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Rypien Cut; Moon, Kosar Move On

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From Staff and Wire Reports

Wednesday was the day of the quarterback shuffle in the NFL.

Going is Mark Rypien, the Super Bowl most valuable player only two years ago, who was released by the Washington Redskins because of injuries, a plummeting quarterback rating and the NFL’s new salary cap.

Arriving is Warren Moon, to the Minnesota Vikings from the Houston Oilers in trade. Houston reportedly will receive two draft picks from Minnesota--a fourth-rounder this year and a conditional third-rounder in 1995. One reason for the deal is that Moon will earn $3.25 million next season, and the Oilers’ salary cap can’t stand that.

Going home is Bernie Kosar, signed by the Miami Dolphins to back up Dan Marino. Kosar played at the University of Miami.

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The Redskins are undergoing a major remake under first-year Coach Norv Turner and said they would re-sign Rypien at $1.5 million, about half his salary. He told them he would rather be released.

Turner has made it clear he wants to use the Redskins’ No. 1 pick, the third overall, to draft a quarterback--preferably Tennessee’s Heath Shuler or Fresno State’s Trent Dilfer--and the Redskins also have talked with some lower-priced free-agent veterans--Rodney Peete of the Detroit Lions, Chris Chandler of the Arizona Cardinals and John Friez of the San Diego Chargers.

Moon had said he preferred to stay in Houston, but quarterback Cody Carlson has already signed an extension at a lower salary and the Oilers are moving away from the run-and-shoot offense under new coordinator Dick Coury.

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Kosar led the Miami Hurricanes to their first national championship 10 years ago and became a free agent after backing up Troy Aikman last season with the Dallas Cowboys. He and Marino are neighbors in South Florida.

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The NFL’s salary cap went up by another $400,000, to $34.6 million per team, after the latest audit by the NFL Players Assn. Under the labor agreement reached in 1993, the cap is set at 64% of defined gross revenue.

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Wade Wilson agreed to a two-year contract with the New Orleans Saints, the team he played for last season. Wilson, 34, will play behind recently acquired Jim Everett or one of the Saints’ other two quarterbacks. . . . The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed offensive tackle Tim Irwin, 35, who had started every non-strike game between 1982 and last season for the Minnesota Vikings. . . . Defensive back Maurice Hurst, 26, and the New England Patriots agreed on a three-year contract for $5.1 million, including an $800,000 signing bonus. . . . ABC will add Brent Musburger and Lynn Swann to its “Monday Night Football” telecasts, Musburger handling the halftime show and Swann reporting from the field. . . . Dallas wide receiver Alvin Harper reportedly has received a three-year, $4-million deal from the Pittsburgh Steelers, nearly double that offered by the Cowboys. . . . Michael Miller and Tracy Graham, football players at Notre Dame, say they were not involved in the thefts of a television set and video cassette recorder, reported missing from dormitory rooms in January and found in their off-campus apartment. Charges are not expected to be filed.

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Golf

The Presidents Cup golf matches, featuring an American team against an international squad, will be played Sept. 16-18, PGA Tour Deputy Commissioner Tim Finchem said. The U.S. site will be announced later.

A 12-man U.S. team will be made up of 10 players who qualify on official earnings from last year’s Milwaukee Open through the 1994 World Series of Golf and two players to be designated by a team captain.

Soccer

Jean-Pierre Papin, a French international striker whose career went into a slump at AC Milan, agreed to a two-year, $2.4-million contract with Bayern Munich in Germany.

Tennis

Mikael Pernfors, seeded second and two-time defending champion, was beaten by Brazilian qualifier Roberto Jabali, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, in the first round of the $288,750 Eddleman U.S. Clay Court Championships in Birmingham, Ala.

Miscellany

Gold-medal speedskaters Dan Jansen and Bonnie Blair were among 118 members of the U.S. team at the Winter Olympics who joined with 29 members of the Paralympic team in a ceremony at the White House. . . . More than $80,000 worth of photos autographed by Michael Jordan were reported missing from the Alabama hotel where the retired NBA star was staying while playing minor league baseball, police said. Among the items were pictures that already had been autographed by Laker Coach Magic Johnson.

Names in the News

Coach Tubby Smith, widely courted after taking Tulsa to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament, has turned down a job at Oklahoma. . . . Monica Seles, still recovering from the effects of an on-court stabbing last year, is not among the entries for the French Open, but two-time winner Martina Navratilova will play after skipping the clay courts for the last few years to concentrate on Wimbledon. . . . Former Alabama basketball coach Wimp Sanderson, who left the school after a sexual harassment controversy involving his secretary, signed a three-year contract to coach at Arkansas Little Rock.

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