the deal. For Milloy, monetarily at least, the deal was far better than he ever could have hoped to make during the next two years anywhere else.

With the exception of the probable tampering, I maintain two aspects of this story -- two largely ignored things -- are the biggest influences on why Milloy is a Bill today:

1. Milloy would still be in New England if Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank had not done something very bold last year. Blank hired Ray Anderson, Milloy's former agent, as as the president of the Falcons in June 2002. So Milloy had to go out and find himself another agent. He found Carl Poston. Anderson was the Henry Kissinger of the agent business, a guy who could always find a way to make a deal. Poston isn't afraid to have his clients hold out or do whatever he can to land his guy the best deal, even if sometimes he risks his clients (as he did with Orlando Pace in St. Louis) chances of getting the big signing bonus by agreeing to play for the franchise number instead of a long-term deal Poston feels is too much in the team's best interests. I've never met Poston, but most NFL teams look at him as if her were nuclear winter. Anyway, Anderson told me Friday: "Everyone knows that NFL contracts most often are going to be restructured before they reach their conclusion. I think I could have found a way to structure a deal that would have been win-win for both sides." Now, even though Anderson is probably right, it's hard to quibble with the end result. 

2. The Patriots' previous largesse in contract dealings didn't help them at all when the Milloy problems surfaced. Think back to 1999. Ty Law, a premier cornerback but probably not a Hall of Famer, was handed a $14.2 million bonus as part of a $50 million contract, the highest bonus ever given to a player at his position in NFL history. Now think of the NFL landscape since then. The salary cap has gone up every year. But has Law's contract been eclipsed? Nope. That's a sign the $14.2 million bonus was way too high. Just because Deion Sanders once got a $13 million bonus from Dallas doesn't mean a very good corner who is not of Deion's caliber should get more. And so factor that into the mindset of one of Law's teammates, another premier defensive player who goes to the Pro Bowl with Law every year. Law's still in New England, making premier corner money. But Milloy was whacked. There's no doubt that this weighed on Milloy, as it would you or I.

In some ways, I feel sorry for Milloy. He's furious with me for reporting the tampering story, and I can't repeat what he said to me in a hallway outside the Bills' locker room after Sunday's game against his former club. Suffice it to say he was fairly strident in telling me never to approach him again as long as I dwell on the planet earth, with quite a bit of emphasis. But I think it's a shame he won't be considered a New England icon when he retires, as he should be. That fact is Anderson's biggest regret about the deal. Milloy was setting himself up, through his foundation and through his many charitable works in the area, to be a big man in New England, a champion forever, long after he hung up his uniform. Now, as I told him when we spoke on Friday, he's destined to be regarded -- for right or wrong -- as just another guy who left town for the money, like Roger Clemens did.

"It's different," Milloy said. "Roger left on his own. I didn't have a choice. The way I play -- my dependability, my work ethic -- the fans will remember that always. I don't know how anyone could ever boo me."

I wouldn't be so sure, Lawyer. This is New England we're talking about, after all.

Offensive Player of the Week: (tie) Houston left tackle Chester Pitts, left guard Milford Brown, center Steve McKinney, right guard Zach Wiegert and right tackle Greg Randall. Congratulations, men. You paved the way for 393 yards in a 21-20 shocker at Miami. And you collectively provided the real upset of the NFL's opening weekend: You held one of the game's sack-happiest teams to zero sacks a year after the Texans set a record for most sacks allowed in a season. What a tremendous effort.

Defensive Players of the Week: (tie) Buffalo defensive tackle Sam Adams and linebacker Takeo Spikes. In his first game with the defensively refurbished Bills, Adams was huge. On two straight downs during the second quarter, Adams leaped to make an interception of a Tom Brady pass, a terrific, athletic play by a 330-pound guy, and then Adams rumbled and stumbled 37 yards for the touchdown. On the ensuing New England first down, he knifed through the line to sack Brady for a nine-yard loss. Talk about impact. Spikes, thrilled to have found refuge from Cincinnati, intercepted Brady twice.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Tennessee K/P Craig Hentrich, who had one of the great clutch days a punter-turned-kicker could ever have. When regular kicker Joe Nedney sprained his right knee, Hentrich came in and went to work. He booted a 49-yarder just before halftime to give Tennessee a 12-10 lead -- it looked like the thing would have been good from 65 -- and later kicked field goals of  34 and 33 yards in the Titans' 25-20 win over Oakland. In nine previous NFL seasons, Hentrich had made three field goals in similar emergencies. He matched that in a clutch way Sunday night.

Coach of the Week: Washington head coach Steve Spurrier, for his play-calling in the Redskins' 16-13 win last Thursday night over the Jets. Now, I was pretty rough at times last year on the ol' Ball Coach, but rightfully so, I thought. He kept trying to make a passing team out of a bunch of Shane Matthewses and Darnerian McCantses, when he had solid rushers Stephen Davis and Ladell Betts in-house. On Thursday, time and again, Spurrier pounded Betts at the Jets. And instead of trying to throw downfield twice a series, as he often did last year, he used Patrick Ramsey judiciously. Everyone knows Ramsey has to be managed to be effective, and Spurrier used the short-passing game to perfection in the first half when Ramsey went 12 of 13. The offense wasn't successful all the time; in fact, the Jets held Washington down pretty consistently in the second half until the last drive, leading to John Hall's winning field goal. "It's like Steve said after the game," Redskins director of player personnel Vinny Cerrato told me over the weekend. "He's learned how to win in this league now."

Stat of the Week: NFC Playoff Heads-Up: In the first nine weeks of the season, Green Bay plays no 2002 playoff teams. San Francisco plays one. St. Louis plays six.

Classy T-Shirt of the Week: Two female and inebriated Bills fans, both of whom looked about 19, wore t-shirts that read: "Brady Swallows, 9-7-03."

Goat of the Week: Jets offensive coordinator Paul Hackett, for his ultra-conservative (ridiculously so) play-calling late in the Jets' loss to Washington. With 3:47 left in the game and his team facing second-and-one on its own 31, Hackett called two straight dive plays; basically, the first to Curtis Martin and the second to Lamont Jordan. The first went nowhere, and the second lost four yards. Now, according to Dave Hutchinson of The (Newark) Star-Ledger, the second effort was sabotaged when Vinny Testaverde turned the wrong way on the handoff and handed it to Jordan late. That hurt, obviously. But with any remotely imaginative play-calling here the Jets could have either run out the clock and limped to overtime. Hackett has to trust Testaverde more, starting this week against Miami.

I drove older daughter Laura, a student at Tufts, to JFK Airport last Tuesday to see her off to Florence (and I don't mean Florence, Ky.), where she'll be spending her fall term. I was fascinated to discover that two coaches on the Buffalo Bills staff are also going to be college dads. Both have sons who are incoming freshman at Princeton this fall. Both play football. Blake Williams, son of head coach Gregg, will get some varsity time at cornerback. Luke Steckel, son of running backs coach Les, is a 6-foot, 215-pound (don't you love Ivy League normalcy?) linebacker.

The elder Williams and Steckel have plans to see two Tigers games this fall, on Oct. 11 before Buffalo plays the Jets at the Meadowlands and on Nov. 1, during the Bills' bye weekend. A proud Gregg Williams told me Friday: "That's why you have an assistant head coach." Dick LeBeau is that guy for the Bills.

1. It's so interesting to wander through the Ralph Wilson Stadium parking lots and see all the different forms of alcohol people consume before the game. I saw a 20-pack, triangular case of Labatt's. Triangular!

2. Remember the 24-ounce Poland Spring water I told you about, the one that cost $4.50 at Fenway Park? I've decided to chart the cost of said bottle on my travels this year. The Poland Spring 24-ouncer was $1.99 at the airport bodega at Buffalo International, and $1.19 at the MobilMart down the road from the Marriott in suburban Amherst, Mass.

3. I am getting increasingly frustrated with the new contraptions they've put in airport bathrooms. First: No more sensory-activated faucets in washbasins. Half of them never work. You walk from sink to sink, praying they work, and few do. Second: Slow down the intensity of urinal flushes. For obvious splashing reasons.

"He has no business playing in Boston, New York, Chicago, or any locale in which the fans invest their time, money, and passion in the local baseball team. He is a frustrating and maddening figure, because, despite his recent actions (or nonactions), we all know deep in our heart of hearts that if there is one person in the employ of the Boston Red Sox who is capable of hitting a two-out, two-strike winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series, it is Manny Ramirez, to whom, it is distinctly possible, said wallop would mean no more than if he hit a solo, seventh-inning home run against the Twins at City of Palms Park on March 15."

--Bob Ryan in the Sept. 3 edition of the Boston Globe, on the mysteriously immature Red Sox outfielder.

Ah, the season has started. I'm so pleased. And not just the regular season! Open season .. on King! It seems my pick of Jake Plummer for MVP struck a nerve. On with the show:

From Neil Summers of Salt Lake City: Jake "The Fake" Plummer as MVP? Please tell me you are seeking professional medical help.

From Ryan Thompson of Chicago: Jake "Shaky Arm" Plummer? What are you eating for breakfast?

From John Kyranos of Tempe, Ariz.: Plummer for MVP? HA, HA, HA, HA! You're killing me! He might be the worst starting quarterback in the league. I love your work and have been a faithful reader for many years, but I never felt the urge to respond to a column. Then again, I've never read anything as outrageous as this.

From Mike Huck, of Calgary Alberta: Are you insane? Have you even seen him play this year? He hasn't improved from his days in Arizona. Mark my words: Denver will be 8-8 this year, with a ton of stupid turnovers.

Perhaps I am blessed by the fact that I live 2,300 miles from Tempe, and I haven't been bashed over the head by all of Plummer's faux pas over the years. I just think he's a good player -- not a great one -- and a gamer who will be surrounded by great offensive talent and a coach who will get the most out of him. Which will be, I think, enough to lift Denver into the playoffs.

THE PATS ARE IDIOTS. From John Spatz of St. Louis: Can you explain to me exactly why the Patriots decided to cut one of their best players, Lawyer Milloy? The move seems like bad logic to me.

MAILBAG MAILBAG Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

It is. New England found itself snug up against the salary cap and refused to reconfigure a bunch of contracts or cut two or three contributing players in order to keep Milloy. The Patriots didn't want to borrow against the future, which is what happens to teams when they re-do most deals. As I mentioned earlier, Milloy was due to make $4.4 million in salary this year. The franchise figure for the top five safeties in football -- the average salary of the top quintet at his position, in other words -- is about $3 million, and the Pats obviously didn't think Milloy was worth that price. Now, another key thing here is what New England faces in 2004, with some monstrous salary-cap figures owed to several players. Milloy and Tom Brady and Ty Law were all due more than $6 million, and the Patriots had to draw the line in the sand on the burgeoning cap numbers now, not next year. Having said all that, I still think it's idiocy for a team to whack one of its best six or eight players for any reason other than injury or treason.

THE VIKES ARE FOR REAL, BABY. From Grant Martin of McLean, Va.: I can't believe my eyes. You picked the Vikings to finish a game behind the Pack, predicted Onterrio Smith as Offensive Rookie of the Year and said the Vikes are better than we all think. Well done, Peter. After years of Randy Moss bashing, you've seen the light. The Vikes are playoff-bound!

Maybe. Let's forget for a minute the opener in Green Bay and think of this: There is no team in this division that has added young talent like the Vikings have in the last couple of years. I just like their upside a lot.

YOU WILL BE SORRY, AND WRONG, ABOUT THE CHEFS, MY FRIEND. From Ryan Jones of Kansas City: A 7-9 record for Kansas City? Let me get this straight. The Chiefs return all the players from their dominant offense, they upgraded their horrible defense, adding Shawn Barber, Vonnie Holliday and Jerome Woods, and their schedule looks easy on paper. I just don't see how they can be a game worse this year. Please explain your reasoning.

It's simple, Ryan. I don't believe the defense is a lot better than it was a year ago. Seven times this group allowed 30 points or more, and none of the players you named, alone or in concert, is enough to convince me the D will jump from the worst in the league, which it was a year ago, to an area 12 to 15 spots higher in the league ratings. I learned a long time ago -- and it is reinforced every year as I watch the Red Sox game after game -- that pitching eventually wins almost every time over the long haul in baseball. Same thing with defense in football. As far as the schedule goes, you may be right. Kansas City closes the season with five straight non-playoff teams from 2002. But I also learned a long time ago that a schedule that looks great in August could be a nightmare in December. You'd probably have loved a slate in 2002 that included the Giants, Atlanta, Cleveland and Buffalo in in the final month of the campaign, wouldn't you? Well, as it turned out, every one of those teams was really good in December. So I wouldn't be licking my chops at getting Denver and Minnesota on the road at the end of this year.

THE PATS CAN, AND WILL, RUN IT WELL. From Jeff of Cornish, Maine: How can you say you don't know how New England will run the ball? Antowain Smith had a 3.9-yards-per-carry average last year and he ran for 982 yards. By the way, thank you for pointing out the price of water at Fenway. You need a trucker's wallet with a heavy chain every time you walk into that stadium.

I believe too many Fenway Franks have affected your thought process, Jeff. Smith is an OK NFL back, not a difference-maker.

SHOCKING! THEY DON'T LIKE SHOCKEY! From Mark McDermott of San Francisco: You're still way off on Jeremy Shockey. You conveniently left out a lot of stats when you made your argument that Shockey was the most dangerous tight end in football. Shockey had the most receptions and yards of the Top 5 tight ends, but his percentage of team passing yards ranked second to Todd Heap. Shockey had only two touchdowns, and he had three fumbles and lost two. I think when you look at the stats, Heap is the best of the bunch.

Heap may be, Mark. I simply believe Shockey is unparalleled as an offensive weapon, a guy who scares defenses. And I was responding to an e-mail, as you'll recall, that called Shockey "a preseason wonderboy who didn't do squat in the regular season," which might be the dumbest sentence fragment ever e-mailed to anyone in the history of the Internet. 

1. I think this is my Omen of the Week: Drew Henson was given a locker next to Roger Clemens when the third baseman was recalled by the Yankees as injury insurance last Friday. There is a Houston Texans flag in Clemens' locker.

2. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts following the opening weekend:

a. Same old Bengals.

b. Same old Dolphins.

c. My far-ranging knowledge of this great game, Kurt Warner, tells me it's hard to win games when you fumble six times.

d. So I'm driving into Ralph Wilson Stadium Sunday, and the guy on the local talk show is talking about the games of the day, and he talks about how Indy's going to slaughter Cleveland. "The Browns have no linebackers!" the guy says. No linebackers you've ever heard of, fella. But when you hold Peyton Manning touchdownless and Edgerrin James to 86 yards and no touchdowns, well, Kevin Bentley and Ben Taylor on the outside and Andra Davis on the inside must have been doing something in their first NFL starts besides filling their uniforms. They combined for 22 tackles and two interceptions, which is one more than Cleveland linebackers recorded all of last year.

e. Kordell Stewart: 116 total yards of offense, three picks. It's going to be a long year, Bearfolk.

f. The Raiders had 17 penalties for 173 yards. "Mistakes are killing us right now," said Jerry Rice. See, you gain a lot of wisdom when you've been in the league as long as Rice has.

g. So much for the AFC East being the toughest division in football.

h. The Ravens knew where Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress would be, as does every team. But the Steelers' duo still combined for 15 receptions for 207 yards, which just tells me how great they are.

3. I think props must be given to Carolina punt-rusher He Hate Me (also known as Rod Smart, but for the purposes of this note, he will retain his XFL moniker). Mr. Hate Me, with his Carolina Panthers down 17-10 early in the fourth quarter, burst through the Jacksonville line and blocked the ball right as it came off Jaguars punter Curtis Hanson's foot. And when you beat a team 24-23, a safety is pretty valuable. One thing Mr. Hate Me has always had is quickness, and that showed through in his 57 kickoff return yards, too. Good to still have you in football, Mr. Hate Me.

4. I think my preseason predictions are off to a fine start. I said the Rams would win the Super Bowl, and they ran for all of 40 yards in losing to the Giants. I predicted Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer would be MVP. He threw three picks in a win over the Cincinnati Kittycats. Raiders TE Teyo Johnson, my co-rookie of the year? Catchless.

5. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. At least the Yankees know the Red Sox are there now. I didn't know you had it in you, Jeff Suppan. Even though you took the loss, you pitched well under pressure. Now it's off to face the real nemeses, those dreaded Orioles. How is Baltimore always so good against the men of Red?

b. How weird was it to see Bruce Springsteen performing at Fenway? I caught 10 seconds of Saturday's show on ESPN the next morning, and the juxtaposition of Bruce and the Green Monster was, well, pretty odd -- yet somehow fitting.

c. Coffeenerdness: I have to hand it to Krispy Kreme. I have tried its dark roast, and it's a legitimately good, strong coffee. Had it the other night in Buffalo. Now wait a minute, you think I went to the 'Kreme to get three glazed donuts? No! That wasn't me! It wasn't me! I was just there for the coffee.

d. Larry David belongs in the TV Hall of Fame, on the first ballot. What a genius.

e. Montclair (N.J.) High School Field Hockey Note of the Week: We're back, baby! And in a big way. The Mountie Eleven, co-captained by your favorite field hockey player, senior (I can't believe I'm writing that) Mary Beth King, and the always-tough Chelsea Mullarney, journeyed to South Jersey Saturday morning to play an official scrimmage against Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees, a few Donovan McNabb spirals from Philadelphia. Eastern has won the New Jersey state championship four years in a row. They lord over New Jersey field hockey the way the Kennedys lord over Massachusetts politics. Ninety-game unbeaten streak. Three players on the U.S. Under-16 national field hockey team. But Montclair's coaches wanted to improve the quality of their team's schedule, so after a two-hour bus ride the Mounties took the field against this great team, which returned seven starters from its 2002 championship squad.

Wow. What a team. They fly to the ball, pass like a bunch of John Stocktons, and never seem to breathe hard. After 20 minutes, Eastern had a 4-0 lead -- and had hit three posts! And the best player on the field for us in the early going -- and the whole day, really -- was our new goalie, Dara Blume, who played superbly in the face of the Eastern attack. Then the Mounties settled down a little bit. We started challenging more balls. We got a little physical. A couple of minutes after Eastern went up 5-0, left wing King fired a shot from the top of the circle that the goalie just got her right pad on. It dribbled over to Montclair senior inner Simone Calbi, who rapped it into the back of the cage. One Eastern dad standing near us on the sideline said: "When's the last time we allowed a goal?" In the second half, we went toe-to-toe with them ("I think we gave them too much respect going into the game," said junior wing Adair Landy) and ended up losing 6-1. Now, don't get me wrong. That's the best high school field hockey team I've seen in seven years watching the sport. They lived up to every expectation we had of them. But the Mounties have much to be excited about with the regular-season beginning Saturday at Hackensack. Afterward, as the girls chowed down on cheesesteaks in south Philly at the immortal Pat's, Mary Beth said: "I want to play them again so bad." Just proves that kids, and adults, will rise to the level of competition if they're competitors. On behalf of the Mounties, thanks, Eastern. You showed the girls a lot, and they'll be better for it.

6. I think Cardinals QB Jeff Blake must have been talking about rookie wideout Anquan Boldin when he told me in camp: "I've got 100 catches for someone. I just don't know who it'll be yet." Boldin is 90 away after his 10 catches in the opener in Detroit. And he's the kind of angular, strong guy who gives the quarterback a great target. Boldin will be a really good one, even in Arizona.

7. I think I have to hand it to the Chiefs, particularly to newcomers Vonnie Holliday and Shawn Barber, for bringing speed and attitude to a formerly moribund defense. Three sacks for Holliday, six tackles for Barber. I never thought they'd hold San Diego to 232 yards, and I never thought LaDainian Tomlinson would manage just 2.7 a carry against them. You're off to a great start, Vermeilmen.

8. I think, Mike Martz, when you're down 10 in the fourth, and you need at least a touchdown and a field goal, and you have a fourth-and-eight at the Giant 24, it's not time to be macho about your offense. It's time to take three, stop the Giants, get the ball back and then try to punch it in.

9. I think I didn't see the game, but I'm dying to know: How did the Lions gain 261 yards, have the ball for only 25:54 ... and put 42 up on the Cards? I mean, either Steve Mariucci is a lot better than John York thought or this was one of those days when you just throw the stats out the window.

10. I think I'm not a fan of the 18-game concept, Commissioner Tagliabue. The league should be trying to help players make it through the season injury-free, not make it harder for them to do so.

Early in the preseason, while I was at Bucs' camp in Orlando, I saw the Grudenmen practice like their shorts were on fire. Then I sat with Warren Sapp. He went on and on about how, to be considered a great defense in the annals of NFL history, the Bucs had to win multiple Super Bowls, not just one. I've read that statement from him all over the place this summer. So I feel like the Super Bowl winners haven't had their desire diminished enough to make me worry about their chances of repeating. Now, I also visited Eagles camp, and I liked an awful lot of what I saw there. But these two teams strike me as pretty similar to the ones that met last January in the NFC Championship across Pattison Street from the Vet. I don't think a new stadium, the space of eight-plus months and some awfully hungry fans (and I don't mean just for their own hoagies) are going to have much to do with what happens on the field tonight. I still think Tampa Bay is the better team, even though David Akers will do his best to win this game by himself. Bucs win, 24-22.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space every week.