NFL: Off-season report

With about one month remaining until the 2001 NFL draft, many NFL teams are making their moves towards improving their teams from the year before, all to hopefully make it to the Super Bowl. Some teams are adding big impact players, while some players are unloading superstars in efforts to get under the salary cap.

Veteran players such as Troy Aikman, Chris Slade, Cortez Kennedy and Al Del Greco, all of whom spent many years with one team, are now victims of the salary camp and are scampering for new teams to play for.

Doug Flutie, long-time journeyman in both the NFL (Bills and Patriots) and the CFL, signed a six-year deal worth just over thirty million dollars with the San Diego Chargers. It’s the first time Flutie has been designated the true starter for a team in his career.

Now, if the Chargers drafts quarterback Michael Vick with the first pick in the draft, Flutie can start for a few years, while grooming Vick into an NFL quarterback. When Flutie is ready to hang the cleats up, Vick will by then be ready to make a major splash.

The Chargers also signed defensive end Marcellus Wiley away from the Bills, in another six-year deal, this one for $40 million. Flutie and Wiley will be reunited in San Diego with former Bills general manager John Butler, who’s now the GM in San Diego. Wiley replaced longtime Bills end Bruce Smith last season, and made a career of it, grabbing 10 1/2 sacks.

Meanwhile, former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Elvis Grbac signed a five-year, $30 million dollar a year deal with the defending champion Baltimore Ravens, who earlier released their starter from last year, Trent Dilfer. Grbac is the first quarterback to take over a defending Super Bowl champion’s offense in NFL history. Grbac will undoubtedly improve the Ravens’ offense next season, as they look to repeat.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers apparently felt that Shaun King was not the best option at quarterback for next year, so they went out and signed Brad Johnson to a five-year contract. Their plan is to sideline King for a few years, feeling he isn’t yet matured as a quarterback. They also signed another quarterback, troubled Ryan Leaf, whom they will give a fresh start to. Leaf will most likely end up as the team’s third-string quarterback.

A couple wide receiver’s also cashed in with new teams: Former Redskins’ wide receiver Albert Connell signed a five-year deal with the Saints, and another former Redskins’ receiver, James Thrash, signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, who desperately needed a potent receiving threat for quarterback Donovan McNabb to throw to. Both former Washington receivers will see an increase in playing time next year.

The Seattle Seahawks made some big moves, trading a couple draft picks to the Green Bay Packers for quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, whom Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren (a former coach in Green Bay) envisions as the Seahawks number one starter. The Seahawks also released longtime player Kennedy, and signed former New England Patriots defensive tackle Chad Eaton to a four-year, $10.7 million contract, with a $3.5 million signing bonus.

Former Seahawks starting quarterback Jon Kitna signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, in a four-year deal worth between $7- $12 million. Kitna is expected to battle with Akili Smith for the starting Bengals job. Kitna was booted out of Seattle after last season’s disasterous play. Kitna looks to Cincinnati for a fresh start.

Of course, some superstars resigned with the teams they played for last season. Both Brett Favre and Drew Bledsoe inked ten-year deals with their respective teams, each the biggest contracts in NFL history. Running back Tiki Barber re-signed with the New York Giants, agreeing to a six-year, $25.5 million deal. Dolphins’ cornerback Patrick Surtain re-upped with Miami, getting a four-year extension, making him one of the five highest paid cornerbacks in the NFL.

There are still some big-time superstars still looking for possible new homes. Quarterback Gus Frerotte, wide receiver James McKnight, defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield, defensive lineman Simeon Rice, along with Dilfer, and Aikman all are still visiting teams. Quarterbacks Trent Green and Steve Beuerlein are both on the trading block, possibly having deals done with the Chiefs and Cowbows both in the running respectively.

Whatever happens this off-season, we know that everybody will end up with a team to play for, well, except for possibly Aikman. His age and health are both factors that may turn teams away. Aikman may be forced into retirement. Expect more quarterbacks to be moved, and many more deals to go down. This is only the beginning!