PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Bengals Put Esiason on Block

Quarterback Boomer Esiason is available for a trade, the Cincinnati Bengals say.

Esiason, the team’s starter since he replaced Ken Anderson during the 1985 season, lost his job to rookie David Klingler beginning with the Nov. 29 game after the Bengals dropped out of playoff contention. Klingler was the Bengals’ top draft choice and General Manager Mike Brown has said he is the team’s projected starter for perhaps the next decade.

Esiason is being paid a reported $3 million per year through 1995, a price that could make it harder to trade him.

“When the trading period reopens, we will actively seek to trade Boomer,” Brown said. “That’s what he desires, and it’s the best way for the team to go as well at this point.”

Teams that might be interested in obtaining Esiason include the New York Jets, whose coach, Bruce Coslet, was Esiason’s offensive coordinator at Cincinnati, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whose coach is former Bengal Coach Sam Wyche.