RAMS : Cornerback Gray Reaches Contract Agreement

The Rams and cornerback Jerry Gray have reached a tentative agreement on what is believed to be a two-year contract worth about $1.45 million--plus the possibility of earning at least $300,000 each time he makes the Pro Bowl.

“Nothing’s finished until it’s finished, but we have an understanding that we have agreed,” Ram Executive Vice President John Shaw said Wednesday. “We’re waiting for the paperwork and all that, so I don’t want to say it’s completely done.”

Gray signed a one-year deal with a base salary of $500,000 before last season, then injured his knee in the last exhibition game and struggled through the regular campaign.

Gray, 28, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, apparently is scheduled to earn base salaries of $700,000 and $750,000 in 1991 and 1992, with the Pro Bowl clause for both seasons.

In other negotiating news, Todd Lyght, the Rams’ No. 1 pick, could miss the team’s July 11 rookie camp because talks are moving slowly, according to the cornerback’s agent.

Although unsigned players are allowed to attend regular training camp, unsigned rookies often attend rookie camps if they are insured in case of injury. That’s still possible in Lyght’s case, his agent, Bob Woolf said. But because the Rams have not yet made a serious attempt to sign Lyght, Woolf said he’s not sure he can send Lyght to the camp.

“I hope we can get him there,” Woolf said. “But it’s pretty hard to have him in there without even an offer on the table.”

Shaw said he understood from Coach John Robinson that Lyght would be at the camp, and he hadn’t heard anything different.

Woolf, who is based in Boston, is in Los Angeles on other business. But Ram Vice President Jay Zygmunt, who is handling the Lyght negotiations, is out of town and it is unlikely any major talks will begin until next week.

Given the circumstances--and the fact that only four of the NFL’s No. 1 picks this year have been signed--it’s almost certain that Lyght, who is expected to challenge for a starting job, will miss some of the Rams’ training camp.

Woolf also represents linebacker Mike Croel, who was taken one selection before Lyght by the Denver Broncos, and this too, could slow the Lyght talks.

“I’d like to get Croel signed first,” Woolf said. “Because of the past history of the Rams, I would like to bring Croel in with Denver, knowing that the Broncos have always treated their players fairly. That would create a standard for Lyght’s deal.

“But if L.A. would like to do something first, that’s fine with me, too.”

Ram Notes

Although the Philadelphia Eagles continue to offer Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jerome Brown to the Rams, and the Rams continue to listen, it is highly unlikely any deal will be struck.

Brown, who has asked the Eagles to trade him and who would like to play for his former coordinator, Jeff Fisher, now with the Rams, is unsigned and seeking a contract close to $2 million a year--well beyond the pay scale of the Eagles, Rams or anyone else in the league.

Plus, even if the Rams could sign Brown, the Eagles are apparently asking for too much in return: a combination of wide receiver Flipper Anderson and one of the Rams’ young offensive linemen--probably Tom Newberry or Bern Brostek.