Two Bills Drive

‘The Bills lost reserve receiver Avion Black to the Texans. But after Black was taken, the Bills did not bother to pull Johnson back onto their protected list, as was their option.’

‘Stop pretending he’s going to swallow a huge salary cut and come crawling back to a town that is sick of him. Put the fans, the players, the media and Rob himself out of their misery and cut the guy right now.’

The 24-year-old Black was mostly a special teams player for the Bills last season. He has 697 total return yards, eight receptions for 90 yards and five special-teams tackles in his NFL career.

The Houston Texans didn’t want Rob Johnson on Monday, and the Buffalo Bills still haven’t decided whether they intend to keep him.

By selecting Bears backup Danny Wuerffel to go with veteran Mike Quinn, the Texans don’t have to hit the QB market hard. If Gus Frerotte, Jim Miller or Rob Johnson — if he’s cut by Buffalo — wants to come to Houston for a $1 million, one-year deal, the Texans will probably accommodate him. Frank Reich started in Carolina until Kerry Collins was ready in the first month. The Texans — if they draft Carr — are only asking for games, not years, from a veteran QB.

‘"We’ve been pretty open about the situation right from the end of the season," Donahoe said. "If there’s a chance for Rob to come back the contract’s a factor. If they’re not receptive to that, it’s going to be difficult for us to bring him back. We can’t do it under the current number."’

Veteran LB Marvcus Patton, a starter for the Kansas City Chiefs the last three seasons, agreed to a six-year contract Monday. Patton was an eighth-round draft choice of the Buffalo Bills out of UCLA and played on all four of the team’s Super Bowl squad.

‘Asked the chances of Johnson taking a pay cut, Donahoe replied: “I don’t know. You’d have to ask Rob that question. I’m not good at mind-reading. And a pay cut is only the first step”, Donahoe added.’

[Q] On the possibility of Rob staying and accepting a pay cut…

[A] You would have to ask Rob that question. I am not good at mind reading, I failed that course in college. We have had discussions with David Dunn, we’ll have some more and see what happens. We have spoken a couple times.

‘On Monday, Bills general manager Tom Donahoe said he hasn’t ruled out using either a franchise or transition tag on Cowart prior to Thursday’s deadline. Such a move would at least give Buffalo the right to match any offer made to Cowart by any other team.’

‘Black, who turns 25 in April, had just four catches for 45 yards last season.’

Avion Black was the only Buffalo Bill taken in 19 picks taken by Texans.

Len Pasquarelli, ESPN.com senior NFL writer: The two-year veteran wide receiver is still very raw and only caught eight passes in 2001. But he has good size and decent speed, nice body control, and seems to have potential as a wideout and clearly can help in the kickoff return game. With a cap price of $460,000, he’s worth a gamble.

Buffalo two-year veteran wide receiver Avion Black is still very raw and only caught eight passes in 2001. But he has good size and decent speed, seems to have potential as a wideout and clearly can help in the kickoff return game. With a cap price of $460,000, he’s worth a gamble.

‘Texans General Manager Charley Casserly and head coach Dom Capers wouldn’t comment on specific players during a national conference call earlier this week, but they didn’t seem overly enthusiastic about Johnson when asked about him.’

Some catching up on the details of a few new contracts recently awarded to quarterbacks: The five-year deal signed by Alex Van Pelt of Buffalo is worth $5.4 million and it includes a $1 million signing bonus along with base salaries of $650,000 (for 2002), $750,000 (2003) and $1 million each for 2004-2006.