GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Russell Maryland refused to take a pay cut, so the Green Bay Packers waived him Sunday along with 13 others.

	Maryland

Maryland, entering his 12th season in the NFL, was scheduled to make $1.4 million this year, and the Packers wanted him to accept something closer to the veterans minimum of $477,000.

Coach Mike Sherman said he tried in vain to reach Maryland's agent, Leigh Steinberg, on Sunday and eventually called Maryland himself to ask if he knew how to get a hold of his agent.

Maryland made it clear during that conversation that he wasn't going to accept a reduction in pay and Sherman said he would have to waive him.

"He felt he's a starter and has viable years left in his career, so it was just difficult for him to feel like he could take that pay cut," Steinberg told The Associated Press later Sunday.

Steinberg, who said he traded calls with the team last week, said the Packers had suggested a $500,000 contract with incentives that would not have reached the $1.4 million.

"This was Russell's decision," Steinberg said. "Russell and I have talked a bunch today, and it wasn't really a situation we necessarily were expecting. It's not like he was making $5.6 million. He was making 1.4. That's not an outlandish number for a nose tackle."

Maryland played just one season in Green Bay, but was often lauded for his work ethic and locker-room leadership.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 1991 draft, Maryland won three Super Bowl rings in Dallas after winning two national championships at the University of Miami.

"It was the economics of it," Sherman said. "Russell Maryland, I personally went out to Oakland and recruited him, had very strong feelings about him and what he did for our football team last year in the locker room and on the field.

It's known that Steinberg has contacted the New York Jets, who lost defensive tackle Jason Ferguson (rotator cuff) and have inexperienced Jason Wiltz atop the depth chart. Maryland probably will visit the Jets on Monday, Steinberg said.

Maryland shared snaps during training camp with trimmed-down Gilbert Brown ($485,000), who is making a comeback after spending last season out of football and ballooning to 400 pounds.

With Cletidus Hunt beginning a monthlong suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy and Steve Warren on the injured list for at least six weeks, the Packers acquired first-year defensive tackle Rod Walker (6-foot-3, 330 pounds) from Tennessee on Sunday for a conditional 2002 draft pick.