boy oh boy...

[SuperBills12]

Somethings got to give

 

By MARK GAUGHAN

News Sports Reporter

3/22/2005

 

 

James P. McCoy/Buffalo News

Running back Travis Henry says he's cleaned out his locker for the last time with the Buffalo Bills.

 

Travis Henry says he's frustrated by the fact the Buffalo Bills have not yet traded him and he is determined as ever to play elsewhere next season.

 

Both Henry and his agent, Hadley Engelhard, said Monday the Bills have a firm offer on the table from the Arizona Cardinals. They said the Cardinals are willing to trade left tackle L.J. Shelton to the Bills for Henry in a straight player-for-player deal.

 

"Arizona wants to make a deal," Henry said from his offseason home in Orlando, Fla. "I made it clear to (coach) Mike (Mularkey) that I did not want to be back. We talked. He said it's got to be a win-win situation (in order to make a trade). Well, they've got a win-win situation. They need an offensive tackle. Arizona needs a running back."

 

"We are grateful to the Bills for giving us the chance to talk to other teams," said Engelhard, who is based in Atlanta. "We're talking with a number of teams. But the team that has shown the greatest interest is Arizona, which has offered L.J. Shelton. We feel like the player-for-player trade is the right deal. It helps both teams fill voids."

 

Bills President and General Manager Tom Donahoe declined to comment on specific negotiations with any other club. However, Donahoe reiterated the Bills would like to deal Henry.

 

"We hope so; that has been our intention since we gave his agent an opportunity to look," Donahoe said at the NFL's annual meeting in Hawaii. "It has to be a fair trade, and nobody has presented us with what we consider to be a fair trade. Unless the agent can do a better job of selling a deal, it may not happen. . . . If we can get it to where we feel we're getting equal value for a player like Travis, we'll be happy to do a deal."

 

Shelton, who turned 29 Monday, visited the Bills in mid-February. He was a first-round pick of the Cards in 1999 and started at left tackle in 68 out of 70 games over four seasons, from the midpoint of the '99 campaign through 2003.

 

Shelton, 6-foot-6 and 335 pounds, underwent ankle and elbow surgeries last offseason and reported for training camp overweight. That got him into the doghouse of new Cards coach Dennis Green. Shelton rode the bench until the fourth game, when he shifted to right tackle. He started and played well every game until a sprained knee ended his year with three games to play.

 

Asked about Shelton, Donahoe said, "He had a bit of a down year last season but he's played very well in the past and we think he's an attractive player."

 

Henry has a year remaining on his contract. There has been some talk that Henry would be unhappy about any deal unless the new team was willing to give him a contract extension.

 

Engelhard said that is "100 percent erroneous."

 

"I'm frustrated about how everything has been handled," Henry said. "I think Tom (Donahoe) is being stubborn about it. The deal is there to be made. They let Drew Bledsoe go because he wasn't going to be no backup. I'm no backup."

 

Henry reiterated that he cannot imagine returning to the Bills.

 

"Last year was very difficult for me," he said. "I hated to go to work. The vibe just wasn't right every day. I handled it professionally. But it's obvious that really didn't mean anything.

 

"I could have made things bad in the locker room, but I didn't. I wanted the team to win. I want to win. I did what was best for the team."

 

Henry said he thinks the Bills wanted to turn the starting running back job over to Willis McGahee all along and were looking for a convenient time to make the move. The team switched to McGahee after its 0-4 start.

 

"I feel they played mind games with me the whole training camp," he said. "It wasn't fun. They knew what they wanted to do from the start."

 

McGahee suggested after the season that if he were in Henry's shoes, he would fight to win the starting job back.

 

Henry scoffed at that statement and said it does not help McGahee to have Henry sitting behind him.

 

"He knows that's bull," Henry said. "I don't know why he said that or what he was thinking. But it goes both ways. It's uncomfortable for the both of us."

 

Henry would not specifically comment on whether he would report to the Bills for minicamp or training camp, but it's expected he would be a no-show.

 

"I'm not going back to Buffalo," Henry said. "I'm sticking to my guns. I'm no backup. I did it last year. The only thing I can do is be patient and have faith that it's going to be settled."

 

Arizona needs a starting running back to replace the retired Emmitt Smith.

 

Shelton still has four years left on a contract that pays him $3 million a year. He has a similar mind-set as Henry's. He wants out of Arizona.