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Moore designation NFL players union files greivance against Cardinals
Posted: Tuesday January 25, 2000 03:45 PM
MESA, Ariz. (AP) -- The NFL Players Association filed a grievance against the Arizona Cardinals, saying the team improperly called Rob Moore its franchise player. The union claims the Cardinals violated the collective-bargaining agreement last year by negotiating a deal with Moore that was designed to ensure the franchise player tag could be used on a different player this year. The union says Arizona should lose its right to apply the tag to another player for the four-year duration of Moore's contract, a move that could keep the Cardinals from designating star defensive end Simeon Rice as its franchise player this year. At issue in the grievance, filed two weeks ago, is whether Arizona came to a one-year agreement with Moore while a long-term deal already was completed or near completion, simply to retain the franchise tag. By announcing a one-year agreement with Moore 12 days before a multiyear deal was signed, Arizona thought it had retained the right to use its franchise tag on another player for the upcoming season. Had the four-year deal been announced originally, the Cardinals would have lost the franchise tag for the duration of that contract. Each team designates one "franchise player," meaning it must pay him among the top five at his position, can match any offer from another team and get two first-round draft picks if it doesn't match. Three other NFL teams also are being questioned about their handling of the franchise tag: Green Bay (running back Dorsey Levens); San Francisco (wide receiver J.J. Stokes) and Cincinnati (wide receiver Carl Pickens). Moore's agent Gary Wichard said the team and Moore did not have a finalized multiyear deal when the one-year deal was signed. "We signed the one-year because Rob wanted to play the first game with the idea we'd continue to negotiate," he said.
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