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Rice has options Former 49ers great will play somewhere this season
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King joined the Sports Tonight gang to discuss the latest NFL news. Kara Henderson: Where will Jerry Rice wind up? Peter King: Well, that's the $64,000 question of this coming weekend, and I believe it all depends on the status of Herman Moore, Detroit's formerly great wide receiver. If Moore turns down a one-year, $1 million contract with the Lions, then Matt Millen, the new CEO of the Lions, will offer the same deal to Rice. Then Rice will have three teams offering him the same money in 2001: Oakland, Seattle and Detroit. His best playing opportunity will be in Detroit, but I believe Rice will want to stay closer to home, either in the Bay Area, where he lives, with Oakland, or in Seattle with his old buddy, Mike Holmgren. Henderson: Do you think playing close to home is what is driving him more than money or wins. What is the main factor in his decision?
King: I think not having to move his family is obviously an important factor in this. But also, he's going to catch the ball in Oakland, but I don't think he's going to catch the ball in Oakland as much as he would in Detroit. In Detroit, I believe Rice would get 50 catches and eight touchdowns. If he wants to strengthen his Hall of Fame credentials, I'd go play for Marty Mornhinweg and the Lions. Henderson: What is in Deion Sanders' football future? King: Well, that's a great question, Kara. Right now, I think what he is looking at doing is really giving baseball a fair shot. He wants to play for the Reds and rebound for what has been, for the most part, a horrible first month. What I think is going to happen after the Redskins cut him to save massive salary-cap room for this year, is that by the end of this year, he will become basically a costly rent-a-player. I think he might come in for the last month of the season and play for a contender and play for a million bucks or so and try to get another Super Bowl ring somewhere as either a nickel back or a second corner. Henderson: Are you surprised that Trent Dilfer still does not have a job? King: Not really, Kara. I think it is a sign that NFL teams are really judging Trent Dilfer on his body of work. You know, the last seven or eight years of his career, he's really been an inconsistent quarterback. And I think the other thing this says is that most NFL personnel people think strongly that it is the Baltimore defense that won the Super Bowl with the offense only being a complementary part of it. Dilfer will get signed as a backup eventually, but I think after teams address all their other starting needs. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL and appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN's "NFL Preview."
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