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Titans have 'Pacman' Jones cornered
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
Updated: August 16, 2005, 9:48 PM ET
There remain several dicey negotiating points to navigate, but the Tennessee Titans late Monday night reached agreement in principle on all of the key financial issues with first-round draft choice Adam "Pacman" Jones, and hope to have the former West Virginia University cornerback signed and on the field soon.
The sixth prospect chosen overall, Jones will sign a five-year contract, which has been the norm for most players in the first round. Complete financial details were not available, but it is likely Jones will receive guarantees of $13 million-$14 million, based on the deals of the other players in that portion of the round.
But Jones didn't sign a deal or practice Tuesday, and coach Jeff Fisher said that means the cornerback won't be going to Atlanta for the Titans' next exhibition game.
Jones really wanted to play in Friday night's exhibition game against the Falcons because Atlanta is his hometown. Both sides had been close enough in talks Monday they had hoped Jones could practice Tuesday afternoon.
But Jones' agent, Michael Huyghue, had to fly from Jacksonville, Fla., to Nashville on Tuesday afternoon trying to work out the last pieces of a five-year contract.
"It's not like anybody's upstairs inking a contract right now," Fisher said.
Fisher knew how much Jones wanted to play against Atlanta after talking with him Monday, but the coach made it clear the cornerback had to be on the field Tuesday when the team worked out in full pads to make the trip.
"He's not here. He's not going to Atlanta. We'll hope he's here on the practice field and does enough work so he can go to San Francisco," Fisher said of their third exhibition on Aug. 26.
If a deal is signed that allows Jones to practice Wednesday, Fisher said they will be too busy preparing for the Falcons to do more than let Jones catch some punts and practice.
It is expected the deal will include considerable protection for the Titans, given that Jones has allegedly been involved in three off-field incidents since the draft that brought him under scrutiny. In the latest incident, Jones faces two counts of misdemeanor assault and one of felony vandalism stemming from a July altercation at a Nashville nightclub.
Because of those incidents, and the Titans' need to be able to seek recourse and possibly repayment of bonus money if Jones is unavailable to them because of legal difficulties, the contract language is expected to be both ponderous and rife with penalty clauses.
Jones can also expect to face some skeptical teammates. Last week, several Titans players acknowledged it was time for Jones to complete his contract, given that he was already "slotted" in the first round, with the players around him having agreed to terms, and get to work. They also noted he might need to soften his attitude.
"Right now," defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth said, referring to off-field incidents, "[Jones] has been more in prison than he's been on the practice field."
Having lost both of their 2004 starting cornerbacks, the Titans projected Jones as an immediate starter when they selected him. Now he will have to make up for lost time if he is to even contribute early in his rookie season.
Said general manager Floyd Reese last week in laying out what Jones would face when he finally reported: "He has no idea [of the difficulty]. He thinks he is going to come in here and get an interception or two and everything is going to be quiet. But that's not the way it works. It is going to be brutal and it is going to be long."
Jones, 21, played in 36 games with 22 starts for the Mountaineers before bypassing his final season of college eligibility to enter the 2005 draft. He finished his career with 201 tackles, eight interceptions and 22 passes defensed. Also a dangerous return specialist, he averaged 25.0 yards on kickoff runbacks and 10.9 yards on punt returns, and scored twice. Jones also had an interception return for a touchdown.
Although undersized (5-feet-10½, 187 pounds) given the demand for bigger cornerbacks, Jones is an explosive athlete with superb quickness and all-around athleticism.
This spring Tennessee was forced to release star cornerback Samari Rolle in a salary cap purge and the other starter, Andre Dyson, departed as an unrestricted free agent. At their practices last week, the first-unit cornerbacks were Andre Woolfolk and Tony Beckham, who have seven career starts between them.
The eight cornerbacks currently in camp total only 12 regular-season starts.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp05/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2135556
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By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
Updated: August 16, 2005, 9:48 PM ET
There remain several dicey negotiating points to navigate, but the Tennessee Titans late Monday night reached agreement in principle on all of the key financial issues with first-round draft choice Adam "Pacman" Jones, and hope to have the former West Virginia University cornerback signed and on the field soon.
The sixth prospect chosen overall, Jones will sign a five-year contract, which has been the norm for most players in the first round. Complete financial details were not available, but it is likely Jones will receive guarantees of $13 million-$14 million, based on the deals of the other players in that portion of the round.
But Jones didn't sign a deal or practice Tuesday, and coach Jeff Fisher said that means the cornerback won't be going to Atlanta for the Titans' next exhibition game.
Jones really wanted to play in Friday night's exhibition game against the Falcons because Atlanta is his hometown. Both sides had been close enough in talks Monday they had hoped Jones could practice Tuesday afternoon.
But Jones' agent, Michael Huyghue, had to fly from Jacksonville, Fla., to Nashville on Tuesday afternoon trying to work out the last pieces of a five-year contract.
"It's not like anybody's upstairs inking a contract right now," Fisher said.
Fisher knew how much Jones wanted to play against Atlanta after talking with him Monday, but the coach made it clear the cornerback had to be on the field Tuesday when the team worked out in full pads to make the trip.
"He's not here. He's not going to Atlanta. We'll hope he's here on the practice field and does enough work so he can go to San Francisco," Fisher said of their third exhibition on Aug. 26.
If a deal is signed that allows Jones to practice Wednesday, Fisher said they will be too busy preparing for the Falcons to do more than let Jones catch some punts and practice.
It is expected the deal will include considerable protection for the Titans, given that Jones has allegedly been involved in three off-field incidents since the draft that brought him under scrutiny. In the latest incident, Jones faces two counts of misdemeanor assault and one of felony vandalism stemming from a July altercation at a Nashville nightclub.
Because of those incidents, and the Titans' need to be able to seek recourse and possibly repayment of bonus money if Jones is unavailable to them because of legal difficulties, the contract language is expected to be both ponderous and rife with penalty clauses.
Jones can also expect to face some skeptical teammates. Last week, several Titans players acknowledged it was time for Jones to complete his contract, given that he was already "slotted" in the first round, with the players around him having agreed to terms, and get to work. They also noted he might need to soften his attitude.
"Right now," defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth said, referring to off-field incidents, "[Jones] has been more in prison than he's been on the practice field."
Having lost both of their 2004 starting cornerbacks, the Titans projected Jones as an immediate starter when they selected him. Now he will have to make up for lost time if he is to even contribute early in his rookie season.
Said general manager Floyd Reese last week in laying out what Jones would face when he finally reported: "He has no idea [of the difficulty]. He thinks he is going to come in here and get an interception or two and everything is going to be quiet. But that's not the way it works. It is going to be brutal and it is going to be long."
Jones, 21, played in 36 games with 22 starts for the Mountaineers before bypassing his final season of college eligibility to enter the 2005 draft. He finished his career with 201 tackles, eight interceptions and 22 passes defensed. Also a dangerous return specialist, he averaged 25.0 yards on kickoff runbacks and 10.9 yards on punt returns, and scored twice. Jones also had an interception return for a touchdown.
Although undersized (5-feet-10½, 187 pounds) given the demand for bigger cornerbacks, Jones is an explosive athlete with superb quickness and all-around athleticism.
This spring Tennessee was forced to release star cornerback Samari Rolle in a salary cap purge and the other starter, Andre Dyson, departed as an unrestricted free agent. At their practices last week, the first-unit cornerbacks were Andre Woolfolk and Tony Beckham, who have seven career starts between them.
The eight cornerbacks currently in camp total only 12 regular-season starts.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp05/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2135556
http