Round and round the carousel twirls and, with periodic stops this NFL
offseason, off walks a starting quarterback to sign on with a new team.
In the opening rounds of free agency, Doug Flutie, Brad Johnson, Elvis
Grbac, Jon Kitna and even the enigmatic Ryan Leaf signed contracts with new
teams.
|  | | Jaguars QB Mark Brunell, right, was involved in trade talks with the Chiefs. |
There will be a time as the opening of training camps near, though, when a
team or two will be standing alongside that carousel empty handed and without
a good quarterback to lead it, without a chance to succeed in 2001.
The Ravens, reigning Super Bowl champions, believe they've turned themselves
into a dominant team by signing former Chief Grbac, who threw 28
touchdowns passes last season.
The question in Baltimore, where deposed starter (and Super bowl winner)
Trent Dilfer was overlooked for anything good he did, is how Grbac will fit in with the defensively-led Ravens? Chemistry is as critical to a team's run
to the Super Bowl as talent is, and tears weren't exactly shed among the
Chiefs players when Grbac was released.
Speaking of the Chiefs, if they're going to have a chance at anything close
to the playoffs, they're going to have to lock up a starting quarterback soon
-- before that carousel stops with no one left on it.
Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said the other day that he believes his muddled
quarterback situation "will work out beautifully."
The only way that can happen is if Kansas City is able to wrest Trent Green
away from Vermeil's former team, the Rams, who are asking for more (the 12th
overall pick in next month's draft and a third-round pick) than the Chiefs
are willing to pay -- at the moment.
Vermeil and the Chiefs let it leak out that they were eyeing Jacksonville's
Mark Brunell, who's a significant salary cap problem for the Jags at the moment.
But the likelihood of Jacksonville letting Brunell go is scant, meaning the
Chiefs were realistically hoping that the Brunell leak might dupe the Rams
into letting Green go a little more easily.
What would be rather ironic, should the Chiefs not strike a deal for Green,
is Dilfer ending up in Kansas City.
As free agency began and started to progress, both the Chiefs and Dilfer
were looking for situations much more ideal than either might be likely to
find. The Chiefs are looking for a more talented quarterback, and Dilfer is
looking for a starting job with a winner.
"We're still in the very beginning stages, the educational stage," Dilfer
said after meeting with the Chiefs recently.
"He's a charismatic guy," Vermeil said of Dilfer. "You can see why he's
considered a good leader. He's won a lot of football games."
That, however, never seems to be something Dilfer is credited with.
Should the Rams not part with Green and Brunell not leave Jacksonville,
another possibility for the Chiefs is Troy Aikman, who is an obvious risk because of his concussion problems.
Any team that can protect Aikman (Kansas City allowed a modest 34 sacks last
season) might strike gold, because Aikman still might have some magic left.
Washington still stuck in unemployment line
Top-flight veteran players who thought they
were going to strike it rich as unrestricted free agents are finding out
teams aren't willing to spend rarified salary cap money. Just ask former Bills nose
tackle Ted Washington.
| |  | |
| Washington |
Washington refused to restructure his contract to make it more cap friendly
for Buffalo, forcing the team to release him. He then thought he was going to
command close to (if not more) $5 million a year.
Well, free agency has been well underway for weeks and Washington is still
out there looking for work.
Recently, while visiting Chicago, the loquacious Washington put on a sales
pitch in an effort to get the Bears to sign him, making the point that he
could team up with the Bears' Mike Wells to make the Chicago linebackers better -- much the same way defensive tackles Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa did
for Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis.
"If you saw the film with Buffalo, (Bills linebacker) Sam Cowart rarely got
touched," Washington said. "He went to the Pro Bowl. I'm not taking full
credit for that, but that's my job. I don't like to see guards and centers
get on the linebackers because of the size difference."
Jets' Lewis to be a happier camper
In the "grass is greener on the other side of the fence" department:
In his praise for new head coach Herman Edwards, Jets linebacker Mo Lewis
last week ripped into former Jets head coach Al Groh, who left the Jets to
coach the University of Virginia.
| |  | |
| Lewis |
"You're supposed to come to work to enjoy work, not to feel like you're in a
rut and in something you can't wait to get out of," Lewis said. "You want to
come to work and enjoy working and going out there and having fun."
Lewis was ticked off when Groh took him out of his normal role as a
third-down pass-rusher. Also, after Groh resigned, several players complained
about being worn down at the end of the season because Groh worked them too
hard in practice.
"There were times when there wasn't any direction as far as the players and
the coaches," Lewis said. "We just had to try to mingle and try to get
through it because last year was the type of season where we were up and we
were down."
Oddly, as much as Lewis said he disliked Groh's way, he did sign a six-year,
$26.8 million contract extension while Groh was still the coach at the end of
last season. Now, with his big financial package and with Edwards as the
coach, Lewis gets his cake and icing and gets to eat it, too.
"(Edwards) set his standards early," Lewis said. "He lets you know where
you're at. He doesn't sugarcoat it. He'll tell you, this is what he wants and
this is what he believes. And you have to respect that. You don't have to
play it by ear to know where he stands. Exactly when something happens, good
or bad, you know where he stands. That's all you ask from a coach, to be
honest and up front with you.
"There's no excuses now. They say they're going to let the players play, and
they're going to coach. We'll see what happens."
Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post writes an AFC notebook every other Thursday for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
| |
ALSO SEE
AFC: Williams ready, Bills willing
AFC: Edwards ready for bright lights, big city
|
