Two Bills Drive

One player who didn’t get a "franchise" or "transition" tag Thursday, but came close, was Buffalo LB Sam Cowart. The team worked hard on trying to cut a deal with his agent and thought seriously about "tagging" Cowart, then backed off.

The free agent market isn’t going to be strong in general, and specifically for a player like Cowart, who played in just one game in 2001 and is coming off an Achilles injury.

You’ve got to wonder how much New Orleans owner really wants coach Jim Haslett to stick around. The Saints recently offered Haslett a new, four-year contract with salaries of $2 million, $2.5 million, $2.65 million and $3 million. But the final two years of the contract were at the club’s option and Haslett rejected the proposal. There also was a stipulation Haslett could leave for another NFL job provided the Saints were compensated with a third-round draft choice.

If some team really coveted Haslett (like Buffalo in 2003, should Gregg Williams not show progress this year), a third-round choice would be small price to pay for him.

Wegmans partnership breakup includes ticket sales and training camp.

‘Cowart’s agents want his signing bonus paid before the start of the regular season. They’re not demanding he get most of it the day he signs a contract, but they want it all by the time the regular season starts.’

‘Cowart says he wants to stay, but the word around the league is that he wants out. The Bills say they want to keep him, while nudging him toward the door.’

‘Both sides are terming the decision a mutual agreement.’

The Bills are not ready to use their tag on LB Cowart. They want to continue to negotiate. So now they have eight days until Cowart can test the free agent market. At issue: how much of Cowart’s signing bonus should be paid up front. The Bills want to defer payment of much of the bonus until after the season so they can assess his recovery from a torn achilles tendon. His agent, Gene Burrough, says the Bills are essentially looking for a guarantee from Cowart that he’ll never get hurt again. The agent says there’s a 50-50 chance at best that Cowart will re-sign with the Bills.

‘”At Wegmans, we want to focus marketing initiatives that tie more directly to our company’s priorities,” she said. “We’re just choosing to spend our marketing dollars in other ways.”‘

The good news – no more former Bills running backs were arrested for domestic issues with their spouses. The bad news – Rob Johnson was either hurt or ineffective all season long. He’s never been particularly good, but throwing 5 TDs in 8 games are numbers that can be described only as ?Leaf-esque? (as in Ryan Leaf).

‘Cowart’s agent Gene Burrough said “it’s a good chance,” that his client has played his last game in Buffalo.’

As we continue to work towards a contract for Sam Cowart to keep him here as a Buffalo Bill, we opted not to place a tag on him. The rehab process continues to go well for Sam in his efforts to recover from his Achilles tendon injury and working to a time when he can pass a physical.

Based on stories over the past few years, it’s pretty clear that Modrak and Donahoe are very tight with the old-school, roll-up-your-sleeves football writers – Buchsbaum and Len P. (and Bill Werndl of XTRA and formerly of Philly, for that matter).

Question: What?s the first thing you should ask yourself when a marginal NFL player signs a lucrative, long-term contract?

Answer: When is he going to get cut?

If experience really is the best teacher, the Chargers will have a terrific mentor for their young wide receiver corps in 2002, with the team on Wednesday hiring former NFL star James Lofton as an assistant coach.

It will mark the first coaching assignment at any level for Lofton, who had a brilliant 16-season career in the league.

‘Avion Black is now a Houston Texan. The Bills never got close to utilizing Black’s speed. He could have been an excellent kick returner. In fact, against the Saints on opening day last season, he ran a punt back 34 yards. Unfortunately, he had one man to beat – the punter, who ended up tackling him. Still, it was among the best drive starts the Bills had on offense all season.’