Cowboy QB White Retires at 37; Browns Sign Kosar Through ’95

Danny White, the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback for most of the 1980s, retired after a meeting Wednesday with Coach Jimmy Johnson.

White, 37, said Johnson made it clear that White did not figure prominently in the team’s plans for 1989. The Cowboys drafted UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman and University of Miami quarterback Steve Walsh.

White played at Arizona State, then played two seasons with Memphis of the World Football League before joining the Cowboys in 1976. He was the most accurate passer in Cowboy history and holds 11 club records. White quarterbacked the Cowboys to five playoff appearances and two division titles. His record as a starter was 67-35.

Meanwhile, in Cleveland, quarterback Bernie Kosar signed a contract extension that will keep him with the Browns through the 1995 season and probably will make him one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the National Football League.

Kosar, who still has one year left on a five-year deal that paid him an average of slightly more than $1 million a year, missed part of the 1988 season because of elbow and knee injuries.

One report said the extension will bring him an average of more than $2 million annually and be worth about $14 million.