Twenty-six of the NFL's 30 teams spent more than the $37.1M
salary cap this season, according to figures obtained by the S.F.
CHRONICLE. The Cowboys spent the most, more than $62.2M or 67%
over the cap (Ira Miller, S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/1). The Panthers,
Redskins, Patriots and Bills round out the top five spenders,
while the Cardinals, Falcons, Packers and Seahawks are the only
teams under the cap (David Aldridge, WASHINGTON POST, 1/3).
LABOR EXTENSION: The N.Y. TIMES's Timothy Smith notes while
the NFLPA and the NFL Management Council announced an agreement
on a new CBA, it still has to be approved by players and team
owners. Owners face a dilemma in that under the old agreement,
'99 was to be an uncapped year. The new CBA has '99 capped (N.Y.
TIMES, 12/24). ESPN's Chris Mortensen notes the Cowboys are the
one team "squeezed" by the '99 cap ("GameDay," ESPN, 12/23).
MORE SQUEEZING: The Cowboys have restructured Deion
Sanders' contract and withdrawn their challenge to the NFL
Management Council regarding the contract, according to the FT.
WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. The Cowboys would not release the terms of
the deal, but Owner Jerry Jones said, "With Deion's cooperation,
we have renegotiated his contract so that it will affect our
salary cap as originally intended even with the new rules in
place." Under the deal, an additional $1.6M will be applied to
the team's cap over the next four seasons (Kevin Lyons, FT. WORTH
STAR-TELEGRAM, 12/29).
INCOMING! The Giants and NJSEA took out a full-page ad in
Friday's edition of the San Diego Union Tribune apologizing for
the conduct of fans at the Meadowlands during the Chargers/Giants
game in the season's last week. In that game, players, coaches
and staff members were pelted by snowballs and ice-balls. The
Giants have said they will revoke 75 season tickets from the seat
locations where fans had been thrown out (Mike Freeman, N.Y.
TIMES, 12/28). NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue defended the
decision not to forfeit the game: "I think they made the right
decision based on a balance between safety issues involved and
the integrity of the competition for the championship" (Gary
Myers, N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/25). A week later, Tagliabue told
ESPN: "With the benefit of hindsight, I think many of our
operations people, as well as myself, feel we should be prepared
to take a pause to pull the teams off the field in that type of
difficult situation" ("SportsCenter," 12/31).
