Hawks May Not Wait For Bears To Make Deal

Eager to complete a trade for quarterback Rick Mirer, Seattle Seahawks vice president of operations Randy Mueller said Thursday that he might not wait for the Bears to complete contract talks with Mirer’s agent.

Mueller said there are other teams who will consider trading for Mirer even though he has one year left on his contract.

Mueller didn’t identify the teams.

Bears vice president of operations Ted Phillips was in Los Angeles Thursday to begin negotiating with Mirer’s agent, Marvin Demoff. It is the Bears’ desire to extend Mirer’s current contract so as to avoid the risk of losing him to free agency.

But Demoff is known to be a tough negotiator. That could drag talks into the free-agency period, which begins next Friday, the first day trades can be made.

Another possible roadblock to the trade, which would send Mirer and additional compensation to the Bears for a firstround draft pick, is the possibility that Mirer will not agree to a pay cut.

Around the league

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