Chargers’ Top Pick Won’t Come Cheap; Agent Hopes for Deal

Drafting players is easy. Signing them is hard.

The early line on just how hard it will be to sign defensive end Burt Grossman, the eighth pick in the first round of Sunday’s NFL draft, is encouraging for the Chargers.

“Obviously I want Burt to be as well paid as possible,” said Richard Woods, Grossman’s agent. “But I also want him to be in camp on time. I think we can get it done.”

Woods arrived in San Diego Sunday night from his home in Mobile, Ala., just hours before Grossman arrived from Philadelphia. He met briefly Monday with Steve Ortmayer, the Chargers’ director of football operations. Serious negotiations won’t begin until later.

“We’ll do it on Steve’s timetable,” Woods said.

Actually Woods has more experience negotiating for high draft picks than Ortmayer. Other prominent Woods clients include Raider running back Bo Jackson, Falcon linebacker Aundray Bruce and Buffalo linebacker Cornelius Bennett. Jackson (1985) and Bruce (1988) were the first players selected in their respective years. Bennett (1987) was second overall.

Woods says Grossman plans to move to San Diego as soon as possible and begin working out with the team at its practice facility in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Grossman will participate in the team’s mini-camp May 8-13. But NFL rules prohibit him from reporting for training camp in July until he has signed.

Grossman’s worth to the Chargers in dollars?

It all depends on what kind of package the Chargers and Woods structure.

Agents generally favor short-term contracts because they believe their clients are better than most people realize and will prove it fast. Teams prefer long-term contracts for the same reason. They believe they have drafted wisely. And they don’t want to have to renew if their No. 1 makes the Pro Bowl in his first or second year.

“Of course if the player turns out to be a bust, the long-term contract hurts the team,” Woods said.

Two years ago, Woods advised Bennett to sign a five-year deal that totaled $4 million. The $1.5 million in cash the Bills were offering up front was too good to pass up, he reasoned. Before that, Bennett had gone through a prolonged holdout with the Colts, the team that drafted him, before Indianapolis traded him to Buffalo.

Jackson didn’t even play in the NFL until 1987. By then he was a member of the Raiders, who had drafted him in the seventh round of the 1986 draft when most people believed he would never leave the Kansas City Royals. Woods got Jackson a five-year, $5.32 million deal with the Raiders plus a $2.1 million indemnity Jackson will eventually receive if he plays five years.

Grossman will almost certainly benefit from the trickle-down effect expected to be caused by the $11.2 million, six-year contract signed last week by UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman. The Cowboys made Aikman the first pick of the first round.

“What the No. 8 receives is related to what the top seven receive,” Woods said.

Michigan State’s Tony Mandarich, chosen by Green Bay with the second selection, has said several times that he expects to be paid more than Aikman because he was rated a better athlete and a better football football player than Aikman. He has chosen to ignore the fact that the pay scale for quarterbacks has always been higher than any other position.

Atlanta’s Deion Sanders, the third pick, is saying he expects $10 million over six years. It’s not likely he’ll get it. Sanders is a cornerback. The best Woods could do for Bruce with the Falcons last year was $4.1 million for five years.

“But I do think the numbers will be up,” Woods said. “Mandarich and Deion have been very outspoken on this.”

The eighth pick in last year’s draft was USC tackle Dave Cadigan, who signed a four-year, $2.8 million contract with the Jets. The first defensive lineman (second pick overall) taken in the 1988 draft was Nebraska’s Neil Smith, who signed with the Chiefs for $3.55 million over five years. Grossman was the first defensive lineman drafted Sunday.

Anthony Miller, the Chargers’ first-round choice last year (15th overall) signed a four-year, $1.775 million contract that included an $800,000 signing bonus. Miller didn’t miss a day of practice, although he didn’t agree to terms with the Chargers until the week before training camp opened in July.

Back on the field, Gunther Cunningham, the Chargers’ defensive line coach, said Grossman will line up initially at right defensive end, with Leslie O’Neal outside of him in a flexible, roving-type position. Lee Williams will stay at left end, “but the thing we’ll probably do is keep each of them from playing the same spot all the time,” Cunningham said.

Charger Notes

The New York Daily News reported that Grossman underwent a battery of psychological tests administered to several prospective Giant draftees by Dr. Joel Goldberg. After the tests, Grossman told the paper: “I remember two of the questions. The first one was, ‘Have you ever thought of killing anybody?’ The second one was, ‘Who do you respect more, a ballerina or a wrestler?’ I answered: ‘No, and the wrestler.’ I think I got them both right.”