Archives for February 22, 2002

Wegmans partnership breakup includes ticket sales and training camp.

‘Cowart’s agents want his signing bonus paid before the start of the regular season. They’re not demanding he get most of it the day he signs a contract, but they want it all by the time the regular season starts.’

‘Cowart says he wants to stay, but the word around the league is that he wants out. The Bills say they want to keep him, while nudging him toward the door.’

‘Both sides are terming the decision a mutual agreement.’

The Bills are not ready to use their tag on LB Cowart. They want to continue to negotiate. So now they have eight days until Cowart can test the free agent market. At issue: how much of Cowart’s signing bonus should be paid up front. The Bills want to defer payment of much of the bonus until after the season so they can assess his recovery from a torn achilles tendon. His agent, Gene Burrough, says the Bills are essentially looking for a guarantee from Cowart that he’ll never get hurt again. The agent says there’s a 50-50 chance at best that Cowart will re-sign with the Bills.

‘”At Wegmans, we want to focus marketing initiatives that tie more directly to our company’s priorities,” she said. “We’re just choosing to spend our marketing dollars in other ways.”‘

The good news – no more former Bills running backs were arrested for domestic issues with their spouses. The bad news – Rob Johnson was either hurt or ineffective all season long. He’s never been particularly good, but throwing 5 TDs in 8 games are numbers that can be described only as ?Leaf-esque? (as in Ryan Leaf).