Monday, March 31, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
SUN WIRE REPORTS
ESPN and a New Orleans newspaper are reporting that restricted free agent quarterback Heath Shuler has agreed to an offer from the New Orleans Saints.
The reports from the cable network and the Times-Pic ayune indicate that Shuler, the Tennessee quarterback who spent his first three NFL seasons with the Washington Redskins, has verbally accepted a four-year, $7.6 million offer heavily loaded with incentives.
The reports also specify the deal has yet to be signed and won't be until the Saints and Redskins can agree on compensation.
Because Shuler is a restricted free agent, any team that signs him must give the Redskins a first- and third-round draft pick unless a compromise can be reached.
Saints president and general manager Bill Kuharich said recently that a compromise would have to be reached before the Saints would sign Shuler.
"We would never, ever give the Redskins a first- and third-round pick for Shuler," Kuharich said.
Neither Shuler, his business manager Roger Jenkins nor agent Tom Condon was available for comment on Sunday night.
The signing period for restricted free agents ends April 14. If Shuler hasn't signed by then, the Redskins would have until June 1 to offer him a contract or lose exclusive negotiating rights.
Shuler, 25, who also had tryouts with San Francisco, Green Bay, Kansas City and Seattle, exercised an option on his eight-year, $19-million contract with Washington earlier this year.
A first-round pick and the third player selected in the 1994 NFL draft, Shuler struggled with the complexity of defenses and injuries his first two seasons with the Redskins. He completed 186 of 390 passes for 2,403 yards with 13 touchdowns and 19 interceptions in the 1994-95 seasons while getting 13 starts.
Healthy this season, Shuler lost a preseason competition with fellow third-year pro Gus Frerotte for the starting job and was in on only one play the entire season.
Kuharich said earlier this month that the Saints were also negotiating with former UNLV and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham, an unrestricted free agent who sat out last season and missed almost the entire 1995 season with an injury.
"If we signed Shuler or Cunningham, they would come in with the understanding that they would have to beat out (current starter) Jim Everett," Kuharich said.
Everett, 34, has been the Saints' starter for the past three years, a period in which the team has had three straight losing seasons, including a 3-13 mark in 1996.
Longtime coach Jim Mora quit midway through his 11th season with the Saints last year and after Rick Venturi finished out the season as head coach, Kuharich hired former Chicago Bears coach turned NBC analyst Mike Ditka as the new head coach.
* TEAGUE PICKS DOLPHINS: When George Teague was sorting out offers from Miami, Baltimore and his old club, the Dallas Cowboys, the winning edge was Jimmy Johnson. In effect, Teague signed with the Dolphins while shouting, "Show me the coach." "He took less money," agent Steve Zucker says. "He just liked everything about Jimmy Johnson from the moment he visited there." Teague, who is expected to start at free safety, got a three-year, $2.1 million package. It can escalate to $3.5 million with incentives on what Zucker calls "a great backside to the contract." The Ravens and Cowboys offered a higher signing bonus. "But he really wanted to go to the right spot with Jimmy Johnson," Zucker says.
* RAVENS' CHOICE: Baltimore coach Ted Marchibroda expects to select a pass rusher or a linebacker with the fourth pick of the draft April 19-20. That could be Peter Boulware, a speed rusher from Florida State, or Virginia linebacker James Farrior. ... Ohio State cornerback Shawn Springs and Akron defensive end Jason Taylor moved up on the draft charts with spectacular workouts. Springs ran two 40-yard sprints in 4.27 seconds and 4.30, then bench-pressed 225 pounds 19 times and vertical jumped 40 inches. Taylor, a 6-foot-6, 243-pound speed rusher, ran the 40 in 4.64.
* WOODSON'S STOCK SINKS: After arthroscopic knee surgery, Pittsburgh cornerback Rod Woodson's leverage has diminished in the free-agent market. The Steelers have offered a five-year deal that is heavily backloaded, with a $2 million signing bonus and a $385,000 base for 1997. Woodson probably will take it. His cap figure would be $785,000, a big drop from last year's $3 million cap number.
* ANGRY AT JOHNSON: Some clubs are miffed that Johnson and the Dolphins will receive three extra compensatory third-round picks, claiming the formula involving salary and performance of departed free agents is flawed.
* KRIEG AN OILER: Free agent Dave Krieg, who has quarterbacked six NFL playoff teams, agreed to a two-year contract with the Houston Oilers. Terms were not disclosed. The Oilers needed a backup for Steve McNair after trading Chris Chandler, last year's starter, to Atlanta. Krieg, 38, was signed last year by the Chicago Bears as a free agent. He completed 226 of 377 passes for 2,278 yards, with 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
* NEW GRASS AT LAMBEAU: Green Bay will install SportGrass at Lambeau Field before next season. The Packers are the second NFL team to install SportGrass, which combines natural grass with a below-the-surface system of synthetic elements, on their playing field, joining the Baltimore Ravens. The Packers open their regular season at home Sept. 1 against the Chicago Bears.
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