Tuesday, April 11, 2000
Dillon: I'll sit all but six games
Gets no offers to go elsewhere before deadline
By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Corey Dillon lashed out Monday against the Bengals again.
In his latest bid to get out of Cincinnati, the embittered Pro Bowl running back went national with gripes against Bengals president Mike Brown and announced his intent to sit out all but six games of the 2000 season.
“I think (Brown) has made a big mistake,” Dillon told CBS Sportsline. “He should have taken draft picks for me (by trading him) and gotten himself a back to replace me, but now he's stuck. So I wonder what's going to happen now when he doesn't have a running game for the first 10 games.”
Marvin Demoff, Dillon's agent, said he didn't expect an offer sheet for another team before Monday's 11:59p.m. restricted free agency deadline. His rights revert to the Bengals, so barring a trade he won't be playing elsewhere this fall.
Dillon needs to play at least six games to be credited with a full season and become an unrestricted free agent. He said he plans to play only the season's final six weeks.
Dillon accused Brown of being unwilling to pay for top talent.
“The fans (in Cincinnati) should feel cheated and betrayed, you know?” Dillon said. “They're building a new stadium for him this season and he's not trying to put the best team on the field.
“The bottom line is Mike Brown doesn't want a player of my caliber and doesn't want to pay a guy like me. Every time a player on that team shows he's going to be good, Mike starts to look for flaws. I've only been there three years, but I've seen it happen.”
Dillon said Brown never met with him or phoned him. Last week, Dillon didn't commit to an offer from the Bengals to come to Cincinnati and talk about his contract.
Dillon didn't respond to phone messages from The Enquirer.
Brown refused to address Dillon's trade desires.
“I don't plan to get into public discussion of what Marvin and Corey said,” Brown said. “If they want to talk to us privately about his contract situation, we'll be glad to do so.”
Dillon, who also blasted the Bengals on a Seattle radio station Monday, said he felt disrespected.
“I surprised them all by being a lot better than they ever thought I would be,” he told CBS Sportsline. “I proved I'm one of the best backs in the league, right? But they still think I'm that second-round pick they took a chance on back in 1997.
“They act like I owe them something for giving me a chance in the league, but I paid them back by running for 1,000 yards every year.”
The teams most interested in signing Dillon by Monday were Baltimore, Seattle and the Chiefs, a team Dillon visited in February. The price was a first- and third-round pick.
Ozzie Newsome, the Baltimore Ravens vice president of player personnel, said the club wouldn't rule out a trade.
But Newsome said it was a “slim option” because of the Ravens' ability to get a running back with either of their first-round picks — at No.5 and No.15 — in Saturday's draft.
Demoff said he isn't sure how the issue will resolve itself.
“That's what (Dillon) feels on April 10,” Demoff said. “I don't know what's going to happen. I have to explain the alternatives to him and then he has to do what's in his heart. There's no right or wrong answer.”
Demoff and the Bengals met for contract talks weeks ago at the NFL's annual meeting but made no progress.
Demoff said the next move comes June 1, when the Bengals can again offer Dillon a one-year deal for $1.37 million.
If he doesn't sign by June 15, the Bengals can slash the offer to a 10 percent raise of his $503,000 salary in '99. That comes to $553,300.
Should that low-ball contract come into play, and Dillon hold out until the last six weeks, he has a warning: “It won't be peachy.”
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