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Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 22, 2001
Rams let go Farr, Agnew,won't re-sign LB Jones
ST. LOUIS -- Linebacker Mike Jones, hero of the Rams' 2000 Super Bowl victory, will not be re-signed. The Rams also cut two other starters from their porous defense, tackles D'Marco Farr and Ray Agnew.
The moves were made to improve one of the league's worst defenses and to get the team under the salary cap of $67.4-million for the start of the free-agent period on March 2. Backup center Steve Everitt also was informed he would be cut.
The moves were reported in Wednesday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Jones, who will be 32 in April, is best known for the tackle on Tennessee's Kevin Dyson at the 1-yard line on the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV.
There are reports Jones could end up with Kansas City, whose coach is former Rams coach Dick Vermeil.
BILLS: Three-time Pro Bowl nose tackle Ted Washington will be cut today because he turned down a pay cut for the second straight year, according to his agent, Angelo Wright.
DOLPHINS: Offensive tackle Richmond Webb had surgery to remove bone spurs and loose particles from his right elbow.
FALCONS: Cornerback Ray Buchanan, who could have become an unrestricted free agent next month, re-signed for six years, $36-million. Also, cornerback Conrad Hamilton signed. No terms were given.
JETS: Linebackers Bryan Cox, Dwayne Gordon and Roman Phifer, defensive tackle Ernie Logan and running back Bernie Parmalee were cut. The team saved about $11-million in salary-cap money with the moves. The team also restructured receiver Wayne Chrebet's contract and is close to doing the same with quarterback Vinny Testaverde, which would save at least another $2-million.
REDSKINS: The team said it will cut veterans Tre Johnson, Keith Sims, Irving Fryar and Derek G. Smith to get under the salary cap.
"We find ourselves like everybody else in the NFL right now, in the process of making choices," coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "I don't have a problem with the system because it's equitable. Having said that, it's never easy to release players of this quality."
The cuts become official today as the team tries to trim some $6-million in payroll. Schottenheimer said more cuts will be made before that date, and that other contracts will be restructured.
The league will give away free television advertising for Saturday's broadcast because of its disappointing ratings, said Bob Reardon, league vice president of sales.
Three weeks into the season, viewership has fallen steadily -- 33 percent last week -- and is worse than preseason guarantees.
With seven regular-season broadcasts remaining, XFL co-owners World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. and General Electric Co. broadcaster NBC have reason to be concerned. Honda Motor Co. withdrew its advertising Tuesday, and the XFL has as much as 35 percent of its inventory unsold, Reardon said.
"We've asked advertisers to be patient and take a deep breath," Reardon said in an interview. "This has been a more precipitous decline than we had estimated."
NBC's broadcast of the Los Angeles Xtreme's 12-9 win over the Las Vegas Outlaws, decided with a field goal on the final play, was watched by 3.1 percent of the 102.2-million U.S. homes with televisions, Nielsen Media Research Inc. said. Of homes with televisions turned on, 7 percent watched.