Semifinalists in the NFL Playoffs to Be Restricted on Free Agency

NFL Vice President Joe Browne said Saturday that any team competing for the NFC or AFC title next weekend will be prohibited from signing any free agent unless it loses one of comparable stature to free agency.

The prohibition will last until the league’s new cap machinery is in place, perhaps in a year or two, Browne said.

What’s more, the four losing teams in the semifinals this weekend--at Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Dallas and Miami--will be allowed to sign only one free agent worth more than $1.5 million per year.

All of the NFL’s 24 other teams will be in position to get more help. They can legally sign all the free agents they can afford.

A free agent will be a player with at least five years of NFL football. Each of the 28 teams will have the right of first-refusal to protect its three most valuable veterans.

When the rule was adopted last Tuesday, its main proponent, Dan Rooney, president of the Pittsburgh Steelers, did not announce it publicly. Nor did any other owner. Nor did Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Nor did any NFL Players Assn. source.