IN BRIEF : Packers, Draft Pick Battle Over Pay

The Green Bay Packers have offered their top draft pick, Tony Mandarich, the same amount the Atlanta Falcons paid linebacker Aundray Bruce after Bruce was picked first in the NFL draft last year, a Packer executive says.

“I don’t think anybody in the National Football League is going to pay quarterback money to an offensive lineman,” Tom Braatz, Green Bay’s vice president of football operations, said Monday of Mandarich’ request. “It’s not just Green Bay. Even if he was with the L.A. Raiders, I don’t think they would.”

Mandarich is seeking the same amount at which quarterback Troy Aikman signed with Dallas. The Green Bay Press-Gazette listed the former Michigan State lineman’s request at $1.839 million a year and the Packers’ offer as $820,000 a year. Packers President Bob Harlan said the disparity in numbers at this stage doesn’t necessarily mean that agreement won’t be reached later.