Thursday, March 1
Contract demands too much for Chiefs



KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs announced Wednesday night that quarterback Elvis Grbac will become a free agent.

Elvis Grbac
Grbac

"We have been informed by Elvis Grbac's agent, Jim Steiner, that Elvis wants to pursue the free agent market and would prefer to play somewhere else," team president Carl Peterson said in a statement.

Negotiations had produced one offer from Steiner of a five-year contract averaging $8 million a year, including a $20 million signing bonus, the Chiefs said.

"We believe that to be excessive, even for the quarterback position," Peterson said.

No other contract proposals were made by Steiner, the Chiefs said.

Backup quarterback Todd Collins is under contract through the end of the 2002 NFL season. Peterson said the team also would pursue the free agent market.

Grbac signed with Kansas City in 1997 as an unrestricted free agent from San Francisco.

In 49 regular-season games with Kansas City, he completed 897 of 1,548 passes for 10,643 yards with 66 touchdowns and 47 interceptions.

Grbac has played in 92 games with 56 starts in eight NFL seasons with the Chiefs and 49ers.

He completed 1,181 of 1,978 passes (59.7 percent) for 13,741 yards with 84 touchdowns and 63 interceptions.

Grbac, who is 31-23 as an NFL starter, was an eighth-round draft choice by San Francisco in 1993 from the University of Michigan.

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