From backup to Pro Bowl
Expect Cunningham, Flutie to keep starting jobs in '99
Posted: Sunday December 20, 1998 01:54 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King checked in with CNN/SI
anchor Bob Lorenz on Sunday morning to talk about quarterback controversies
and the latest in the coaching carousel.
Bob Lorenz: Peter there's a lot of pressure on Scott Zolak making his
first start in more than three years.
Peter King: It is a big day for Scott Zolak on a very
unseasonably warm day. It does not feel like five days before Christmas,
unless, of course, you are in the Southern hemisphere. It is going to be in
the mid-50s today and weather will not be a factor, but for Scott Zolak, he
is going to have to play big in obviously the biggest start of his life.
The Patriots are going to have to try to play the best eight quarters of
their season without their biggest leaders. Terry Glenn, their wide
receiver, is out for the year. Ted Johnson, their middle
linebacker, is out for the year, and Drew Bledsoe, with that
little fishhook, is likely out for the year with the broken right index
finger. For the 49ers, Steve
Young returns to form again as the Niners try to face off and keep pace
with the Atlanta
Falcons for the number two spot in the NFC playoffs.
Bob Lorenz: Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson is healthy
again and it brings up the question people talked earlier this season about
when he was healthy would there be some kind of quarterback conflict. I
don't know if that is going to happen with Cunningham who is having an MVP
type season but what do you think his future is?
Peter King: Well, it is a very good question right now, and in
talking with the Vikings this week and in recent weeks, they are on the
horns of a dilemma about their quarterback situation. Randall Cunningham will
either be the first or second guy in the balloting for the NFL MVP this
year and he is a free agent after the year. Talking to the Vikings, they
definitely want to keep Randall Cunningham and he definitely wants to stay.
He is going to be able to make a pot of gold out there -- $6 million or $7
million a year. Now the Vikings are going to have to decide if they are
going to match it or if they are going to give the job back to Brad
Johnson. People inside the organization tell me it looks like the job is
going to be Randall's next year if he agrees to a salary -- a reasonable
salary of four or five million dollars a year -- and they can keep both
guys. If pressed to the wall, the Vikings don't know what they are going
to do if they have to make a decision between the two guys and possibly
trade Brad Johnson.
Bob Lorenz: Is it crazy to think that Kordell Stewart's future
in Pittsburgh might be in doubt?
Peter King: Well, this is a classic case of don't listen to what
the coach says, don't listen to what the front office says. What their
minds are saying right now is that we are going to bring someone in to
challenge Kordell Stewart next season in training camp and I would look for
the Steelers to draft a quarterback in the second or third round for a very
simple reason that the Kordell Stewart of December 1998 is nothing like the
Kordell Stewart of December 1997 -- an athletic, innovating, great
play-caller and a very, very spontaneous quarterback. I look for the
Steelers to go out in the offseason and bring someone prominent to
challenge Kordell for the job.
Bob Lorenz: Dom Capers is reportedly out after next week. Do you
think that sideline incident had any effect on that?
Peter King: That sideline incident was only the cherry on top of
the sundae. I think what has made Jerry Richardson, the reclusive owner of
the Carolina Panthers
so upset as this season has unfolded is that he thought he had in Dom
Capers a disciplinarian coach leading his team. After the first game of the
season when the Panthers lost at Atlanta, he did not see a livid or really
upset Dom Capers. He saw more of a thoughtful one and, in fact, Jerry
Richardson felt so strongly about it he went in and reamed out the team and
basically said "Hey, I am paying you guys too much money for these things
like this to happen."
I think the next coach is either going to be Mike Holmgren, who is going
to do everything there, or it is going to be a very disciplined hand like a
Nick Saban from Michigan State, the former defensive coordinator of the
Cleveland Browns, because Jerry Richardson wants somebody here who can come
in and you know bang his shoe on the table and make this team respect him.
Bob Lorenz: Peter, what's in your notebook this week?
Peter King: Well, Bob it looks like this week they are going to
have a coaching situation change in Philadelphia because obviously in about
eight days, the Philadelphia Eagles are going to need a new coach. They
are going to look at George Seifert very seriously. Seifert, coming off
his off year in the NFL studio for CBS, is going to be the prime candidate
to replace Ray Rhodes in Philadelphia.
Let's move west to San Diego where the Chargers are also interested in
looking for a new coach because June Jones is going to the University of
Hawaii. Jones is going to take a lot of assistants with him, but he won't
take the Chargers defensive staff with him. Bobby Beathard, with his new
two-year contract, wants to keep that defensive staff intact and then will
try to hire an offensive-minded coach, somebody like Brian Billick, the
offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings who is
also a very hot candidate in Baltimore.
Finally in Buffalo this week, Doug Flutie he got his
contract extended through next season for approximately $3 million. What
this means for the Buffalo
Bills is that Doug Flutie enters 1999 as the starting quarterback and
Rob Johnson the
definite backup.
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