Oilers Sign Powlus; Panthers Get Gilbert

Ron Powlus, who didn’t hear his name called during the NFL draft, agreed to terms Monday with the Tennessee Oilers as a free agent.

The former Notre Dame quarterback was one of 10 players who agreed to terms with the Oilers the day after the draft.

Powlus had entered Notre Dame touted as a future No. 1 pick and Heisman Trophy winner, but he wound up a disappointment on a disappointing team.

Powlus holds many of Notre Dame’s passing records. He completed a career-best 61% of his passes last season, and his 57.5% career completion rate was second in school history. But the Irish were 7-6.

Steve McNair is the Oilers’ starting quarterback, with 19-year veteran Dave Krieg and third-year pro James Ritchey his backups last season.

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As expected, the Carolina Panthers officially signed free-agent defensive tackle Sean Gilbert to an offer sheet that makes him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.

Gilbert, who sat out the 1997 season and was designated as a franchise player by the Redskins for the second consecutive year, struck paydirt with a seven-year, $46.9-million deal from the Panthers. The Redskins will not match the offer sheet but will receive mandatory first-round picks in 1999 and 2000 from Carolina as compensation.

Washington would likely have settled for picks in the first and third round in Saturday’s draft, but the Panthers were determined to keep their first-round pick this year, which was 14th overall, and selected Nebraska defensive tackle Jason Peter.

Gilbert’s deal surpassed the recent signings of defensive stars John Randle, Dana Stubblefield and Warren Sapp. Randle signed a five-year deal worth $32.5 million with Minnesota and Stubblefield and Sapp each signed six-year deals worth $36 million.

Gilbert was designated as the franchise player for the second straight year and protested the tag, but an arbitrator upheld the Redskins’ right to name Gilbert again as their franchise player.

Meanwhile, Washington signed Stubblefield and Wilkinson, making Gilbert expendable.

Gilbert, 27, was the third overall pick of the 1992 draft by the Los Angeles Rams and played with the Rams for four seasons before being traded to Washington for a first-round draft pick.

He had only three sacks in 1996 and the Redskins ranked last in the NFL against the run.

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The St. Louis Rams, the team that released Lawrence Phillips and took Randy Moss off their draft board, used their fourth-round pick Sunday on a wide receiver arrested last year in an alleged gang rape.

Coach Dick Vermeil said he’d be steering away from character risks in the draft. He insisted the pick of Az Hakim of San Diego State with the 98th overall pick doesn’t indicate a change of philosophy.

“We had enough information on him,” Vermeil said. “We knew he would carry this rap. We knew there was nothing to it.”

Vermeil said Hakim was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, even though the alleged rape took place March 3, 1997, during a party at his own home. Hakim said some acquaintances took a sexual encounter “to another level,” but that he was uninvolved.

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The Cincinnati Bengals released safety Bo Orlando, fullback Scottie Graham and cornerback Tito Paul.

Orlando, an eight-year veteran, played in every game last season, but started only two. Graham and Paul played very limited roles with the team.