| ProFootballWeekly.com asked
contributing editor Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on the news around the NFL. 
Niners-Stubblefield talks intensify
The 49ers and DT Dana Stubblefield have been exchanging contract proposals for the past
week and come to an agreement by the weekend. Stubblefield, who was named the NFL’s
top defensive player in 1997 when he was with the 49ers, said he wants to return to the
team that drafted him in ’93. The Redskins cut him in March.
PFW: What would Stubblefield do for the 49ers if they sign him?
Buchsbaum: He’s a very good run-stopper. He’s a nice complement to Bryant
Young. He would give them a veteran that wants to be there, that gets along very well with
coach (Steve) Mariucci and probably now realizes he made a mistake by leaving originally.
PFW: Would being teamed with Young get Stubblefield back to where he was?
Buchsbaum: No. He will never be the same player. He had a career year before free
agency (and leaving San Francisco). He had a tremendous number of sacks, and he really
isn’t a pass rusher.
Chiefs sign Horne
Rams WR-KR Tony Horne has signed a two-year offer sheet from the Chiefs. The Rams have
until Friday night to match the offer and retain Horne. The Clemson product led the NFL in
kickoff returning with a 29.7-yard average when the Rams won the Super Bowl in 1999.
Buchsbaum: He can be as dangerous a kickoff returner as anyone in the game, and
he’s a speed receiver. But he also is a very shaky person. Some games he shows up
for, and other games it’s like he isn’t there, his head’s not in the game.
And he’s one positive drug test away from being suspended for a year.
Schlereth retires
Broncos OL Mark Schlereth has called it a career after 12 NFL seasons. Schlereth, 35,
is best-known for his 29 operations, including 20 on his knees. He still missed only 26
games because of injury since debuting with the Redskins in 1989. Schlereth has been a
part of three Super Bowl winners.
PFW: Can you put Schlereth’s career in perspective?
Buchsbaum: This guy was one of the greatest competitors and toughest guys ever to play
in the NFL. The only thing I pray and hope is that he will not turn into another Jim Otto
after football because of all the surgeries and injuries he’s suffered and endured
through. I still remember when he was in college, no one had even rated him as a prospect,
but he got a lot bigger his senior year, and Bobby Beathard with the Redskins discovered
him. And I believe at the time, though I’m not sure, that he was the first player to
make it in the NFL from Alaska.
PFW: Besides his toughness, what made him so capable and enduring?
Buchsbaum: He was tremendously smart. He understood angles, position, blocking schemes
— he had a tremendous understanding of that. He had a tremendous work ethic, and he
had an unbelievable love for the game.
Chiefs sign Allen
The Chiefs signed former Rams CB Taje Allen to a two-year contract Tuesday. Financial
terms were not disclosed. Allen had 62 tackles and an interception in 57 regular-season
games with the Rams.
Buchsbaum: It’s another one of the players (Dick) Vermeil had with the Rams that
he liked. Vermeil thought he had a chance to develop into a pretty good cornerback with
the Rams. But basically, Mike Martz and his new staff did not agree with that, and if you
watched him play the last couple of years, he missed an alarming number of tackles.
He’s the type of cover guy that would be right where he should be, and he
wouldn’t make a play on the ball.
McDuffie pay cut helps Dolphins
Dolphins WR O.J. McDuffie agreed to a pay cut of nearly $1.1 million in exchange for a
guaranteed $1 million salary in 2001. The move helped the Dolphins clear about $1.5
million in salary-cap room and could allow them to re-sign OLT Richmond Webb or S Brock
Marion. McDuffie’s previous contract called for a base salary of $2.09 million, one
of the highest among Dolphins offensive players. But coming off two operations and an
extensive rehabilitation of his left big toe, McDuffie, 31, isn’t projected to start
this season. The Dolphins also made a contract offer to free-agent WR Dedric Ward.
Buchsbaum: I think the guy they really need to re-sign is Richmond Webb. You know, left
tackles are very, very hard to find. They’re at a premium, and though Richmond Webb
has never played as well as people thought he was going to play after his brilliant rookie
year and he got to a lot of Pro Bowls on reputation, he still is one of the better left
tackles in the game of football. |
