Holdout Is Over for Raiders’ Long : Pro football: He is fined $100,000 but has contract adjusted in ‘fair’ settlement.

He’s back, a little richer, a little poorer, but as confident as ever in the wealth of the talent he possesses.

Raider defensive lineman Howie Long ended his 25-day holdout Tuesday after testing the limits of his worth and the value of his loyalty and service in a bid to renegotiate his contract.

The result: An adjustment in that contract, but a deduction in his salary to pay a stiff fine for his efforts.

An agreement in principle had been reached last Thursday, but a last-minute hang-up developed last Friday. That hang-up, according to several Raider sources, was the fine money.

Long, heading into his 13th season at age 33, was being docked $4,000 a day, which would bring his total to $100,000.

That may be the highest such fine in NFL history, although Indianapolis Colt quarterback Jeff George, still holding out, is expected to break that dubious mark.

“It’s tough,” Long said, “but the team has rules and I’ve followed them for 12 years. I don’t make waves from that standpoint. I try to do what’s right.

“I was aware of the ramifications coming in. I felt it was important to do something and I feel good about that.”

Long was operating under an $8.33-million contract, signed in 1988, that will run through 1996. Under the terms of that agreement, he received $1.4 million last season, was scheduled to get $1.5 million this season, and then $1.65 million, $1.8 million and $1.98 million over the remainder of the deal.

“It was a lifetime contract when I signed it,” Long said, “but they didn’t think I’d live this long.”

Nor did Long envision free agency causing the wage scale, especially at his position, to explode. Suddenly, there’s a Reggie White making more than $4 million a season and Bruce Smith making more than $3 million.

The Raiders, on the other hand, were concerned with the salary cap expected to go into effect next season.

The Raiders reportedly offered to move some of the money in the later years of the contract up. Long wanted an adjustment in salary.

“I think concessions were made on both ends,” he said, “and I think we’ve come up with something that’s fair.

“It’s more money than I ever thought I would make in my life anyway. I made more money last year than my uncle Billy, who I lived with in high school, made in his entire life as a painter.

“So I’m not complaining. It wasn’t the money. I’ve got money. I’ve done OK . . . (but) I’ve felt I’ve worked hard to maintain a level of play that keeps me in the upper echelon of defensive linemen.”

Raider Coach Art Shell had a big smile after meeting with Long late Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ve looked forward to this for a long time,” Shell said. “It’s time to go to work.”

Shell said Long might be ready to take part in a few series of plays as early as Saturday when the Raiders play the Cowboys in Dallas.

Long said he had maintained his normal rigorous training schedule at home, but conceded it wasn’t quite like playing an NFL game.

“You can run all you want and do all you want,” he said, “but you can’t get into football shape until you start throwing 300-pound people around. They’re hard to find when you’re working out around the house.”