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| Thursday, March 1 Associated Press | |||
| PITTSBURGH -- Citing a need to free up money, the Pittsburgh
Steelers cut center Dermontti Dawson on Wednesday in a salary-cap
move.
Dawson, 36, and a seven-time All-Pro, was due a $1 million bonus
if he was still on the roster on March 9. But a chronic hamstring
injury has limited him to just 16 games over the last two seasons.
"Dermontti Dawson is a class person and has been an outstanding
football player for the Steelers for many years," Steelers vice
president Art Rooney II. "In order for us to sign some of our
other free agents, we are forced to make some very difficult
decisions.
"Unfortunately, it is sometimes difficult to keep veteran
players under the current collective bargaining agreement."
Hasty, McGlockton no longer with Chiefs KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs released cornerback James Hasty and defensive tackle Chester McGlockton, on Wednesday. Hasty, 35, a 13-year veteran and two-time Pro Bowl selection, had been with the Chiefs for six years. McGlockton, 32, a nine-year pro and four-time Pro Bowl selection, played three years with Kansas City. In his nine-year NFL career with the Chiefs and Raiders, McGlockton has played in 131 games with 529 tackles, 46.5 sacks, two interceptions and seven fumble recoveries. Saints give boot to Brien NEW ORLEANS – Doug Brien, the second-leading scorer and the most accurate kicker in Saints history, has been released by New Orleans. By cutting Brien, the Saints save $670,000 this year against the salary cap. The seven-year veteran was scheduled to earn $570,000 in base salary on a $2.72 million, four-year contract extension he signed in 1997. He also was due a $100,000 roster bonus on March 15. "Doug expected to be back with the Saints this year," said Mike Kagnoff, Brien's agent. Brien, 30, has 513 points and trails only Morten Andersen among Saints' scorers. Andersen scored 1,318 points from 1982-94. Cowboys save bonus money by releasing pair IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys saved $7.5 million in roster bonuses Wednesday by releasing cornerback Ryan McNeil and linebacker Joe Bowden. The Cowboys are interested in re-signing McNeil and Bowden if they can work out more salary cap-friendly deals. Both were free-agent signings last offseason. Had McNeil been on the roster Friday, he would've received a $4 million bonus, and Bowden would've been due $3.5 million. McNeil replaced Deion Sanders in the lineup and instantly became a leader in a youth-filled secondary. His career-best 101 tackles were fourth-best on the team and one more than Sanders made in his last three seasons in Dallas. Bowden, who grew up in the area, was signed from Tennessee and failed to beat out Darren Hambrick for the starting job at strongside linebacker and made only 46 tackles and seven special teams tackles while working at middle linebacker in the club's nickel packages. Bears' Enis and Patriots' Slade let loose CHICAGO -- Chicago Bears running back Curtis Enis, the former fifth overall pick in the draft, and New England Patriots linebacker Chris Slade were among the big-name players cut by their teams on Tuesday. The Bears decided not to tender Enis a contract offer, making him a free agent. "We talked about it at length and decided Curtis has done everything he could here," said Mark Hatley, the Bears vice president of player personnel. "He hasn't produced to the level we would have liked for him to produce. ... We decided to go in another direction on the thing." The decision to let Enis go wasn't a surprise. Injuries and changes in the coaching staff and their offensive philosophies have kept Enis from being as productive as the Bears had hoped. He's never played a full season, and had just 1,497 yards rushing in his three seasons. Even Enis indicated at the end of the season he didn't expect to return. The Bears also released defensive tackle Brad Culpepper, who served as a backup to starters Mike Wells and Jim Flanigan last season. Culpepper, 31, signed with the Bears last August after being waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He totaled just 14 tackles and one sack in 12 games. A nine-year veteran, he started the last 54 regular-season games for the Bucs before he was waived for salary cap purposes. In 1999, he was third on the club with 6½ sacks. The Patriots cut Slade because of his $1.7 million salary. That was one reason they released Slade, a solid player who never lived up to the pass-rushing effectiveness he showed early in his eight-year career with the team. The Patriots must make other moves to bring their payroll down to the cap of $67.4 million by Friday morning's deadline. "Those are considerations" in releasing Slade, coach Bill Belichick said in a conference call. "We'll definitely pick up some savings by doing that. But it's really more of a decision of moving forward and doing what's right for both parties." Slade, a second-round draft pick out of Virginia in 1993, is fifth in Patriots history with 51 sacks, 38.5 of them at Foxboro Stadium. He had at least nine sacks in three of his first five seasons, but finished with four last season.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | ALSO SEE
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