The Bengals' first-round draft pick, PETER WARRICK,
"has parted ways with his agent," SFX's MICHAEL GEORGE,
according to Neil Schmidt of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER.
Warrick notified the Bengals via fax on Friday that he ended
his agreement with the N.Y.-based agency. Bengals President
MIKE BROWN: ""It's puzzling" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 4/23).
ESPN's Chris Mortensen: "The only thing you can read [here
is that he] is disappointed, that he's blaming the agency
for being drafted fourth" ("NFL 2Night," 4/24). USA TODAY's
Gordon Forbes reports that Warrick has talked to NORM NIXON
about representation (USA TODAY, 4/25).
COCHRAN DOESN'T FIT: In Akron, Patrick McManamon
reported while "there were reports" that Browns OL ORLANDO
BROWN had hired attorney JOHNNIE COCHRAN to sue the NFL,
that is "not so." McManamon: "Brown has mentioned to some
teammates that he might like to hire Cochran, but those
statements seem to be more a result of his frustration at
possibly seeing his career end." Also, Brown has not
dropped his agent, IMG's TOM CONDON (A.B. JOURNAL, 4/24).
