Holmgren Sits on Rich Offer

The contract offer that Green Bay Packer Coach Mike Holmgren has left on the table is for close to $4 million a year, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported Thursday, citing an unidentified source.

Agent Bob LaMonte confirmed that the Packers had made a generous offer in late August but that Holmgren wanted to wait until after the season to decide his future.

Holmgren, whose current contract runs through 1999 and reportedly pays him about $2 million a year, could either sign the extension, exercise a clause in his contract that lets him leave for a dual general manager-coaching job or enter the final year of his contract.

Holmgren has a 21-day window in his Packers’ contract to entertain offers in the off-season.

The length of the extension offer wasn’t known.

Recently, Packer General Manager Ron Wolf said he thought Holmgren’s chances of returning for an eighth season were about 20%, given the lucrative offers he is expected to received.

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Atlanta Falcon Coach Dan Reeves was expected to be released from Piedmont Hospital today, four days after his quadruple bypass surgery.

Reeves, 54, will miss the last two games of the regular season but expects to return for the playoffs. The Falcons can clinch the NFC West Division title with a victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

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San Francisco 49er defensive tackle Bryant Young, who has spent over two weeks in the hospital after a season-ending leg injury, was scheduled to be released late Thursday or today.

Young broke both bones in his lower right leg when he was accidentally hit by teammate Ken Norton Jr. as they both attempted a tackle on Nov. 30 against the New York Giants.

Meanwhile, the 49ers’ depleted secondary got some good news.

Cornerback Antonio Langham is set to return to action after a knee injury, and may get the start against the New England Patriots on Sunday if cornerback Darnell Walker, questionable because of a left thigh bruise, is unable to play.

Cornerback Marquez Pope (right ankle) and safety Zack Bronson (right hamstring) will not play against the Patriots, while safeties Merton Hanks (both Achilles’ tendons) and Lance Shulters (right knee) and cornerback R.W. McQuarters (left ankle) continue to nurse nagging injuries.