The sides agree on a total amount but the Bucs want to backload a four-year deal for their defensive tackle.
By ROGER MILLS
Published July 3, 2003
TAMPA - Negotiations between the Bucs and the representative for defensive tackle Anthony McFarland have hit a snag, agent Karl Bernard said Wednesday.
With the basic parameters of a six-year deal in place, Bernard said he and the Bucs appear to have a significant disagreement over the disbursement of the money. Terms of the proposed deal were not disclosed.
McFarland, 25, is in the final year of his contract and is due $2.25-million this season. The Bucs have made it clear they would like to re-sign McFarland to a long-term deal before he becomes a free agent when his contract expires.
McFarland has said he wants to get a new deal done before the start of training campJuly18 in Lake Buena Vista. If not, he plans to play out the year and become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
"It's safe to say that our negotiations are at an impasse," Bernard said. "It's not good at all. We have agreed on the base value of Anthony's deal but what we can't agree on is how it is going to be disbursed. They have put over 40 percent of the deal in the final two years of the contract. With that in mind, there is not enough incentive for us to sign the deal considering that he will become a free agent in seven months time."
The Bucs would not comment on the negotiations.
Bernard said the idea of backloading McFarland's deal, in which only the signing bonus is guaranteed, had not surfaced during discussions with the team during the past few months.
"We had an agreement, before this, that (such heavy backloading) would not occur," Bernard said. "Tampa Bay has a solid reputation of not (heavily) backloading the contracts of its elite players. I wouldn't say it caught us off guard, just that it was not what we expected.
"We agree on the base value. What we want is that it is more evenly disbursed."
The youngest starter on the Bucs defense, McFarland was in the midst of a superb season playing alongside All-Pro Warren Sapp when he broke his forearm Oct.27 in Charlotte, N.C. He returned Dec. 8 against the Falcons but on Dec. 15 sustained a fractured right foot against the Lions and missed the rest of the season and playoffs.
McFarland is fully recovered and has been a regular for offseason workouts at One Buc Place.
Recently, coach Jon Gruden referred to McFarland's return as "our first-round draft pick this year."
At the heart of the contract issue is not McFarland's value but the team's desire to spread his money over an extended period of time to ease the salary cap burden and provide room to try to re-sign Sapp.
Sapp, 30, is still one of the most destructive tackles in the game and also is entering the final year of his contract. Sapp is due $6.6-million in base salary this season and said he expects to be designated as the franchise player, guaranteeing a one-year salary of $7.92-million in 2004.
Signing Sapp and McFarland to long-term deals will be a challenge because of the salary cap.
Although Bernard was clear that "there is not a gap" between what he wants for his client and what the Bucs are offering, the current stalemate could become problematic with training camp 15 days away.
"I don't see why we can't work it out (between now and July18)," Bernard said. "But (Wednesday) they indicated to me that it would not work out before training camp."
McFarland has said he does not want the distractions associated with a contract negotiation to linger during the season.
"Because of the type of person Anthony is, he likes to keep things simple," Bernard said. "When it's football season, it's football season. Getting it done now is in the best interest of both Anthony and the Bucs."
Bernard did not rule out the chance a deal could happen after the beginning of training camp or during the season but said, "You can never say never, but the probability is unlikely."
