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Cap casualties This offseason could be especially bad for veterans
In the coming weeks, the NFL is going to have a massive PR problem, and it has nothing to do with the stench emanating from its fight with Raiders boss Al Davis over the Los Angeles market. It has to do with the number of good players who will be jobless in 2001. Steve Beuerlein. Roman Phifer. Chidi Ahanotu. Jason Belser. All unemployed. A startling 19 of the league's 31 teams still have to clear salary-cap space to sign their pool of rookies. Once that happens, even more veterans will be on the street. One respected personnel man told me this week there are between 75 and 100 free-agent veterans looking for work who should be on NFL rosters but aren't because teams don't have the cap space to sign them. And Giants coach Jim Fassel told me: "This is the year you could really notice a difference in play because of the rising numbers of young players on every team in the league.'' There are two moves afoot to stem the tide of out-of-work vets. One, lower the vested veterans' minimum salary from $477,000 to a more workable number around $300,000. The NFLPA and some owners are pushing for this now. Two, set significant incentive money aside in a veterans' pool and pay it to high-achieving players at season's end. This plan, advanced by New England owner Robert Kraft, is an excellent one, and would answer veterans' concerns about signing for a fraction of what they're used to making.
Unwelcome victory for 49ersThe 49ers won't win the Super Bowl this year, barring a miracle, but they have won one offseason championship. They've won the Dead Pool. That's the money charged to a team's salary cap for players no longer on the roster.
San Francisco has used a full third of this year's $68.1 million cap for players like quarterback Steve Young ($4.8 million), linebacker Ken Norton ($4.4 million), and wideout Jerry Rice ($4.3 million). "Unfortunately, we're not out of the woods on the cap yet, but we're on the road to recovery," new San Francisco GM Terry Donahue told me. "It's still obviously going to impact us severely this year.'' The other teams with the most dead money this season include the Cowboys, stung by Troy Aikman's massive buyout, Chiefs, Vikings and Redskins. Why the asterisk on Washington? Because the $13 million includes the $1.14 million to be charged to the cap if, as expected, the team cuts Deion Sanders in June. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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