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Sunday, January 19, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Kordell Stewart, a Bear? Among Stewart's possible options for next season is a reunion with Jim Miller in Chicago.

The Bears have the fourth pick in the draft and no starting quarterback. Even if they draft Carson Palmer or Byron Leftwich, they seem to want to add a veteran free agent to the mix.

"We're not counting on any of our quarterbacks for the '03 season," Chicago General Manager Jerry Angelo said. "They've all had major durability concerns, and we'd be foolish to think we can count on them for the '03 season."

Miller and Chris Chandler were injured, and Henry Burris is not considered a viable option. That leaves ... Stewart? He's one of several available veteran quarterbacks the Bears might consider. Stewart has one year left on his contract with the Steelers, but they will trade or release him.

"We have to address the free-agent market," Angelo said.

The most prominent free-agent quarterbacks will be Jake Plummer, Jake Delhomme and Shaun King with other cap cuts such as Stewart and Brian Griese.

Draft picks for sale

Houston wants to trade the NFL's No. 3 draft pick, and talks have begun with teams who could use it to get one of the top two quarterbacks. Cincinnati has the No. 1 pick, followed by Detroit. The Lions, however, don't need a quarterback and could trade their pick to a team that does.

Texans GM Charley Casserly said, "We've already talked to some teams about trading the pick. We've definitely gotten interest."

Besides Chicago at No. 4, Arizona (No. 6), Carolina (No. 9) and Denver (No. 20) might be in the market to draft a quarterback.

Questions surround McGahee

The Texans had been interested in possibly drafting Miami halfback Willis McGahee with the No. 3 pick but not after his severe knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State.

Personnel men from around the league were surprised that McGahee opted to enter the draft this year. Once considered a sure pick in the top 10, he probably won't be drafted in the first three rounds.

"Pretty much, he's going to redshirt for a year," Dolphins personnel man Rick Spielman said. "Especially at the skill positions, a major knee injury is a very big concern. You don't know whether that guy will be able to do the same things he could before. It sounds like he's the kind of kid who will work hard to get back to where he was. But that's going to be the big unknown."

Many happy returns

The NFL set a record for punts and kickoffs returned for touchdowns with 39, topping the mark of 34 in 1998. It continues a trend that has seen the number of returns skyrocket since free agency and the salary cap. The other top years for touchdown returns were 32 in '94, 30 in '00, 29 in '97 and '99.

"It's not a surprise," San Francisco special teams coach Bruce DeHaven said . "It's been coming for a number of years, and it's only going to continue to get worse. The quality of special teams has really deteriorated, even since the mid-1990s."

The logical reasons: Fewer veteran backups in the salary-cap era, younger players, more mistakes on special teams. It's not merely a 'Burgh thing.

Jets still love Chad

It was a long fall for Broadway Chad Pennington -- who had been compared to Joe Namath and Joe Montana -- after the Jets' 30-10 loss to the Oakland Raiders in which he was a mere 21 of 47 for 183 yards, losing two fumbles and two interceptions.

"He's still not an ordinary Joe," Jets GM Terry Bradway said.

Said Jets Coach Herm Edwards, "I'll say this: He's going to win many more playoff games than he loses. I might not even be the coach here, OK? But I'll tell you that about this kid. Put that one in stone. I'll sign that one."

Snyder strikes again

The rich (club-seat ticket holders) won't be getting richer in Washington, unless you count Redskins owner Dan Snyder. Already charging the NFL's second-highest ticket and parking prices and nearly twice the league average for game programs, Snyder is ready to gouge his club-seaters.

They have a choice. They can tear up their 10-year, fixed-rate contracts of $1,995 per seat with four years remaining and pay $2,750 per seat next year. Or, they can continue to pay the contract price, but then be subject to a boost to $4,254 after the contract expires.

Such a deal. Oh, the renewal inducements come with a burgundy seat pad and a customized nameplate.

"Let some other sucker pay that," said Allen Bloom, a season ticket-holder since 1966.

Quick slants

Kurt Warner was 0-6 as a starter with the Rams this season and carried a passer rating of 67.4, the lowest of any starting Rams quarterback since the franchise moved to St. Louis in 1995. "I still can't believe that we didn't win any games with him," team president John Shaw said. "I mean, he's a two-time MVP. It's just so incredible that we could have that kind of turnaround with him."

Green Bay lost 14 starters for 68 games this season, yet the Packers won 12 games and their first division title since 1997.

If he wants to stay in coaching, Dick Lebeau has a job in Buffalo as defensive assistant to coordinator Jerry Gray.

Tom Coughlin has not called any of his former assistant coaches since he was fired in Jacksonville.

In his first nine games, Brett Favre threw four interceptions; in his final eight, he threw 14.

Marvin Lewis, a Fort Cherry native and son of a steelworker, after being hired as the Bengals' coach: "This is about hard work. Places don't lose, people win and lose. I have a plan."

It depends on the perspective: Butch Davis called the Browns' 2002 season as a 9-7 wild-card playoff loser to the Steelers "a huge sucess. If somebody would have said before the season starts, 'Would you sign a pact that you'd be in the playoffs? Would you take it in the second year?' You'd sign up in a heartbeat."