Browns’ Policy Could Be Hit With $500,000 Fine

Cleveland Browns’ President Carmen Policy expects to pay as much as a $500,000 fine to the NFL because of accusations he violated the salary cap when he ran the San Francisco 49ers, USA Today reported Friday.

The league’s management council has spent the past year reviewing the contracts of former 49ers Steve Young, Brent Jones and Jim Druckenmiller because of claims the team violated salary-cap guidelines under Policy’s reign, particularly during the 1997 season.

Policy did not immediately return a telephone call to the Associated Press on Friday.

However, he did release a statement saying, “The matter has not been concluded, therefore I would prefer not to comment.”

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello also said that no agreement had been reached.

“When there is, we’ll announce it,” he said. “How close that is, I have no idea.”

Policy, who appeared before the council last month in New York, told USA Today he did not want his dispute with the NFL to drag on any longer.

“Even if I had a crystal ball and was guaranteed victory in court, I still would not want to get into a protracted fight with the league,” Policy said. “I can’t imagine a fight with the NFL after having been a league guy for 17 years.”

According to USA Today, a number of league owners, including Oakland’s Al Davis and the New York Giants’ Wellington Mara, had urged Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to take action against Policy.

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Seattle quarterback Jon Kitna practiced Friday, one day after having sore ribs, and was expected to play Sunday against the St. Louis Rams.

Kitna left Thursday afternoon’s practice because of discomfort on his left side, and his status for the game was unclear.

But he said he was pain-free Friday.

“I don’t think it will be an issue at all on Sunday,” Kitna said.

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Mark Chmura and his neighbor will be tried separately because of the attention surrounding the former Packer tight end, who is accused of forcing his baby sitter to have sex with him at Waukesha, Wis.

The neighbor, Robert Gessert, would be “swept up in the undercurrent” of the trial’s coverage, the judge ruled Friday.

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Denver running back Olandis Gary was put on injured reserve as the Broncos searched, mostly in vain, for healthy bodies for Sunday’s game against Atlanta.

Wide receiver Ed McCaffrey, who did not practice Thursday because of a groin injury, practiced sparingly Friday.

Running back Terrell Davis, hobbled by a sprained left ankle, had a limited workout that was confined to individual drills.

Coach Mike Shanahan said the availability of McCaffrey and Davis won’t be determined until just before game time.

Linebacker Al Wilson, offensive tackle Cooper Carlisle and defensive tackle Jerry Johnson also were declared inactive for the Atlanta game.