Dual-role Detmer
Browns hoping newest QB will be starter, mentor
Posted: Tuesday February 23, 1999 10:31 PM
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Ty Detmer gives the Browns experience and could serve as a teacher for Tim Couch or another young QB. AP |
CLEVELAND (AP) -- If Ty
Detmer is going to be his teacher, Tim Couch promises he'll study hard.
The Cleveland Browns have agreed with Detmer on a seven-year contract
with the idea he'll start at quarterback for the expansion club next season
while serving as a mentor to the Browns' QB of the future.
And it looks more and more likely that quarterback will be Couch, the
Kentucky All-American who on Tuesday said he liked the idea of being
Detmer's pupil.
"I think it would be great," Couch said by phone from Lexington, Ky.
"He has been in the league for a long time and he could do nothing but help
me. I could learn a lot under him."
After being chased by the Browns for two weeks, the 31-year-old Detmer
finally agreed to come to Cleveland on Monday by approving a trade with the
San Francisco 49ers. He
was hunting cougar with friends in Utah when his agent finally tracked him
down.
"Ty has verbally approved the deal and it's subject to the
documentation of the Browns," Detmer's agent, Don Yee, said. "Ty's very
excited to be heading to Cleveland and is looking forward to contributing
to the Browns in any way he can."
Initially, that will be as the Browns starter, but if the team uses
its No. 1 pick in April's NFL college draft on Couch, Detmer will find
himself once again in the role of backup.
The Browns were awaiting completion of paperwork before formally
announcing Detmer's signing, team spokesman Alex Martins said Tuesday
evening.
Cleveland and San Francisco will swap picks in the fourth round and
the Browns' first pick in the fifth round will go to San Francisco for
Detmer, who has completed 407 passes for 4,807 yards and 27 touchdowns in
44 NFL games.
The teams were close to finalizing a deal on Feb. 9 during the
expansion draft, but Detmer used a no-trade provision in his contract. The
Browns did acquire tight end Irv Smith and defensive
end Roy Barker from San
Francisco, but Detmer was the player they wanted most.
Dwight Clark, Cleveland's director of football operations, has been a
fan of Detmer for years. When he was with San Francisco, Clark attempted to
trade for Detmer, who was then starting in Philadelphia. Following the 1997
season, Clark wanted to sign Detmer, a free agent, to a 10-year contract
but settled for a five-year, $4 million deal.
Detmer was in the second year of that deal with the 49ers which paid
him about $800,000 per season. In his new deal with the Browns, Detmer will
make $3 million in 1999 and $14 million for the entire contract.
"The deal is designed to give him longevity," said Browns president
Carmen Policy.
Policy signed Detmer before last season to be Steve Young's backup in San
Francisco and to help bring along 1997 first-round draft pick Jim Druckenmiller. Before
joining the 49ers, Detmer spent two years as a starter for the Eagles and
served as Brett Favre's
backup in Green Bay for almost four years.
Detmer set 59 NCAA records during his career at Brigham Young, and won
the Heisman Trophy with the Cougars in 1990 after passing for more than
5,000 yards and 41 TDs as a junior.
Couch was just a kid then, but remembers watching Detmer shred
defenses.
"I followed him when he was at BYU and I'm familiar with the kind of
offense he ran there because we ran BYU's offense at Kentucky," he said.
Couch, who will work out for the Browns on March 11 in Lexington, got
his first chance to meet with Cleveland coach Chris Palmer during last
week's scouting combine in Indianapolis.
"I thought it went great," Couch said. "It was just nice to sit down
and talk football with him. I'm sure we'll talk more in-depth later, but we
just talked about basic football stuff, coverages and stuff like that."
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