RAMS : With Negotiations Under Way, Lyght to Attend Rookie Camp

Satisfied that the Rams finally are ready to open serious negotiations, the agent for the club’s No. 1 draft pick, Todd Lyght, on Tuesday said the cornerback would attend the rookie camp that opens Thursday.

“I spoke to (Rams Vice President) Jay Zygmunt and we’ve started negotiating,” said Bob Woolf, Lyght’s agent. “So at least there’s a conversation. And we’ve scheduled something for Friday.”

Lyght, who is expected to be the front-runner for a starting job, has been in the area recently but only worked out with the team one weekend.

Although he said the sides have not exchanged proposals or talked numbers, Woolf said he and the Rams had come to an agreement about injury-insurance for the low-contact rookie camp.

The rookie camp goes through July 16, and training camp begins the next day. Unsigned players cannot attend training camp.

Only four first-round picks have signed contracts so far, and among the top 11 selections, only the No. 1 overall pick, defensive tackle Russell Maryland, and the sixth, defensive lineman Eric Swann, have signed.

Maryland, who became the top selection when Raghib (Rocket) Ismail jumped to the Canadian Football League, signed a five-year, $8-million deal that is considered below standard value for a No. 1 pick. Swann’s $800,000-a-year contract, slotted behind Lyght, also is considered a soft deal for agents trying to get mega-bucks.

NFL teams are trying to peg the rest of the contracts for first-rounders to the Maryland and Swann deals, but the agents want to ignore them.

“Those two signings are anomalies,” Woolf said. “Both are total reaches where they went and both were so happy to be taken where they were (that) they signed for anything. So I don’t think either is a representation of real market value.”

Meanwhile, Woolf is in an interesting situation with Lyght, since he also represents linebacker Mike Croel, taken one pick ahead of Lyght by the Denver Broncos.

If Croel signs a lavish deal with Denver, one of the highest-paying teams in the league, or if he stages a long holdout, it’s possible it could adversely affect Lyght’s talks with the Rams.

“Because of the past history of the Broncos being fair to their players, I would like to bring him in first, which would create a standard for Lyght’s deal with the Rams, who maybe don’t have that past history,” Woolf said.

“But if L.A. would like to do something first, I’m definitely willing.”

The Rams’ recent agreement to give defensive tackle Mike Piel a two-year contract extension has made the already-complicated talks to sign wide receiver Flipper Anderson to an extension more complicated.

The Rams promised Anderson, who is scheduled to make $220,000 this season, the final year of his original four-year deal, that they would try to sweeten his salary before 1991.

But so far, the sides are far apart. The Rams apparently are offering a three-year extension that would pay him an average salary of about $550,000 through 1994, significantly less than the $800,000 that Anderson’s partner, Henry Ellard, will make in 1991.

Anderson’s agent, Ted Marchibroda Jr., is looking for a two-year extension that would put Anderson in the $700,000-a-year range. Marchibroda could have some leverage, considering Piel hasn’t put up the kind of numbers Anderson has for three seasons.

Does the extending of Piel’s contract, which was scheduled to be in an option year this season, affect Anderson’s situation?

“I think our position is consistent,” Rams Executive Vice President John Shaw said. “If we can extend Flipper’s deal, we’d love to do it. If we can’t, he obviously has a year left on it.”

Marchibroda would not say if Anderson would report to training camp without a new deal.

There hasn’t been much activity involving unsigned offensive lineman Tom Newberry and Irv Pankey. Newberry, who is moving from left guard to center this season, was originally told by the Rams that they’d make him one of the top-paid centers in the league. But recently, Minnesota Viking center Kirk Lowdermilk signed a $750,000-a-year contract and the Houston Oilers permanently moved $850,000-a-season guard Bruce Matthews to center. Those two deals could be a big sticking point with the Newberry talks.

Pankey, the team’s veteran left tackle who made $460,000 in 1990, is seeking a contract that would put him close to Jackie Slater’s $850,000 yearly salary. So far, the Rams have been far from that figure.

The Rams signed fifth-round draft choice Robert Young, a defensive tackle, leaving them with seven unsigned draft choices. No terms were disclosed.