Agent: Time for Titans to pay, trade or cut McNair
|
?Keep him under the contract he has, trade him, cut him or start trying to get a new deal done with the starting point being what?s on the table from the Ravens,? agent Bus Cook said Tuesday. ?They don?t want to do any of those things. … You can?t have your cake and eat it, too.?
Titans general manager Floyd Reese declined to respond to Cook?s comments and has said the goal is to keep McNair in Tennessee.
But the situation has been at a stalemate since April 3 when the Titans told the co-MVP of 2003 that he could not work out on their property without a cheaper deal because they worried about the liability from a $23.46 million salary cap hit if he got hurt.
McNair won the right to return last week from an arbitrator, then the Titans told the quarterback in a letter he had to take a physical before working out.
Coach Jeff Fisher said Tuesday morning that he expected McNair could take the physical by Thursday at the latest if he?s in town and hoped that general manager Floyd Reese and Cook could work something out while that happens.
?I understand, as he does, the process of why we?re at where we?re at. Steve is very motivated to play and play well. I trust right now he?s in very good shape because he knows he?s going to be on the field someplace and determined to prove that and put this behind him,? Fisher said.
Titans owner Bud Adams, in town for the announcement of the team?s new naming rights deal, looked at a giant banner of McNair hanging outside the stadium and recalled how McNair took them to a Super Bowl. But he also said McNair is getting older.
?I think they need to get his salary down. That?s what we asked him to do, if he?d cut his salary down,? Adams said.
With Baltimore helping set the market value for the 11-year veteran, Cook said that won?t happen. The Titans allowed Cook to talk to Baltimore on April 30 as part of a potential trade that fell through, and he got a five-year offer of an $11 million signing bonus and a $1 million salary for 2006.
?Steve?s certainly done nothing to deserve a pay cut, particularly in light of the fact another team out there is willing to double what they?re willing to pay. It doesn?t take a rocket scientist to figure all that out,? Cook said.
McNair has not commented publicly on his contract situation, but even he may be nearing the end of his patience.
He is under contract for 2006 and scheduled for $9 million salary with a $1 million non-exercise fee due by Sept. 1 because the Titans declined a $50 million option to extend his contract through 2009 in March.
The Titans also selected Vince Young of Texas with the third pick overall as the future quarterback.
If the Titans intend to release McNair barring a cheaper contract, every day keeps the quarterback in limbo and unable to start learning a new offense.
Cook said he has not talked with Reese and wasn?t sure a meeting would help resolve the situation. But a trade would allow the Titans to free up much-needed salary cap space and get something of value for McNair if the team plans on releasing the quarterback before the season.
?It?d be in Steve?s best interest to go somewhere else if he feels wanted, feels like they want him to be a member of the team and are willing to pay him for that,? Cook said.
Time is of the essence because the Ravens started their final minicamp Tuesday, which ends June 15. Cook said McNair would take a physical that had not been scheduled as of Tuesday, putting the Titans in the position of either sitting the quarterback or letting him learn any offensive changes.
Fisher said it wouldn?t make sense to put McNair on the field if a deal for him to play elsewhere is imminent.
?I guess I could say anything?s possible right now,? the coach said.