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What's in the Cards Wadsworth may prove to be costly first-round pick
Posted: Friday July 14, 2000 09:41 AM
Mid-July is always a time for great optimism around NFL team offices. That's no different this summer -- except in Arizona, where the Cardinals are worried sick about their defensive line, and, moreover, their team. On Wednesday, Arizona cut injury-ravaged franchise tackle Eric Swann. Now it looks as if end Simeon Rice's holdout will stretch into the season. On top of all that, Andre Wadsworth has undergone knee surgery again. Wadsworth, the third pick in the 1998 draft and the man who was supposed to conjure up visions of Bruce Smith sack-dancing in the desert, could be out until mid-September. The long-term ramifications are what make the Cardinals worry so much. They've paid Wadsworth $11.6 million for just seven sacks in his first two years. After this season, the club has a daunting decision. Arizona can choose to keep Wadsworth, and pay him $8 million, $10 million and $12 million the next three years. Or they can let him become a free agent. If the guy can't produce and stay on the field this year, the Cardinals will have blown a vital pick to the franchise's future.
Rams' Green not seeking other pasturesOther teams may want him, but St. Louis quarterback Trent Green won't be going anywhere this season. Head coach Mike Martz tells me Green -- and his reconstructed knee -- will definitely be a Ram for the entire season, backing up Kurt Warner. They won't consider a trade because the salary-cap hit would be too big, plus the Rams realize third-stringer Joe Germaine needs another year of seasoning before he's ready to be a prime backup. Come February, though, the Rams should be able to -- and will -- recoup a high draft choice for Green in trade.
Browns' top pick makes immediate impressionIt took only one practice day for the first pick in April's draft, Cleveland defensive end Courtney Brown, to make his presence felt in Browns' camp. After the Browns -- the first NFL team to put the pads on this week -- finished their Wednesday practices, offensive tackle Chris Ruhman sidled up to head coach Chris Palmer and said: "I don't think you realize how good this kid really is." Palmer does. He plans to play Brown in a rotation with free-agent imports Keith McKenzie and Orpheus Roye. But it won't be long until his play against the run blows away the smallish McKenzie and Brown wins the job.
Redskins, Davis remain far apartFinally, there's no end in sight to Washington's fight with unsigned running back Stephen Davis. They want to hold his signing bonus to about $5 million, and Davis thinks his 1,405-yard season last year deserves double that. It could be a long, hot summer for the Redskins' franchise runner. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and appears each Sunday on CNN's NFL Preview.
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