Sunday, September 07, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The AFC East became more interesting the past week when the New England Patriots released safety Lawyer Milloy, who was snapped up by the rival Buffalo Bills.

It might be the first time in the history of the game that a team cut a Pro Bowl player and then had to go against him in the season opener.

Just two years ago, the Bills were the poster boys for salary-cap problems. But Tom Donahoe got that under control during his first season as Buffalo's president and general manager in 2001, and has rebuilt the Bills into what may be a Super Bowl contender. Buffalo radio stations are calling Donahoe "the general manager of the century."

The Patriots either couldn't or wouldn't find a way to fit Milloy under their salary cap, but Buffalo handed him a $5 million signing bonus and a $2 million salary this year on a four-year, $15 million contract.

Thus, Milloy becomes the fifth new starter on defense with linebackers Takeo Spikes and Jeff Posey, tackle Sam Adams and end Ryan Denney.

"The Buffalo Bills made me feel good again," Milloy told the Boston Globe. "They made a great offer and it showed me how much they wanted me."

Some claim the Patriots have been saying that Milloy's game has slipped, and that brought this response from Donahoe, who acquired quarterback Drew Bledsoe in a trade from New England last year: "We think he's still a good football player. Obviously, they do, too. They tried to keep him. And we heard a lot of stories out of New England last year that Bledsoe was washed up, too. So draw your own conclusion."

Trivia question

Which AFC team led the NFL in total offense in the preseason and ranked sixth in total defense? Answer at end.

Uncertainty in Jacksonville

Mark Brunell will start at quarterback for Jacksonville in a bizarre twist of conflict and confusion.

Owner Wayne Weaver, who told Brunell in the spring that this would be his last season with the Jaguars, wanted the coach to start rookie Byron Leftwich and cut Brunell, who will earn $6.75 million. New coach Jack Del Rio, though, wanted to keep Brunell around even though he reportedly plans to start Leftwich soon.

The Jaguars have 26 new players, more than any team in the league, including 13 rookies. Keeping the veteran Brunell for one more season made as much sense as putting the Super Bowl in Jacksonville in 2005.

A lot of losses

Cincinnati has started eight quarterbacks since the beginning of the 1997 season, and one of them actually had a winning record. Boomer Esiason went 4-1 in 1997.

The others: Jeff Blake, 7-18, Neil O'Donnell, 2-10, Paul Justin, 0-2, Akili Smith, 3-14, Scott Mitchell, 2-3, Jon Kitna, 8-19, and Gus Frerotte, 0-3. Kitna gets another crack at it, starting today.

Star-studded defense

No one calls them the no-name defense anymore.

The Miami Dolphins had a league-high six defensive players in the Pro Bowl last season and have added two more to the mix, linebacker Junior Seau and strong safety Sammy Knight. That gives them a combined 28 Pro Bowls on defense, with Seau leading the way with a dozen appearances.

Sack specialist

Steelers linebacker Jason Gildon has the fourth-most sacks of anyone in the NFL over the past three seasons with 34 1/2. That represents more sacks than any linebacker in the league during that time.

The top three are all defensive ends: Michael Strahan with 43, former Woodland Hills High School star Jason Taylor with 41 1/2 and Hugh Douglas with 37.

Trivia answer

None other than the lowly Cincinnati Bengals led the NFL with an average of 371.3 yards on offense. New coach Marvin Lewis' team was only 1-3, however, mainly because they lost seven more turnovers than they forced.

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