Wednesday, June 7, 2000

Jerry Rice's new deal

While questions continue to swirl over the future of Steve Young, the 37-year-old Rice on Tuesday signed a restructured five-year, incentive-laden $31 million contract that enabled the payroll-stressed 49ers to save $1.2 million against the salary cap.

GM Bill Walsh insisted that Rice replace some of his base salary with incentives to alleviate what had been a $5.49 million cap impact.

"I feel real good about this situation," Rice said. "It was give and take. I think the most important thing is that I got my wish. This is where I wanted to finish my career."

ProFootballWeekly.com asked editor-in-chief Ron Pollack to weigh in on the subject.

Q: What did you think of the 49ers' decision to bring Jerry Rice back?

Pollack: I guess it depends on if you believe in being loyal or in taking the cold, business-like approach that has become so necessary in the NFL. From a loyalty standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. Rice is an all-time great. With apologies to Don Hutson, Rice is probably the greatest wide receiver in the history of pro football. He's done so much for the 49ers that it has to put a smile on your face to realize that he will probably get to finish his career as a 49er. The realities of today's NFL, however, says that there isn't a lot of room for warm-and-fuzzy loyalty. After all, Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott didn't get to finish their sensational careers as 49ers. Given that the 49ers seem to be in total rebuild mode, does it make sense to bring Rice back? The phrase that jumps out at me about Rice's new deal is "incentive-laden." That means that Rice, a guy who has always craved the ball, will be as hungry as ever to get as many passes thrown his way as possible. That might sound like a good thing since every player should hunger to be as productive as possible. The problem with this is that this could slow down the progress of younger 49ers WRs Terrell Owens and J.J. Stokes. If Rice is getting a ton of balls thrown his way that figures to stunt the growth of Owens and Stokes, especially Stokes. And if the 49ers don't throw the ball to Rice enough, are we going to see outbursts from him? Looking at this strictly as a business decision, I've been saying for over a year that the 49ers should part ways with Rice and commit to their future, which is Owens and Stokes.

Q: Does Rice have anything left?

Pollack: Absolutely. Even though he has lost some of his acceleration as well as the extra gear when the ball is in the air, he can still be a very solid possession receiver. He is a proud champion who will not succumb to age without a fight. Unless, Owens and Stokes rebound from poor seasons, it is not inconceivable that Rice could still be the receiver of choice this season. 

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