Bo Jackson Reportedly Is on Verge of Signing Contract With Raiders

Kansas City Royals outfielder Bo Jackson is on the verge of signing a contract with the Raiders to play football after the baseball season ends, according to published reports.

Today’s editions of The Kansas City Times, quoting unnamed sources close to the negotiations, reported that the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner would sign a contract with the Raiders today. The newspaper said Jackson was expected to sign the contract at a news conference this afternoon at Auburn University, where he played college football.

But Richard Woods, Jackson’s agent, denied that report. Reached at his Mobile, Ala., home, by the Associated Press, Woods said, “We have not reached an agreement on a contract. We do not have an agreement reached on anything.”

However, in an interview published in today’s Birmingham Post-Herald, Woods said a football contract could be signed “within the week.”

“I think a contract with the Raiders is very likely,” Woods told the Post-Herald. “The prospects of him playing baseball for the Royals and football for the Raiders is excellent.”

Woods returned to Mobile on Sunday after spending the weekend in Los Angeles negotiating with Raider owner Al Davis.

While declining to outline specifics of the Raiders’ offer, Woods stressed that “everything in football is secondary to baseball.”

Sources close to the negotiations said the contract would be long term, with several escape clauses in case Jackson decided to play baseball full-time.

The Royals, meanwhile, are restructuring Jackson’s 3-year, $1.006-million contract.