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Numbers games Cunningham will be No. 3 -- or is it No. 2? -- in Baltimore
Updated: Wednesday April 25, 2001 9:58 PM
After coming close to landing another ex-Vikings quarterback in Brad Johnson earlier this offseason, there won't be any stumbling blocks in Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick's plan to sign Randall Cunningham in early June. The two sides aren't contractually committed to one another, but Billick said Wednesday that they "basically have an agreement in terms" with Cunningham to serve as one of their two reserve quarterbacks, behind new starter Elvis Grbac. Here's what the Ravens are thinking in terms of adding Cunningham: On the depth chart, he'll be the team's No. 3 quarterback, listed behind second-year man Chris Redman, who Baltimore believes may be its quarterback of the future. The Ravens want Redman -- the team's third-round pick out of Louisville in 2000 -- to get all the No. 2 snaps in practice this season and to prepare for games as if he's just a play away from entering. But in reality, Cunningham would be the first quarterback Billick would turn to if Grbac was injured. Billick's model for this arrangement dates to the end of the 1994 regular season in Minnesota. With the Vikings needing to defeat visiting San Francisco on the last Monday night of the year in order to win the NFC Central, Minnesota started its No. 3 quarterback Sean Salisbury, the veteran, rather than give the assignment to its young No. 2, Johnson, who had never started an NFL game. The Vikings, whose offensive coordinator was Billick, won the game with Salisbury and clinched their second division title in three years. Johnson wound up waiting until the second week of 1996 -- in his fifth NFL season -- to earn his first start. "We've got to develop Redman, who we think is going to be pretty good," said Billick, whose team will open its first minicamp as defending Super Bowl champions Friday. "And even if he doesn't take a snap in the regular season, being at No. 2 all season he has a chance to improve. That's what taking those reps can do for you. "So Randall would give us that comfort zone, much like Sean did in 1994. Would Brad have beaten San Francisco? Probably. But it was awfully nice going in with that veteran knowing he's been there before and has done it before." Cunningham, 38, will receive a one-year contract from Baltimore calling for the NFL veteran minimum of $477,000 or so, with an incentive package that would reward him if he plays. Cunningham, who starred in Billick's offense in Minnesota in 1998, has been a candidate for this role and in contact with Billick since early March. But Cunningham wanted to return to Dallas as the starter and did not give up on that scenario until Cowboys owner Jerry Jones signed former Ravens quarterback Tony Banks to start, and drafted Georgia's Quincy Carter in the second round Saturday. "Jerry had told me I was going to be his starting quarterback," Cunningham said. "It wasn't really Tony Banks as much as it was just that they don't have any money left to pay me as a starter. I understand what's going on there. They're rebuilding and they don't plan on having a high-dollar quarterback because they can't afford it." Cunningham, who served as Dallas' part-time starter last season, asked the Ravens if they could accept him not signing until June, which allows him to stay at his Las Vegas home and tend to various business projects associated with his recording studio. "It's going to work out in Baltimore, but I'm just not in a rush because they don't really need me in there right now," Cunningham said. "I understand the situation. It's a very good situation. They said you're No. 3, but if we need you, I'm second team. But a backup is a backup to me." Cunningham's arrangement with Baltimore also allows him to linger on the free-agent market just a little longer, in case some team should get concerned about its quarterback depth and offer him something closer to true backup money, in the range of $1 million. "He's the guy we want in that role and we're optimistic it can happen," Billick said. "There's a thousand things that can happen, but right now that's our intention. He doesn't want to come out here until June, but that's fine with me because we need to get the other guys ready. "This is almost a step short of retirement for Randall. He gets to get another pension year, make some money, play in a system he knows and maybe get a ring. And if we need him, he gives us those unique abilities."
Woodson won't be around, but he's not goneStarting free safety Rod Woodson won't be attending Baltimore's three-day minicamp this weekend, because he's not a Raven. At least not technically. Cut in a salary-cap move this spring, Woodson isn't going anywhere. As expected all along, Woodson will be back long before the team heads to training camp. The Ravens can't re-sign Woodson to a restructured deal until after June 1, when they clear up some salary-cap room by making a few minor moves. But they already have the terms of the deal worked out and it's just a matter of waiting. "It's done," Billick said. "He'll be back. He just won't be at minicamp."
Jermaine Lewis plays ball with Ravens on cap issueThe Ravens made one other salary-cap adjustment in recent days, restructuring the deal of punt returner Jermaine Lewis, whose 16.1-yard average and two touchdowns led the NFL in those departments. Lewis also had a game-breaking 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the Super Bowl.Lewis was in line for a salary-cap number of about $2 million in 2001, a figure that Baltimore was not prepared to carry for a specialist. Lewis restructured his deal in order to protect his spot on the roster, and while the new terms were not disclosed, it is believed he accepted a significant pay cut.
Missed the McMahon pick by that muchTeams generally insist they got the players they coveted most in the NFL Draft. But that argument rang a bit hollow in at least one instance Sunday in Kansas City. The Chiefs admitted they were torn between Rutgers quarterback Mike McMahon and Stephen F. Austin running back Derrick Blaylock when it came to preparing for their second fifth-round pick. McMahon was coached in college by Terry Shea, who is Kansas City's new quarterbacks coach. The Chiefs had their decision made for them when Detroit traded up in order to select McMahon one spot ahead of their No. 150 pick. But somebody in Kansas City must have pined for McMahon, because in the team's post-draft news release it listed him as the player the Chiefs selected 150th overall, with the fifth-rounder obtained from St. Louis in Friday's Trent Green trade. The Chiefs snapped up almost all the copies of the erroneous selection and issued a corrected version. Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.
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