The team pays to keep Anthony McFarland and wants to do the same for veteran Warren Sapp.
By RICK STROUD
Published August 20, 2003
TAMPA - Anthony McFarland beat Warren Sapp to a contract extension with the Bucs.
But the race to keep what may be the league's best tandem of defensive tackles with Tampa Bay beyond 2003 continues for team officials.
General manager Rich McKay said he will turn his attention to signing Sapp, the six-time Pro Bowl player who will become a free agent after the season.
"It doesn't change in any way, shape or form in that Warren is the type of guy who should be a Buc for life," McKay said Tuesday. "That's the way it should work. This is a free agency system, and he'll have choices if we get to that point. But our intent would be that Warren get the opportunity to be a Buc now, tomorrow and forever. But we'll have to wait and see how that plays out."
McFarland, 25, signed a five-year contract extension worth $34-million over the next six seasons. He received a $9.5-million signing bonus, the kind of wealth he only dreamed of when he was chopping wood to earn money for school clothes while growing up in Louisiana.
"Growing up, the only way I would see these kind of numbers was through the lottery," McFarland said.
"For a little country boy from Winnsboro, La., it's one of those days you only dream about. And for some of us, dreams will come true. For the opportunity to extend my career here and hopefully finish it here, it's nothing but a dream come true."
The deal, which incorporates the $2.25-million McFarland was scheduled to earn this season, was a priority because of his age and the team's ability to fit the contract under the salary cap.
Re-signing Sapp, 30, might prove to be more difficult. With one year remaining on the six-year, $36-million contract he signed in 1998, Sapp is scheduled to earn $6.6-million in base salary this season and would make $7.9-million next year if the team elected to use its franchise player tag on him.
But because he is five years older than McFarland, the Bucs are more wary of committing to a long-term contract for Sapp, who is expected to surpass Lee Roy Selmon as the franchise's all-time sack leader this season.
"We have a bunch of (unrestricted free agents) coming up next year, one of which is No. 99, Warren Sapp," McKay said. "We understand the importance of Warren to our organization, to our football team, and in no way, shape or form should Anthony's signing affect Warren Sapp.
"Do big signings affect the football team and the salary cap? Unquestionably. But by the same token, we're a team that has tried to keep the core of the team together as long as we can, and Anthony was one of those core players we targeted and said it was a deal we could do, which is part of the reason you do deals. You do them when you can do them. So that's the path we chose to go down, but in no way should it be seen as taking away from Warren's impact on our organization, on our football team or on his future."
McFarland has benefitted from playing next to Sapp and vice versa. But McFarland sustained a broken forearm when he was kicked by scrambling Carolina quarterback Randy Fasani. Shortly after returning from the injury, McFarland broke his foot at Detroit, leaving Sapp without his sack partner for the playoffs and Super Bowl.
Without McFarland in the lineup, Sapp had only one of his 71/2 sacks. At the beginning of the offseason, McKay turned his attention to re-signing McFarland.
"Those decisions are not mine," McFarland said. "I'm very happy to be in a situation where the organization has made a commitment to me, and obviously I've made a commitment to the organization. I'm very happy about that. The details with 99, I can't control and I won't try to control.
"There's a chance for you to feel awkward. But like I say, I was very humble about the situation. Warren and I are good friends, obviously, everybody knows that. But at the same time, everybody knows we're each men about the situation and you have to be a man. ... There's a certain hierarchy in the organization where you have owner, management, coach, player. I'm on the player side, so I just do what players do."
One option the Bucs are considering is seeing how Sapp performs this season and designating him the franchise player. But that maneuver would be extremely costly, and McKay indicated it is not an option he favors.
"I have my own thoughts on the franchise tag and believe that it is appropriate in certain instances, and teams have used it effectively in certain instances," McKay said. "But the majority of the time it has almost been more of a negative than a positive. That's kind of my view of the franchise tag. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to talk about with respect to one player.
"Loyalty does matter, but also these are high-finance deals and they do have impact, and you've just got to try to balance that and make it work. It's never going to be perfect, but you try to make it as good as you can be."
