BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jeff Blake has to hurry his throw uner the rush of the Colts E. Joshon.
(Ryan Miller photo)
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The only certainty about Jeff Blake's immediate future is that it won't include starting for the Bengals.
The quarterback who started 52 consecutive games until Boomer Esiason unseated him last November was again relegated to backup status Sunday when coach Bruce Coslet named Neil O'Donnell the starter for the Sept. 6 opener against Tennessee.
"I don't feel like talking right now," was all Blake would say upon leaving the team's Spinney Field headquarters.
The Bengals' hierarchy was almost as silent about its plans for Blake, the seventh-year veteran who began training camp as the No. 1 quarterback but faltered as he committed judgment errors in preseason games. The Bengals also must decide whether Paul Justin or Eric Kresser can help as reserves.
"We haven't made up our mind yet," Coslet said. "We'll take this week to make that decision, through the Atlanta game (on Friday), because it's not something you do lightly."
Blake's departure, either through a trade or release, is a conclusion many Bengals fans and observers already have drawn.
Asked about the prospect of Blake being jettisoned, Bengals President Mike Brown said only, "No decision has been made on that yet."
Keeping Blake as a backup for O'Donnell also remains a sensible option, given the high priority Brown places on the quarterback position and O'Donnell's injury history (strained hamstring, cracked fibula, elbow tendinitis, leg and hip ailments, fractured pinky, separated shoulder, torn right calf).
Here's a look at the Bengals' options regarding Blake:
The Bengals have tried to make this happen. New Orleans Saints General Manager Bill Kuharich told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that it was obvious Cincinnati was shopping Blake throughout the league. Trading Blake makes sense, since he's more experienced than many starting quarterbacks. But any team acquiring him might have to use him as a backup for the entire season, because he'd need time to learn a new offensive system.
A club also must be willing to accept Blake's $1.95 million base salary this year and the $2.65 million salary-cap hit it would absorb next season as his five-year contract expires ($2.15 million base salary, $500,000 bonus).
"Trades are hard in this league," Brown said. "Cap considerations are a factor. That complicates doing anything, especially at this time when a lot of teams have tight cap counts."
Teams that could use Blake include New Orleans, Atlanta and St. Louis. But Kuharich nixed that possibility for the Saints: "(Coach) Mike (Ditka) has said all along that he is happy with his quarterbacks. If you bring in a guy now, how much can he really help you?"
That's why Atlanta, with coach Dan Reeves' incredibly complex playbook, probably wouldn't want Blake or any newcomer. Patience with quarterback Tony Banks has reportedly worn thin in St. Louis, but hasn't vanished yet.
Release him
This wouldn't be too shocking. The Bengals would take a salary-cap hit of only $500,000 (Blake's bonus) if they cut him, since his 1998-99 wages, like those of most NFL players, are unguaranteed.
The team probably could accept Justin and Kresser as backups. Coslet likes Justin's passing skills: "He has a really nice release. He probably has the best throwing motion of all our quarterbacks." Kresser hasn't played since his outstanding performance in the preseason opener, which perplexes him but could mean that he has won management's confidence and has nothing more to prove.
Keep him
Since Kresser is eligible to join the practice squad again, the Bengals conceivably could retain all four quarterbacks. But that would be expensive (Justin's $2.5 million salary-cap figure for 1998 is actually higher than Blake's) and awkward, since practice snaps would be scant for three backups.
Blake probably would not poison the locker-room atmosphere if he stayed. Nobody sees him as a martyr.
"I know Jeff Blake is not going to quit right now. He's had too many things go on in his life," right tackle Willie Anderson said. "People who know him know that he has been a fighter."
Nor do his teammates pity him. "I think he's trying to work a little too hard to please everybody," cornerback Corey Sawyer said Saturday night. "He needs to settle down."
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