Open market

Free agency begins with most teams in cap trouble

Redskins go Gator hunting, to be cautious on open market ASHBURN, Va. (AP) -- Two years ago, it was spend, spend, spend. Last year, it was cut, cut, cut. This year? How about Gator, Gator, Gator. The NFL's free agency market opens Friday, with the Washington Redskins planning to avoid owner Dan Snyder's mistakes of two years ago -- and with new head coach Steve Spurrier shopping for former players from the University of Florida. The first step will be the completion of a trade for ex-Gators quarterback Danny Wuerffel, who was taken by Houston in the expansion draft. The deal, which was worked out several days ago, will send defensive tackle Jerry DeLoach to the Texans -- or a seventh-round pick in 2003 if DeLoach doesn't make the roster. The Redskins have already signed ex-Florida receiver Chris Doering and have approached Chicago about a deal for yet another former Gators quarterback, Shane Matthews. Two other players who wore orange in Gainesville, receivers Jacquez Green and Willie Jackson, are free agents who will get the Redskins attention in coming days. The Gator grab is a minor plank in this year's free agency strategy for the Redskins, who have a new approach following yet another offseason front office upheaval. Two years ago, Snyder overspent for stars such as Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith, Jeff George and Mark Carrier. Of those four, only Smith is still with the team, yet the lasting salary cap headaches they created forced Schottenheimer to cut five key players a year ago. This year, Sanders, George and Carrier still account for more than $10 million in "dead money" under the $71 million cap. Even so, Schottenheimer was able to leave the team about $3 million under the cap when he was fired in January. Unlike last year, when Schottenheimer was the only person calling the shots, the Redskins now have a front-office-by-committee. Snyder again has his hands on the operation as the de facto general manager, with vice president of football operations Joe Mendes, director of player personnel Vinny Cerrato and Spurrier completing the decision-making foursome. Mendes is the analytical one, having crunched numbers for years as a negotiator. His word for this Redskins offseason: discipline. "Too much is made over the final decision," Mendes said. "The key is getting back to structure, discipline, input and reaching the right conclusion. How that is done internally, frankly, shouldn't make any difference to the outer world." Mendes doesn't anticipate any big moves initially, preferring instead to "wait for the market to set itself." "I don't think you should overreact," Mendes said. "If you reflect on two years ago as an example, clubs have to pay for the price of their mistakes in everything that they do - whether it be in the draft or free agency. But the free agency portion is the one where the mistake is greatest and has the longest effect on the organization."

NEW YORK (AP) -- The NFL free-agent period that starts Friday could be a strange one.

With the notable exception of expansion Houston, many teams have had to release players to get under the $71.1 million salary cap. And with many of the league's best already signed to long-term deals, there will be relatively few prime players available.

Some of the best, in fact, may be players released for cap reasons in the past week or so.

"The trend at the beginning of free agency was to let your players go, then tell them to come back to you. But players didn't come back and teams lost them," says Charley Casserly, general manager of the Houston Texans, who have approximately $30 million in cap room.

"Now it's come full circle. Teams will pay their own players to keep them and sometimes overpay them. That's why you have so many teams in the salary cap position they're in."

That has been evident for a month.

Marquee players either have been released, gone to Houston in the expansion draft, or had their salaries significantly slashed. One is Denver running back Terrell Davis, who was MVP of the 1998 Super Bowl and then the league MVP the next season when he ran for 2,008 yards.

But because of injuries, he has played in just 17 games since and reluctantly re-worked his contract.

Two examples of the current NFL are the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants, who 13 months ago played in the Super Bowl. The Ravens have essentially dismantled the defense that carried them to the title. The Giants have released four starters from that team and could lose a couple of others to free agency.

"As a coach, I'm concerned about the kind of players we're losing," said head coach Jim Fassel of the New York Giants, who on Thursday cut five-time Pro Bowl linebacker Jessie Armstead among others. "You're kind of shooting in the dark because you don't know what you can replace them with."

The Ravens let linebacker Jamie Sharper and premier kick returner Jermaine Lewis go to Houston in the expansion draft, then released safety Rod Woodson, tight end Shannon Sharpe, defensive end Rob Burnett and wide receiver Qadry Ismail among others. Defensive tackle Tony Siragusa retired and cornerback Duane Starks will become a free agent Friday.

The first few days may not be busy -- they coincide with the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, which draws almost everyone involved in free agency -- general managers, coaches, agents.

"Free agency typically is a bunch of rumors, a bunch of misinformation and then, 'I just heard player X signed with Dallas for X-amount million dollars.' Then you find out that isn't true," Tampa Bay general manager Rich McKay said Thursday.

"This time you are inside of the RCA Dome, not in front of a computer, where there is actually information you can look up."

Most of the best available free agents are like Starks -- good, but not the kind of impact player who can turn around a team.

One player who could elicit interest is quarterback Rob Johnson, released Thursday by the Buffalo Bills, who had hoped when they signed him that he would be their long-term quarterback.

They include linebackers Jacksonville's Kevin Hardy, Earl Holmes of Pittsburgh and James Farrior of the Jets; running backs Warrick Dunn of Tampa Bay and Antowain Smith of New England; offensive linemen Olin Kreutz of Chicago; Ron Stone of the Giants and Flozell Adams of Dallas, and defensive backs Brian Kelly of Tampa Bay and Shaun Williams of the Giants.

More attractive to teams that think of themselves as contenders (and who doesn't these days?) could be veterans like Armstead, Sharpe or Woodson.

The NFL and the players association have agreed to count only $450,000 (the veteran minimum) of the salary of a newly signed veteran against the cap. That will allow teams to pay veterans more without taking a cap hit as long as almost all the money is in salary.

The signing bonus must be $25,000 or less to qualify for salary cap relief.

 

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