Wednesday, February 03, 1999
Chargers' contact with Esiason 'a mistake'
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Boomer Esiason
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The Bengals don't plan to file tampering charges against the San Diego Chargers in the Boomer Esiason saga.
Chargers General Manager Bobby Beathard phoned his counterpart in Cincinnati and apologized to Mike Brown for talking to Esiason about possibly coming out of retirement. Beathard apparently saw Esiason's name mistakenly put on the NFL's list of free agents and didn't realize he was still property of the Bengals.
“It was an honest mistake,” Brown said. “I understand Boomer said other teams have talked to him. I think this was just a mistake.”
Brown wouldn't say if Beathard talked trade for Esiason, but he doubts one could be pulled off. The Chargers don't have their top two draft picks in this year's draft and San Diego doesn't have much to give from a 5-11 team.
“For a practical matter, a trade just doesn't seem likely,” Brown said. “To me, the next move is Boomer's. If he wants to still play, he should talk to us.”
Beathard told the San Diego Union-Tribune Tuesday that he called Esiason and when Esiason returned his phone call and Beathard asked about the San Diego situation, Esiason reminded him his rights still belonged to Cincinnati.
Beathard also told the paper that he got the sense Esiason would leave the ABC Monday Night Football booth to return to the NFL, but that it would take a huge sum of money.
JOHNSON STILL WAITS: Former Bengals punter Lee Johnson is still looking for a job. Carolina has called to see if he'd be interested in working out, but Johnson is still hoping to land with a West Coast team.
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 Chargers' contact with Esiason 'a mistake'
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