Green Bay Didn’t Send Top Talent Packing

Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren spent the five days of the NFL owners’ meeting explaining why Green Bay let a half-dozen starters get away to free agency.

Most of their rivals just chuckled.

“They lost one player,” another general manager said. “They’ll be right back up there.”

Holmgren and Wolf said as much about a team that won the Super Bowl two years ago and the NFC championship last year. But they’ve drafted well enough that they may have the backups to replace the six guys they lost.

The only loss that surprised them was the one they can most afford--punter Craig Hentrich, who signed with the Oilers. They replaced him with Sean Landeta, who kicked for Tampa last season and seems to be able to go on forever.

“We sat down at the end of the season and talked about losing some guys,” Holmgren said. “The one that surprised me more than any other as the punter. Otherwise, you get six teams that come after six players and pay them more than anyone else at their position is getting. We made the decision that it was too much.”

In addition to Hentrich, the Packers lost defensive end Gabe Wilkins to San Francisco; cornerback Doug Evans to Carolina; running back Edgar Bennett to Chicago; and safety Eugene Robinson to Atlanta. They also expect to lose guard Aaron Taylor and Reggie White could retire.

The only two in that group they expect to really miss are Evans and Wilkins, plus White, of course.

“Someone please find me some defensive linemen,” Wolf pleads.

But he knows he has some bodies on hand to complement Santana Dotson and Gilbert Brown, the two tackles.

Wilkins’ replacement is likely to be Keith McKenzie, who was often used in pass-rush situations last year.

“But Keith was probably a better overall player than the guy we lost,” Wolf said, meaning Wilkins, whose knee problems have the 49ers a bit worried. “His problem is that he’s 265 pounds and that’s not a lot to play against the run.”

The Packers have drafted so well that they have few worries at the other positions.

Robinson, for example, was slated to backup second-year man Darren Sharper, who excelled as a nickel back the second half of last season and now will start at free safety. Craig Newsome, an emerging star when he tore up a knee in the first game last season, will replace Evans, to whom Carolina paid $4 million a year.

Bennett, who tore an Achilles’ tendon in the exhibition season, was expendable because Dorsey Levens--designated the franchise player--developed into the NFL’s fourth-best running back last season.

Taylor’s spot probably will go to Marco Rivera, a 1995 draft choice who trained in the World League a year ago.

The Packers also have re-signed Robert Brooks and expect to lock up Antonio Freeman, keeping their receiving corps intact. They also expect to extend the contract of linebacker Brian Williams, another rising star.

All of those were Wolf draft picks who were given a few years to develop.

“We know their offense will be as good or better,” said coach Tony Dungy of Tampa Bay, which finished second to Green Bay in the NFC Central and lost to them three times, including in the playoffs. “We just hope their defense will fall off enough to bring us closer.”

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RETIREMENT? George Young stepped down as general manager of the New York Giants to take a job in the league office because, at 68, he wanted to travel less and spend more time with his wife. He even sold his home in New Jersey and found an apartment in New York City.

Then he was appointed last week to oversee the personnel operation of the expansion franchise that will start play in Cleveland in 1999.

While he won’t travel as much, he is the de facto president of the Browns, who don’t have an owner yet. He’ll oversee Joe Mack, the former assistant general manager in Carolina, whom he appointed to run the scouting operation.

“I’m retiring and all of a sudden I get hit with Cleveland,” Young sighed as he accepted a record fifth executive-of-the-year award at the meetings.

“Oh well.”

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COWHER AND THE BROWNS: There were reports this week that Bill Cowher, who is under contract with the Steelers through 1999, is interested in the Cleveland job if he can’t work out a deal with Pittsburgh that would put him in the $2 million a year category paid to coaches like Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson.

But considering the Browns don’t have an owner yet, who knows what will happen?

“As long as he’s under contract, he could be appointed King of Siam and he’d still belong to the Steelers,” commissioner Paul Tagliabue said when asked about Cowher.

Johnson, who spent his first year in Dallas (1989) shedding players and is still rebuilding in his third year in Miami, is a bit envious of the Cleveland job, although he’d never consider moving to a non-tropical climate.

“They can start from scratch,” he says. “I’ve been spending time clearing out people who don’t fit my system.”

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STRANGE BEDFELLOWS? In 1996, Dave Brown was the quarterback for the Giants and Dan Reeves was the coach. They barely tolerated each other and Brown was openly relieved when Reeves was fired.

Now that Brown has been let go by New York, what team might he land with? Leigh Steinberg, his agent, says he’s seriously considering Atlanta, where Reeves now coaches.

“Things change,” said Steinberg, noting that Atlanta desperately needs an experienced backup for injury prone Chris Chandler.

Brown is more likely to end up in Oakland, Tampa Bay or Arizona. If he goes to the Cardinals, it would be like a trade -- Brown was let go when the Giants signed former Cardinal Kent Graham.

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YOUNG ENERGY: Jon Gruden, the new coach of the Raiders, has one thing over his contemporaries--at 34, he has boundless energy.

“My brother came to visit me after I got the job,” he said. “The first day I woke him up, he noticed it was dark and he asked me what time it was. I told him it was 3:30 a.m.”

Three-thirty?

“I like to get to the office by 4 or 4:30,” Gruden said. “I think my brother thought I’d get up at 7 or 7:30 p.m., have some eggs and sit around reading the paper.”