Slater Is a Surprise Holdout for Rams : Football: Three Pro Bowl players and top two draft picks are missing on the first day of camp.
Their sights apparently still set on the Super Bowl, the Rams opened training camp at UC Irvine on Wednesday without three Pro Bowl players, their top two draft choices and five other unsigned veterans.
The surprise of the no-shows was 14-year tackle Jackie Slater, who did not report despite being under contract.
Coach John Robinson said Slater, who acts as his own agent, wants his contract renegotiated and has been meeting regularly with Vice President John Shaw.
“They seem to be in constant negotiations,” Robinson said. “I don’t know what’s ahead. But they are meeting tomorrow (Thursday).”
All-Pro guard Tom Newberry was also missing, but he was excused to remain at home in Miami with his wife, who is pregnant and reportedly ill.
Slater, technically, is the only holdout among the 10 who did not arrive to camp on time. The others, excluding Newberry, are without a contract.
As the team’s 4 p.m. Wednesday arrival deadline approached, the Rams were able to reach agreement with tight end Pete Holohan, who reported with other Ram veterans.
As expected, All-Pro linebacker Kevin Greene headed the list of unsigned veterans who did not report. The others are tight end Damone Johnson, linebacker Brett Faryniarz, safety Michael Stewart, nose tackle Alvin Wright and defensive end Doug Reed.
By all indications, Greene is digging in for a long summer of negotiations. Despite recording 33 sacks in the last two years, Greene played last season for $225,000 in base salary, about $800,000 below the going rate for top NFL sackers.
Greene is believed to be seeking something in the million-dollar-per-year range, hoping perhaps to ride out the financial wave shaped by quarterback Jim Everett, who signed a six-year, $14-million deal with the Rams last January.
Greene has even enlisted Everett’s agent, Marv Demoff, who is at least considered on good terms with the team’s management.
The Rams have also yet to sign first-round draft choice Bern Brostek or second-round pick Pat Terrell.
Robinson, as usual, had little to say about the missing players. The no-show routine has almost become an annual rite of summer.
“At this point I can’t worry about the guys who aren’t here,” Robinson said. “We’ve got 20% of our squad missing. A lot of teams have some players missing. I think we’ll gradually whittle them (no-shows) down.”
Ram Notes
According to his agent, Flipper Anderson seriously considered holding out until Tuesday, when he reportedly received a “good faith” offer from Vice President John Shaw to renegotiate the receiver’s contract after this season. Anderson enters the third season of a four-year contract that will pay him $200,000 in 1990 and $220,000 in 1991. Of course, no one expected Anderson, a second-round choice in 1988, to play his way out of his salary range this quickly. Anderson was the team’s third receiver until a hamstring injury to starter Aaron Cox last summer cleared the way for a season in which Anderson caught 44 passes for 1,146 yards and five touchdowns. Anderson also set the NFL single-game record with 336 receiving yards against New Orleans on Nov. 26.
Coach John Robinson said the team will probably sign former USC tackle John Guerrero to a free agent contract today. Guerrero, who battled weight problems throughout college, has apparently slimmed enough to be given a serious look. Robinson said Guerrero weighs about 290 pounds. . . . Among the recognizable Rams participating in tonight’s scrimmage with the San Diego Chargers at Capistrano Valley High will be quarterback Chuck Long, linebackers George Bethune and Frank Stams, cornerback A.J. Jackson and defensive end Brian Smith. The scrimmage starts at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public.
