Being reported on ESPN News right now.


Agent: Titans want McNair's contract status resolved

Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair was asked to leave the team's training facility when he reported Monday for offseason workouts, his agent and team sources confirmed.

McNair was told by a team trainer that he would not be allowed to work out until his contract situation is resolved, according to James "Bus" Cook, who represents McNair.

"Steve was told that until he got his contract straightened out, he wasn't welcome at the facility," said Cook. "Heck, he's got his contract already straightened out and now he's trying to fulfill it by reporting for the offseason."

Cook said there had been no warning of the team's position. Titans sources said it was a decision was made by owner Bud Adams, who apparently fears that an offseason injury would make him liable for McNair's current contract.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher, who was in Los Angeles observing USC quarterback Matt Leinart in a private workout Monday, declined to elaborate but said, "Things got blown out of proportion. ... We'll get it straightened out."

McNair is scheduled to make $10 million in 2006, including a $1 million team penalty because the Titans declined to exercise a three-year option. His salary cap charge is almost $24 million, and the team is trying to get McNair to restructure his deal. It has been speculated that the team could release the quarterback if there is not a new contract in place in the near future.

"The reason his cap number is $24 million is because they kept asking him to restructure every year to create space," Cook said. "This guy has done everything for the team, and he has two or three really good years left. Now, they treat him like this."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2395953

Thanks H1Man, keep up the good work.

I figured it would be the opposite. I rarely hear about teams kicking players out due to contract stuff.

I figured it would be the opposite. I rarely hear about teams kicking players out due to contract stuff.

Rarely would a team be on the line for a ridiculous 10 mil should he get injured.

Thanks H1.

LOL@Titans.

NFLPA TO FILE GRIEVANCE ON McNAIR

Ed Werder of ESPN reports that the NFL Players Association will file a grievance regarding the decision of the Tennessee Titans to bar quarterback Steve McNair from offseason workouts. Per Werder, the purpose of the move is to get the Titans to either permit him to join his teammates for offseason drills -- or cut him.

Though we don't have any more details on Werder's report (since the folks at ESPN.com apparently ignore any news broken by employees of the television side who don't also write for the web site), we can take it from here, based on what we know about the CBA. As we explained on the day the news of McNair's ouster broke, the team has no right under the CBA to lock him out of offseason drills, even if the purpose is to ensure that he doesn't get injured and, in turn, become entitled to the full amount of his 2006 salary. So the remedy is to file a non-injury grievance, with a request that the team be forced to decide whether to let him in or set him free.

And since few eleven-year veterans genuinely want to lift weights and ride a stationary bike in April, it's safe to assume that the primary if not exclusive purpose for the grievance is to secure McNair's freedom.

If/when McNair is cut, it's virtually certain that he'll land in Baltimore. We continue to hear from various sources that the talk of McNair to the Ravens is a done deal.

Tampering? Yes. Unusual? No.

Players' union files grievance for McNair

The NFL Players Association filed a grievance against the Titans on behalf of Steve McNair, accusing the team of breaching the quarterback's contract when it barred him from working out at its facility.

McNair was told last Monday that he couldn't work out at the Titans' training property until his contract is reworked. If he McNair got hurt during the offseason workouts, the Titans would be on the hook for all of his $23.46 million salary cap figure for 2006.

The NFLPA filed a grievance for breach of contract on McNair's behalf late Friday, general counsel Richard Berthelsen said.

"He has a contract and he wants to comply with that contract, especially that part that says he must remain in excellent physical condition and give the best of his ability to the club," Berthelsen said. "And they're trying to keep him from fulfilling that function for the sole reason they want him to renegotiate his contract so they have a better deal with him."

The Titans have 10 days to respond.

"We respect Steve's right to use a grievance mechanism set up by the CBA for handling player and club differences," team spokesman Robbie Bohren said. "We will study the grievance and respond in due course."

A good explanation could end the grievance, but Berthelsen called that rare. The next step would be a hearing before an arbitrator, which either side could try to speed up within 10 days after the team's answer.

"We're going to wait to see what the answer says before we expedite," Berthelsen said.

McNair, the NFL's 2003 co-MVP, is due $9 million in salary in 2006 with a salary cap number that eats up nearly a quarter of the Titans' space under the cap because his deal had been renegotiated through the years.

The Titans chose in February not to pay a $50 million option that would have extended his contract through 2009.

Tennessee holds the No. 3 pick overall in the draft later this month, and owner Bud Adams has said he wants a quarterback taken with that choice. The Titans have met with Matt Leinart of Southern California, Vince Young of Texas and Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler.

The NFL's collective bargaining agreement requires players to take part in teams' offseason conditioning programs and remain in good physical shape. Berthelsen said this situation is the flip side of a player who holds out for a better contract.

"If Steve McNair is kept at home, he's not being employed. And his right to be on club property to prepare for the preseason and the regular season and to meet his contractual obligations to become and to remain in excellent physical condition, if they're depriving him of that, they're breaching his contract and breaching the CBA," he said.

That might lead to the end of McNair's 11-year tenure with the team that drafted him No. 3 overall in 1995.

"They have the contractual right to release him," Berthelsen said of the Titans. "They do not have the contractual right to ban him from the premises."
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5472128

Damn it, I think McNair is gonna be a Raven. And I don't want him.

Damn it, I think McNair is gonna be a Raven. And I don't want him.
you act as if the ravens are better off w/o him. as bad as you guys need a qb, i say Mcnair is the lottery in baltimore for a championship run. [smilie=anxious.gif]

Finally

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AgR8mnzaRK13EwstO83S2q5DubYF?slug=ap-titans-ravens-mcnairtraded&prov=ap&type=lgns


Titans trade QB McNair to Baltimore

By TERESA M. WALKER, AP Sports Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Tennessee Titans ended their stalemate with quarterback Steve McNair on Wednesday and traded the former MVP to the Baltimore Ravens pending a physical.

"We have granted permission to Baltimore to give Steve McNair a physical, which we expect to take place in the next 24 hours," the team said in a statement.

"Upon passing a physical, final trade terms will be agreed upon."

The Ravens, who reportedly have offered a fourth-round pick in next spring's draft, confirmed that McNair will take a physical Wednesday, but the team said the results were not expected to be available until Thursday morning.

McNair, who turned 33 in February, was the winningest quarterback in franchise history. In 11 seasons, he went 81-59 and led them to their only Super Bowl in 2000. He and Peyton Manning shared the league's MVP award in 2003.

McNair won a grievance last week that allowed him to return to the team's headquarters and work out after being told he couldn't on April 3. The Titans had been trying to renegotiate a cheaper salary for McNair to lower a $23.46 million salary cap hit.

But the Titans had given McNair's agent, Bus Cook, permission to talk with Baltimore on April 30 about a contract, and Cook worked out a five-year deal with an $11 million signing bonus and $1 million salary for 2006.

That was much more than McNair could get from the Titans, who had drafted quarterback Vince Young of Texas with the third overall pick in April.

Assuming he passes the physical, McNair is expected to be Baltimore's starting quarterback. Kyle Boller, the incumbent, conceded on Tuesday that was likely to be the case.

"If Steve gets here, or when he gets here, we'll handle it then. But as far as now, I'm just out here competing and trying to get this offense where it needs to be," Boller said. "I'm going about my business right now like I'm the starter. That's the only way I can think of it."

McNair is one of only four players in NFL history with 150 touchdowns passing and 35 rushing, trailing only Steve Young, Randall Cunningham and Steve Grogan. He is one of five with 25,000 yards passing and 3,000 yards rushing, a group that includes John Elway, Fran Tarkenton, Young and Randall Cunningham.

During his MVP season, McNair had a 100.4 passer rating and led the Titans to a wild-card playoff victory over the Ravens in Baltimore and came up short on a late drive in a divisional loss at New England.

McNair played in 14 games in 2005 and threw for 3,161 yards and 16 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. He missed the regular season finale because of a strained pectoral muscle, but recovered to play in the Pro Bowl in February.

It's about time they stopped pussy footin around with McNair.