PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Hilgenberg Departs Bears With a Blast

Jay Hilgenberg, a Pro Bowl center, blasted the Chicago Bears and team president Mike McCaskey Friday after signing with the Cleveland Browns.

“I was upset with their arrogant, smug attitude toward me throughout the negotiations,” Hilgenberg said after the Browns signed him for two seasons at more than $1 million per year. “They never negotiated in good faith. They made me feel I wasn’t very wanted.”

Of McCaskey, Hilgenberg said, “I lost respect for him, to put it mildly.”

Hilgenberg, a seven-time Pro Bowl player during his 11-year career, was trying to become one of the NFL’s highest-paid linemen. The Bears refused to meet his terms and traded him to Cleveland for a second-to fourth-round draft choice, depending on how well he does this season.

Hilgenberg was paid about $560,000 plus incentives last year. Originally he sought $1.6 million from Chicago, which would have put him above Houston center Bruce Matthews, who reportedly made $1.1 million last year. The Bears’ best offer was $850,000 per season for two years with no incentives.

Hilgenberg said he wanted to stay in Chicago and would have settled for $900,000.

McCaskey said it wasn’t as simple as that and blamed Hilgenberg’s agent, Steve Zucker, for failing to clarify what the veteran center wanted.

McCaskey said he knows the fans are angry about losing one of the team’s best and most popular players.

“I’m going to put on my helmet, shoulder pads and get through the next week or two,” McCaskey said.

It was a different story in Cleveland.

“I thought it was in out best interest that we meet the price and pay Hilgenberg what he was asking for,” Browns owner Art Modell said. “It was an attractive deal all the way around for the Cleveland Browns.”

Cleveland released 11-year veteran center Mike Babb 10 days ago and is badly in need of help in the center of its offensive line.

Hilgenberg’s departure means Chicago will rely on backup center Jerry Fontenot. That leaves guard Tom Thayer, who has played one game at center, as the only reserve.

The Pittsburgh Steelers activated strong safety Carnell Lake, a former UCLA star who signed a new contract last week, and waived wide receiver Darrin Chandler. Lake, who has started 47 games since being selected in the second round of the 1989 draft, is expected to start in the final exhibition game against the New York Giants tonight. Chandler, who signed as a free agent on April 2, averaged 22.7 yards on seven kickoff returns and had one reception for 25 yards in three exhibition games.