Ram, Raider Plan B Lists Have 7 Starters : NFL: Among those unprotected are Jerry Robinson, Riki Ellison, Doug Smith, Doug Reed.
A total of seven starters from the Raiders and Rams were left unprotected by their teams when the NFL’s list of Plan B free agents was released Friday.
The Raiders exposed three defensive starters, safety Mike Harden and linebackers Riki Ellison and Jerry Robinson, and the Rams chose not to protect six-time Pro Bowl center Doug Smith, defensive end Doug Reed, tight end Pete Holohan and safety Vince Newsome.
In addition, kicker Mike Lansford was left unprotected for the second year in a row.
The Raider list also includes former Ram tailback Greg Bell, who played sparingly in 1990 behind Marcus Allen and Bo Jackson; punter Jeff Gossett, veteran quarterback Vince Evans, reserve runners Napoleon McCallum and Vance Mueller, cornerback Elvis Patterson, wide receiver Jamie Holland, linebackers Alex Gordon, Ron Burton, Darin Jordan and Ricky Hunley, who was released before the end of the season; tackle James FitzPatrick, guards Newt Harrell and Todd Peat, and defensive tackle Bill Pickel.
Others left unprotected by the Rams included backup linebackers Paul Butcher, Greg Clark, and Bruce Klostermann; long-snapper Mike McDonald, punter Keith English, defensive backs Bobby Humphery and Mickey Sutton, and linebacker Mel Owens, who missed all of 1990 with a back injury that might have ended his career.
Under the terms of Plan B, unprotected players have until April 1 to negotiate freely with other NFL teams without compensation to the original team.
Most teams have responded to Plan B by leaving aging players with large contracts unprotected, thinking that they attract less attention.
For example, Harden turns 32 this month, Ellison is 30, and Robinson 35. Robinson made $660,000 in 1990 and has two years remaining on his contract, which calls for him to make $710,000 in 1991 and $725,000 in 1992. All three could be expected to return to the Raiders next season.
A more interesting case could be made for Bell, a three-time 1,000-yard rusher in the league who is 28. Bell spent most of the 1990 season on injured reserve with an ankle injury. However, he commands a salary near $700,000, so that might scare some teams off.
The Rams probably are assuming that other teams will be scared off by the ages and salaries of Smith, 34, and 10-year veteran Holohan, 31. Smith was also left unprotected last season.
Reed, 30, was left unprotected because he is unsigned and the Rams fear that another long holdout by him will render him useless in the four-man-line scheme to be used by Jeff Fisher, the team’s new defensive coordinator.
Lansford and Newsome may not fit into the Rams’ plans. Lansford was only 15 for 24 on field goal attempts last season, and Newsome, 30, is at a position where the Rams have younger players ready to play.
Other big-name players left unprotected around the league included New York Giant tailback Ottis Anderson, voted Super Bowl XXV’s most valuable player, who was left unprotected for the third straight season, and several San Francisco 49ers of note: safeties Ronnie Lott and Dave Waymer, running back Roger Craig, and linebacker Matt Millen.
Anderson, 33, made $450,000 in 1990. Lott, 32, missed the final four games of the season with an injury and has a three-year contract worth $3.5 million. Craig, 30, was hampered by a knee injury in 1990.
Millen is 34, Waymer 32.
Also left unprotected was kicker Scott Norwood of the Buffalo Bills.
