Raiders Sign Three Players Before Deadline : Pro football: McDaniel, Anderson and Jaeger get new contracts but Smith deal falls through. Rams sign Newman.

Beating a 1 p.m. deadline set by an arbitrator, the Raiders signed three players--cornerback Terry McDaniel, safety Eddie Anderson and kicker Jeff Jaeger--to new contracts Thursday.

A proposed four-year, multimillion deal for defensive end Anthony Smith, an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, fell apart before the deadline passed.

The Rams signed only free safety Anthony Newman, for two years, apparently leaving 20 other players to become free agents at the end of the season.

By beating the deadline, the clubs were able to transfer some of the money from the new contracts to the 1993 salaries of the newly signed players, and that money will not count against next year’s salary cap. The cap is expected to be in place by Feb. 20.

Newman said that the Rams were able to front-load “a large portion” of his contract, including his signing bonus, into 1993, thus saving money under the cap.

McDaniel would not discuss his new Raider contract. As a transition player, he would have been entitled to receive the average of the top 10 players at his position. That figure is about $1.6 million annually. McDaniel forfeited that right by signing before his contract expired, but it is believed that he received at least the transition amount.

Anderson and Jaeger signed three-year contracts with the Raiders.

“I didn’t want to leave,” said an obviously pleased Anderson. “I want to finish my career here.”

McDaniel, a Raider since the club made him a first-round draft choice in 1988, is coming off a Pro Bowl season and leads the team in interceptions this year with five.

Jaeger, finishing his seventh season and fifth as a Raider, is enjoying his best year with an NFL-leading 31 field goals, a club and personal record.

Drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 1986, Anderson has been a Raider since 1987, the year the club signed him as a free agent. The contracts of all three players were due to expire at the end of this season.

Smith was on his way to leading the AFC, if not the entire NFL, in sacks until a midseason finger injury reduced his effectiveness. After getting 11 sacks in his first seven games, Smith has only 1 1/2 in his last seven games.

“I wanted to get it done,” said Smith of the proposed deal. “But it was too late for the opportunity to get something done. I don’t know what I’m going to do. . . . There’s no hard feelings. I want to be here. I like the organization. (Owner) Al (Davis) has always looked out for me. We were so close. I thought we were going to sign.”

The Raiders can still siphon some money away from the cap by signing players by Jan. 2. The difference is, that new money, regarded as a signing bonus, must be spread equally over the length of the contract in terms of computing the cap.

Strong safety Pat Terrell of the Rams was surprised that the Rams had not offered deals similar to Newman’s to others verging on free agency.

“I just found out what they did with Anthony, and I was surprised that they didn’t do that with more guys,” he said. “With the new TV contract and the players out there, it would be a smart thing for them to do.

“It’s a situation where I haven’t seen anything on the table. I would love a new deal right now but fortunately I have a free agent market to test.”

Each NFL team is expected to receive $39.2 million from the league’s new TV contracts with Fox network and NBC, about $10 million more than expected and $8 million more than this season.