Thursday, September 09, 1999
Pickens, Bengals meet today
Neither side appears to be budging
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Bengals President Mike Brown said he plans to meet with disgruntled wide receiver Carl Pickens and his agent this morning, but there is no sign the club's all-time leading receiver is ending his holdout.
“They called and said they wanted to meet and that's all I know,” Brown said. “I don't know what's going to happen.”
Agent Steve Zucker indicated nothing was imminent.
“We're just here to talk and clear the air,” Zucker said.
Pickens begins missing weekly paychecks of $206,000 when the Bengals open the season in Tennessee Sunday.
There has been no indication Brown is going to back off his demand for a first-round draft pick if he trades him, and there has been no sign Pickens is going to back off his vow not to play this season if not traded.
“I can't make anybody do anything,” Pickens told WKRC-TV and WLW-AM upon landing at the airport.
Those close to Pickens say is adamant about not playing in Cincinnati and has instructed Zucker not to discuss a long-term deal. They said if he came back, he first needs assurances of a commitment to winning.
Brown gave Zucker permission to look for a trade in February when the Bengals made Pickens their franchise free agent, but no one has met the club's price of a first-round draft pick and either a player or a third-round pick.
Jim Lippincott, Bengals director of college/pro scouting who has handled the Pickens negotiations, said there is no contract agreement or impending trade. They haven't dis cussed numbers since before last season, when he turned down about $3.5 million per year. The NFL's top wideouts make $5 million annually.
Since the Bengals offered a one-year contract of $3.5 million, that designated Pickens a franchise free agent. That means any club can sign him, but must give the Bengals their first-round picks in the next two drafts if Cincinnati chooses not to match the offer.
Zucker has argued the Marshall Faulk deal — where the Colts traded their 1,000-yard running back to the St. Louis Rams for second-round and fifth-round picks — sets the market. The latest offer for Pickens came last week and was for a second-rounder and an unknown player from an undisclosed club.
One scenario: Pickens comes back, and in return the club agrees not to franchise him next year and lets him become a free agent. But Pickens has made it clear he doesn't want to come back, and the Bengals have said they want to retain all options under the collective bargaining agreement.
“I don't know if Mike or Carl would go for that,” Lippincott said. “Our stance has always been we want the option of franchising him again.”
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This week's football schedule
