Archives for February 10, 2001

‘DeGeorge resigned after a Monday staff meeting in which General Manager Bob Koshinski disclosed plans to emphasize coverage of the Buffalo Sabres and possibly drop aspects of its Buffalo Bills coverage.’

‘The reason is the NFL trading period doesn’t begin until March 2. That’s the first day the salary cap for the 2001 season goes into effect. So a team has to have room under its salary cap for 2001 to have a player on the roster in order to trade him.’

‘New Orleans police booked a second man Friday in the Jan. 22 robbery and carjacking of Buffalo Bills defensive back Raion Hill in Gretna.’

‘Kragthorpe told his players he was leaving to become the quarterbacks coach of the Buffalo Bills, an A&M source said Thursday. Kragthorpe coached the Aggies for four seasons, the last three as offensive coordinator.’

‘Kragthorpe arrived at A&M in 1997 to coach receivers. He was promoted to offensive coordinator the following year. When Kirksey joined the staff last season, Kragthorpe’s responsibility shifted from receivers to quarterbacks.’

‘Two more key offensive assistants have jumped from Texas A&M to the NFL, leaving Aggies head coach R.C. Slocum with a gaping hole in his staff for the 2001 season. Offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe is going to the Buffalo Bills as quarterbacks coach, and assistant head coach and wide receivers coach Larry Kirksey is headed to the Detroit Lions as receivers coach.’

‘Since the trading period in the NFL doesn’t open until March 2, which is also the start of free agency, the Bills can’t deal a player without accounting for his contract on their salary cap. The deadline for hitting the $67.4 million cap is March 1 and the Bills are millions over.’

‘John Fina agreed to reduce his base salary for 2001 from $2 million to the new NFL minimum of $484,000. The balance, $1.516 million, is guaranteed in the form of a signing bonus… Ruben Brown, has also agreed to reduce his base salary from $3.5 million for 2001 to the same minimum and taking the balance in a signing bonus. That deal should save the Bills about $2.4 million in cap value.’

‘The team’s highest-priced players going into next season include both quarterbacks, defensive linemen Washington and Phil Hansen, linebackers Sam Rogers and John Holecek, defensive backs Henry Jones and Ken Irvin, and offensive linemen Jerry Ostroski and Joe Panos.’

‘Police booked a second man Friday in the Jan. 22 robbery and carjacking of Buffalo Bills defensive back Raion Hill.’