Rams Add Faryniarz, Wright to Their Fold : NFL: Linebacker, nose tackle sign contracts, but four veterans, two draft choices and Jackie Slater remain in limbo.
The Rams continued to chip away at their long slate--but still no Slater--of training camp no-shows, signing linebacker Brett Faryniarz and nose tackle Alvin Wright to contracts on Thursday.
Terms of the deals were not immediately available. Wright, the starting nose tackle who played for a base of $220,000 in 1989, signed a three-year deal at what is believed to be a substantial increase.
The signings leave the Rams with four unsigned veterans, Kevin Greene, Damone Johnson, Doug Reed and Michael Stewart; two unsigned draft choices, first-round choice Bern Brostek and second-rounder Pat Terrell; and one unhappy player under contract, Jackie Slater.
Slater, a 14-year veteran, is seeking to renegotiate his contract of $550,000 for 1990 and hadn’t arrived as of Thursday evening.
Though Slater is much beloved in Ram circles, Coach John Robinson said he considered his holdout no different than others in the past.
“It’s just business,” Robinson said. “It goes on all the time. It has nothing to do with Jackie.”
One player closely watching Greene’s contract negotiations is Pro Bowl cornerback-turned-safety Jerry Gray, who figures to use Greene’s deal to shape his next contract. In fact, both players have the same agent.
Gray signed a one-year contract for $500,000 in 1990, not including some reachable incentives, and now eagerly awaits the outcome of Greene’s ordeal.
“We’ve seen what the Rams do to guys that come out and bitch,” Gray said, rekindling memories of Eric Dickerson and Greg Bell. “Now, we’ll see if they have another side to them.”
Greene and Gray are two of the team’s most well-liked and devoted veterans. Both made the Pro Bowl in 1989. Greene earned $225,000 in base salary for the season; Gray $250,000.
Instead of staging a holdout of his own this summer, Gray took the step-ladder approach, accepting a lesser contract for 1990 as he builds momentum for his next negotiation.
“Even though it was fair to (raise) me from $250,000 to $900,000 or a million, I think it was too far of a jump,” Gray said. “It’s like being on the 10th floor and you want to get down. If you work your way down to the fifth floor, it doesn’t seem that far.”
In monetary terms, Greene and Gray are lagging far behind the rest of the league: New York Giant linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who has fewer quarterback sacks than Greene the last two years, is holding out of camp until the team renegotiates his $1.2 million deal for 1990.
Gray, in turn, rattled off a list of defensive backs who are in a higher tax bracket.
“Joey Browner (Minnesota), he averages out to $900,000,” Gray said. “You’ve got Ronnie Lott (San Francisco) at $825,000. Deron Cherry (Kansas City), all those guys are in the $800,000. Raymond Clayborn (Cleveland), he’s in the $900,000s. Deion (Sanders) averages $1.1 million. If you’re in that type of caliber, you want that type of money.”
Greene and Gray certainly are of that ilk, and have long been hard-working, non-complaining, company men.
“Kevin’s a real nice guy,” Gray said. “He plays for the team. It’s not a selfish thing with him, and everyone knows it. That’s what’s going to be so hard for the Rams, to say, ‘We can do without him.’ Because he’s not the type they ever had to deal with.”
Until now.
Robinson said this week that the NFL’s recent decision to eliminate the six-man developmental squad this season will hurt every team’s depth.
“I think it will have a negative effect,” he said. “I think it puts more of a strain on the players. The combination of that and a strict injured reserve clause, where injured reserve people can’t practice, makes it very difficult. Practice in the NFL this year will be significantly different than it’s been.”
The 237 developmental players in the league last year were paid $1,000 a week and were allowed to practice.
Ram Notes
Guard Tom Newberry reported to camp Thursday. He was granted a one-day leave to remain with his pregnant wife in Miami. . . . Some more numbers for Kevin Greene to consider as his contract dispute lingers: On Thursday, the New Orleans Saints signed Pro Bowl linebacker Rickey Jackson to a two-year contract worth $825,000 per season with a $50,000 reporting bonus each year.
The Rams are believed to be offering first pick Bern Brostek the same four-year, $1.8 million deal they gave Cleveland Gary last season. Gary was the 26th overall pick, Brostek the 23rd. . . . The Rams’ chief contract negotiator, Jay Zygmunt, was in Chicago Thursday attending to his father, who suffered a heart attack. The emergency trip could slow negotiations with several unsigned veterans and the team’s top two draft choices. . . . Coach John Robinson on the mood at this year’s camp: “It’s the best atmosphere I’ve ever been around. All the coaches have the same feeling. Something’s there.” . . . The first notable training-camp injury award goes to receiver Henry Ellard, who sprained an ankle at Thursday’s morning practice. He’s listed as day-to-day. . . . The Rams are at their limit of 80 roster players, meaning they must release a player to make room for any holdout signing.
