NFL TRANSACTIONS : Chargers Unload Leading Rusher Butts for Draft Picks

Marion Butts, the San Diego Chargers’ leading rusher the last five years and second on the team’s all-time list, was traded to the New England Patriots on Monday in exchange for a higher third-round pick and the sixth pick in the fifth round.

With the new salary cap, the Chargers can not afford what Coach Bobby Ross termed quality depth at running back. Butts is scheduled to make $1.4 million in 1994.

San Diego used the higher third-round pick to select wide receiver-return specialist Andre Coleman of Kansas State. With the fifth-round pick from New England, the Chargers took tight end Aaron Laing of New Mexico State.

The Chargers, who won the AFC West at 11-5 in 1992 but fell to 8-8 last season, have lost 10 starters from 1993 through free agency or salary cap moves. They have added five starters, four on defense.

“When the new system came in we knew we were going to have to make some moves that wouldn’t be popular, nor would they be moves that we wanted to have to make,” General Manager Bobby Beathard said.

The Chargers have only two running backs on their roster--Natrone Means, who gained 645 yards as a rookie last year, and third-down specialist Ronnie Harmon.

Means will effectively become the starter.

The Chargers recently rescinded an offer to restricted free agent Eric Bieniemy, who played at La Puente Bishop Amat, but Beathard said they would like to have Bieniemy return, and will contact him.

Butts, a seventh-round pick out of Florida State in 1989, led the Chargers in rushing the last five seasons. After setting a team record with 1,225 yards in 1990, the 6-foot-1, 248-pound Butts held out the next training camp. That and a string of injuries led to a decline in his production. He gained 746 yards last year, with four touchdowns.

Leonard Russell, the Patriots’ unsigned running back, will demand a trade. Russell led the Patriots with 1,088 rushing yards last season. He became a restricted free agent, but when he did not receive an offer from another club by April 18 deadline, his exclusive rights reverted to New England.

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Wide receiver Arthur Marshall was traded from Denver to the New York Giants in return for the Giants’ seventh-round draft choice, the 218th pick overall. Marshall, who will be in his third NFL season, caught 28 passes in each of his first two seasons with the Broncos.

Defensive lineman Jeff Hunter, who spent most of the last two seasons with the Miami Dolphins, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Terms of the agreement were not released.