Voodoo Economics: Qb Takes Cut To Be Top-Paid
Steve Young, a five-time passing champ and two-time league MVP, became the highest-paid player in the NFL on Wednesday and took a pay cut for this year to do it.
Such is NFL accounting in the salary cap era.
In another ironic move, Young’s six-year, $45 million contract cleared the salary cap room the San Francisco 49ers needed to bring in their last unsigned player and Young’s projected successor, first-round draft pick Jim Druckenmiller.
Within hours of Young’s signing, general manager Dwight Clark said the 49ers and Druckenmiller agreed to terms on a six-year contract. Financial details weren’t released.
Team president Carmen Policy said he expected Druckenmiller to be signed and in the 49ers’ training camp by today.
Young, who would have been eligible for free agency after this season, was due to receive a 1996 base salary of $4.5 million. Now, as part of the new pact, Young will be paid $3 million this season. He’s due to receive $10 million in 1998, $8.275 million in 1999, $6.550 million in 2000, $7.825 million in 2001 and $9.350 million in 2002. There was no signing bonus.
Young’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, said the pact made Young the highest-paid player in the league with an average of $7.5 million, surpassing Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre, who last week signed a seven-year, $47.25 million contract for an annual average of $6.75 million.
However, Young, who turns 36 in October and endured a series of injuries last season that caused him to miss all or parts of nine games, probably won’t collect all the money in the new deal. It’s not guaranteed, and Policy and Steinberg both said the contract likely will be restructured next year to ease its $10 million impact on the cap.
Mac is back
The knee tells him it is fine, that he can run and cut and tackle with all the abandon he used to. Vikings linebacker Ed McDaniel is trying to listen.
McDaniel led the NFL two straight years in tackles behind the line of scrimmage before he injured his left knee during a non-contact workout on the second day of training camp last year.
He returned to regular workouts with Minnesota for the first time this week - “The Mac is back,” he proclaimed Wednesday - but he is learning the mental stress of a knee injury can be even harder to overcome than the injury itself.
“That’s the hardest part, mentally, because the knee is fine,” McDaniel said. “You’ve just got to get to the point where you don’t even think about it. Once you let it all go, you’re not worried about your knee anymore.”
McManus out for season
Tom McManus, Jacksonville’s starter at middle linebacker last year, will miss the season with torn knee ligaments.
McManus suffered a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a practice Saturday with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Mamula apologizes
Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Mike Mamula apologized to a female bouncer in Allentown, Pa., who accused him of exposing himself to her. She accepted the apology, even though the statement lacked an admission of guilt and did not specifically mention the allegation.
Friends with Mamula, 23, told police he was fixing his shorts and did not expose himself. A police report described him as intoxicated but cooperative.
“I do not support or condone any conduct which is abusive or disrespectful to women. If I have done anything to offend Ms. Happaney I am truly sorry and offer my sincere apology,” Mamula said.
Patriots vs. Packers
A meaningless game, right? That’s what exhibitions in July almost always amount to.
This one’s different, because it pits the defending Super Bowl participants.
Just six months after their 35-21 loss to Green Bay in New Orleans, the New England Patriots, under new coach Pete Carroll, visit Lambeau Field tonight to face the defending champions.
“Anything to the Patriots and the rematch?” Packers free safety Eugene Robinson asked before the horde gathering around him had the chance.
“I think there is,” Robinson said following the Packers’ Wednesday walk-through. “I think it’s much more unspoken than it is said between all the players.”
And with the Packers scheduled to visit the Patriots for a Monday Night matchup Oct. 27, there’s something to be said about firing the first shot.
Around the league
The New Orleans Saints re-signed veteran linebacker Rickey Jackson, 39, who retired after the 1995 season, to a one-year contract. Jackson, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, spent his first 13 seasons with the Saints before joining the San Francisco 49ers for his final two years. … The Kansas City Chiefs signed free-agent offensive tackle Steve Wallace, 33, to a one-year contract. Wallace has played in 168 regular-season and 20 playoff games, all with San Francisco.