| | Associated Press
IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys released Deion Sanders early Friday, leaving the star cornerback and punt returner free to pursue a possible deal with the Washington Redskins and saving
the Texas team millions of dollars.
If Sanders had not returned to free agent status, he would have
received a guaranteed $23.5 million from the Cowboys over the next
two years.
Dallas' decision was announced on the team's Web site.
"Deion was a great player for us," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
said in a statement. "He was a major contributor in our
Super Bowl team and he has been a major contributor to the success
we've had in recent years. But because of salary-cap reasons, we
just can't afford to keep him under his current contract."
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'Skins miffed at Arrington
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- When the Washington Redskins drafted LaVar
Arrington and Chris Samuels as the second and third overall picks
in April, it was be love at first sight.
The Redskins remain high on Samuels following the first four
days of a two-week quarterback school. Samuels practiced each day
and impressed coach Norv Turner, who said the left tackle and 1999
Outland Trophy winner from Alabama had an "outstanding week."
But Turner wasn't elated with Arrington, who missed all four
days because his girlfriend gave birth on Tuesday. The Redskins had
granted the Penn State linebacker an excused absence.
As the week progressed, Turner kept saying he hoped Arrington
would be in practice the next day. By week's end, the coach seemed
a bit peeved that he remained a no-show.
"I'd prefer him to be here. He needs to be here. He's behind
four good days of work," Turner said. |
The Cowboys now say Sanders, 32, will count $2.2 million against
their salary cap this year and $3.2 million against the 2001 cap.
Besides Washington, Tampa Bay and Denver have also expressed
interest in Sanders. But Jones said he was not ruling out trying to
re-sign Sanders to a restructured contract.
"I think that's still a possibility," said Jones. "The door
is still open for that to happen and I wouldn't necessarily rule
that out."
But Sanders has indicated since the end of last season that he
anticipated being a free agent and wants to play for a team that
can win the Super Bowl. He was reportedly seeking a multiyear
contract with a signing bonus of at least $8 million.
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, who has already signed
several prominent free agents, has indicated that he would be
willing to do whatever is necessary to sign Sanders.
Media covering the Redskins' workout Friday were told not to expect any announcement regarding
Sanders until afte the the weekend.
Eugene Parker, the agent for Sanders, did not returned repeated
messages from The Associated Press early Friday.
In deciding not to exercise their option on the remaining four
years of Sanders' contract, the Cowboys said the move was strictly
for salary cap reasons.
And the Cowboys said that whatever team Sanders joins, he has
already proven he can aid in a turnaround, since he helped both
Dallas and the San Francisco 49ers win the Super Bowl in his first
season with each team.
Sanders, who has been especially talkative when he's the
subject, hasn't been talking publicly about what will happen.
"I'm not going to talk about football," Sanders told the Fort
Worth Star-Telegram, refusing to comment on "where I'm going or
what I'm going to do."
The player's agent, Eugene Parker, did not return phone messages
left by The Associated Press.
Jones and his Cowboys' staff, including new head coach Dave
Campo, are in Las Vegas, where they are expected to stay until
Saturday.
When Sanders arrived in Dallas at the start of the 1995 season,
his five-year, $35 million contract was the richest in free-agent
history. Jones said then that the deal was designed to get the
league's best cornerback as well as a player that could return
kicks and play offense.
Sanders last year signed a five-year, $51.5 million contract,
$5.4 million of which is counting against the Dallas salary cap
over the next two years even after the cut.
Now regaining his status as one of the NFL's top free agents,
Sanders is more likely to get his market value because of his
failed baseball comeback with Cincinnati this spring. He says his
knee, surgically repaired after the Cowboys lost in the first round
of the playoffs, is fine.
The Cowboys' release described Sanders' tenure with the team by
saying the player had a flair for the dramatic -- scoring seven
touchdowns in five seasons, including the playoffs -- but also being
hampered by injury.
Dallas has already prepared for the pending departure of
Sanders, who was selected to four Pro Bowls during his five seasons
in Dallas and also played for the 1995 Super Bowl champion.
The Cowboys selected cornerbacks Dwyane Goodrich from Tennessee,
Mario Edwards from Florida State and Kareem Larrimore from West
Texas A&M during the April draft, signed free agent veteran Ryan
McNeil to a five-year, $18 million contract and re-signed Kevin
Smith.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Deion Sanders has a chance meeting in a D.C. restaurant.
wav: 281 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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