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Former Bucs QB King signs deal with Lions

By RICK STROUD
Published March 3, 2006

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Call him the Lions King.

Former Bucs and Gibbs High quarterback Shaun King returned to the NFL, signing a free-agent contract with the Lions after a workout Thursday in Detroit.

King, 28, will be reunited with first-year Lions coach Rod Marinelli, who served as Bucs defensive line coach for 10 seasons. King worked out for new Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz.

"It went very well, extremely well," King said Thursday night. "In fact, I signed with them. I have to go back up there on Sunday. I'm very excited about the opportunity."

King was released by Arizona last spring and failed to catch on with a team despite numerous tryouts. He was a second-round pick by the Bucs in 1999 out of Tulane and was not re-signed after the 2003 season.

Titans to McNair: 1 year

NASHVILLE - The Titans decided they will pay a $1-million fee to keep quarterback Steve McNair this season but allow him to become a free agent after 2006.

The move means Tennessee won't have to pay a $50-million option that would have extended McNair's contract through 2009, the quarterback's agent said. Still, agent Bus Cook estimated McNair will take up more than a quarter of the team's salary cap space.

The future of the NFL's 2003 co-MVP had been in doubt with the Titans facing pressure to get under the salary cap.

"What this amounts to is they decided to pay $1-million and not add three years to his contract, so this is his last year. At the end of this year, Steve will be a free agent," Cook said.

General manager Floyd Reese said the team will keep trying to negotiate a deal with McNair that gives it more room under the salary cap.

The Titans also declined options on backup quarterback Billy Volek and linebacker Peter Sirmon. Volek is signed through 2007. Sirmon's deal runs through this season.

VIKINGS CLAIM DISCRIMINATION: The prosecutor in the Vikings' boat party case denied that race played any role in his decision to charge four black players and not two white men for their reported conduct on a cruise in October.

Lawyers for Daunte Culpepper and Moe Williams accused prosecutor Steven Tallen of racial discrimination Wednesday. They served a motion on Tallen asking for the dismissal of charges against the two players.

Culpepper, Williams, Fred Smoot and Bryant McKinnie face trial on misdemeanor charges of indecent conduct and lewdness for their reported behavior on two cruise boats in October on Lake Minnetonka. They have pleaded not guilty.

In their motion, defense attorneys allege Hennepin County sheriff's investigators have evidence that a boat captain and another man, both white, engaged in indecent conduct but were not charged.

Tallen accused the defense lawyers of playing "the race card" to cloud the real issues.

ABRAHAM WANTS OUT OF N.Y.: Several teams have expressed interest in acquiring Jets defensive end John Abraham, who has made it clear he wants out of New York.

Abraham, who last week was given the franchise tag for the second straight year, probably won't play for the Jets again. His agents said four or five teams said they were "definitely interested" in Abraham but declined to name them.

Abraham is unhappy the team failed to deliver a long-term deal, even though it all but assured him it would if he played in every game in 2005. He did but was given a one-year, $8.33-million franchise tender. Abraham has not signed it.

Meanwhile, the Jets appear to be in a holding pattern with quarterback Chad Pennington, who needs to renegotiate his contract to stay with the team. Pennington said this week he wants to stay with the team, but his base salary needs to be slashed in order to fit under the salary cap.

MOULDS REJECTS BILLS: Veteran receiver Eric Moulds' future with Buffalo became more uncertain after he rejected the team's second request this week to take a pay cut.

"This thing is going nowhere," Moulds' personal adviser, Greg Johnson, said after he and the player's agent, Harry Henderson, held talks with the Bills. "The dollars they're presenting at this particular time are much too low. We're way too far apart to have an intelligent conversation anymore."

Johnson expects the Bills to release Moulds, a move that would save the team about $5.5-million in salary cap space.

BRONCOS: Tackle Matt Lepsis signed a four-year contract. He has been a key part of an offensive line that has helped the club rank among the league's top-five rushing teams in five of the past six seasons.

PANTHERS: Safety Mike Minter finalized a restructure of his contract to help the team get under the salary cap.

Information from Times wires was used in the report.

[Last modified March 3, 2006, 02:15:34]

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