NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has agreed to mediate
the contract dispute between Patriots coach Bill Parcells
and team Owner Robert Kraft, according to Michael Madden of
the BOSTON GLOBE. Tagliabue will speak by conference call
with Kraft and Parcells today and "may make a ruling as
early as tomorrow." Kraft is maintaining Parcells is
"contractually bound to the team," and is seeking
compensation if Parcells takes another coaching job.
Parcells has been widely-rumored to be heading to the Jets
to handle all football operations (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/28).
CLOTHING MONEY PART OF DEAL: Last January, Kraft
allowed Parcells out of the final year of his five-year deal
that was to expire after the '97-98 season. The original
deal contained a provision that Parcells would have to pay
$1.3M if he did not fulfill his final year unless he had
"serious health problems." Kraft "agreed to amend the
contract to void the buyout clause at Parcells' request,
demanding two things in return: $300,000 that was part of a
a $900,000 lump-sum payment Kraft had made to Parcells when
he bought the team" and an agreement that bound Parcells to
the Patriots if he coached or worked in football in '97.
The $300,000 was payment from a deal Parcells made with
former Pats Owner James Orthwein for wearing Apex clothes on
the sidelines. Apex then went out of business and the team,
not Parcells, signed a new deal with Starter. Parcells
feels the deal made him a free-agent, but one NFL exec, who
has seen the Kraft-Parcells amended contract, said, "Kraft
dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's. Parcells has no
way out of this and he knows it." In Boston, Ron Borges
notes Tagliabue "will side with Kraft on his right to
compensation," predicting the Patriots will get the Jets'
second-round draft pick (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/28).
