Tuesday, March 28, 2000
BENGALS NOTEBOOK
No progress in Dillon talks after face-to-face meeting
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Bengals and Pro Bowl running back Corey Dillon remain far from a long-term deal, but the sides plan to meet again today.
Agent Marvin Demoff and Bengals vice president Paul Brown met for the first time face-to-face Monday night in negotiations. Indications were not much progress was made, while the New York Giants entered the Dillon derby.
Demoff met with Giants General Manager Ernie Accorsi on Monday and the club is interested. But New York doesn't want to give up the 11th pick in the draft, part of the price for signing Dillon as a restricted free agent.
The only way the Giants could get him without giving up a first-rounder is via a trade, but Bengals President Mike Brown ruled out trading Dillon on Monday night.
“We aren't going to trade Dillon. We're going to try and get him signed,” Mike Brown said.
But does Dillon want to sign with Cincinnati?
“There was nothing either way, just timing, so we'll talk again,” Demoff said of his meeting with the Bengals. “We talked about what's happened the last three years. They said they would like Corey back and would like a response to their offer. (Their offer) was unacceptable. They would like an offer from Corey.”
Demoff referred to the Bengals' offer from last month, which figured not to be much different from the six-year, $18 million deal the Bengals offered during training camp. It was modeled on the deal Eagles running back Duce Staley took after his first 1,000-yard season.
Staley had another 1,000-yard season this year. Dillon has three. The comparison seems to be a bone of contention because Demoff believes more than one player should be used as a measuring stick. But Mike Brown says it's tough to compare those contracts because the teams will keep re-negotiating them because they are so unfriendly to the salary cap.
“We don't want to make a deal we have to change every year for the next four or five years,” Mike Brown said. “What we're waiting for is for them to talk in (real) terms and so far they aren't. They're looking for a deal based on the false assumption that those players compared to Dillon are really going to get the money their contracts say when everyone knows that's not going to happen.”
NO TAKERS — YET: The Jets and Buccaneers, the teams linked most frequently with the Bengals in a trade for Cincinnati's fourth pick in the draft, said Monday they don't see a deal brewing.
“Usually when you go out of the top five and go somewhere between 10 and 15, you're going to ask for two No.1s, or you're going to ask for something pretty substantial,” said Tampa Bay General Manager Rich McKay. “We're not a team willing to do that. Mike usually stays there and makes his pick. Don't look for us to call. Expect us to be picking 13th.”
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