NFL Camps Rdp, 5th Ld-Writethru

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By The Associated Press

The Cleveland Browns are trying to call the bluff of top draft choice Kellen Winslow Jr.

So far, it hasn't worked.

Tight end Winslow wasn't on the field Friday when Browns opened camp after agent Kevin Poston rejected an unusual public offer from the team.

``I do not negotiate in the media,'' Poston told The Associated Press. ``We are continuing to negotiate with the Browns to obtain for Kellen Winslow II his fair market value.''

Another Poston first-rounder did come to terms. Wide receiver Reggie Williams, the ninth overall pick, agreed in principle to a contract with Jacksonville. He's represented by Carl Poston, who works in tandem with his brother.

The Browns said they offered Winslow, the No. 6 overall pick in the draft, a contract that would exceed the $31 million deal Kansas City's Tony Gonzalez signed before the 2002 season. Gonzalez's deal included a $10 million signing bonus, the most ever given to a tight end.

The move by the Browns was highly unusual because teams rarely give out contract numbers, even after a deal is done. Cleveland clearly was hoping to give Poston an offer he couldn't refuse because it matches the one given to the player taken one pick earlier by Washington _ safety Sean Taylor, Winslow's Miami teammate.

Taylor received a $7.2 million signing bonus and a total package that could exceed $13 million in guaranteed compensation.

``Given the close personal and competitive relationship between Kellen and Sean Taylor, as well as their equal talent level on different sides of the football, we did not want to penalize Kellen for being picked one slot below his former teammate,'' Browns president John Collins said in the statement. ``Faced with the opportunity to get Kellen in camp on time, we made our best offer.''

The Postons have a reputation for demanding the most for their clients. The Redskins said before the draft they would not take Winslow because he was represented by the Postons.

A 6-foot-4, 223-pound wide receiver from Washington, Williams was the ninth selection overall in the draft after forgoing his senior season with the Huskies.

``We feel good about the contract, its a fair market deal,'' Carl Poston said. ``He's excited about going to the Jaguars.''

In a three-year career with the Huskies, Williams had 238 catches for 3,536 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Bears

Brian Urlacher, Chicago's Pro Bowl middle linebacker, will miss most of training camp with a hamstring injury, although the team expects him back for the regular-season opener.

Urlacher, hurt in the Bears' first training camp workout Wednesday, has been diagnosed with a ``moderate strain'' of his right hamstring and will be out four to six weeks, coach Lovie Smith said Friday.

``Brian's a quick healer,'' the coach said. ``We would like for it to be four, but we'll take him when we get him. I'm just excited that we're going to have him for that first game.''

Rams

Leonard Little's first interview session since his arrest for drunken driving in April shed no light on the legal troubles he faces.

The St. Louis Rams' defensive end is talking once a week during training camp, and the ground rules restrict the questioning to football.

``I don't think it's a good idea to talk about cases when they're pending,'' said Scott Rosenblum, Little's attorney.

Little was indicted in June on charges of persistent drunken driving stemming from an arrest April 24 that marred the Rams' draft day. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in an alcohol-related traffic accident that killed a St. Louis County woman in 1998.

Little has pleaded innocent in his latest case. The next court date is Oct. 12. He was suspended without pay for the first half of the 1999 season and could face another suspension from the league in his latest case.

Little said he was a little rusty the first few days of camp, but is getting his timing back. He was among the league leaders with 12{ sacks last season and went to his first Pro Bowl despite missing a month with a torn pectoral muscle.

``I'm getting it back now, so we'll see how it goes,'' he said.

Lions

Detroit began training camp without receiver Roy Williams, the team's first draft pick.

``We made an offer several days ago and received no response,'' coach Steve Mariucci said. ``We're hoping to work it out and have him in here very shortly.''

If Williams misses the start of practice Saturday, it will be the first time the Lions have had a significant holdout since Bryant Westbrook, their first-round pick in 1997, was late to camp.

Jason Hanson, who has kicked for Detroit for his entire 12-year NFL career, signed a new four-year deal with the team.

Bengals

Running back Chris Perry and cornerback Keiwan Ratliff, Cincinnati's first two draft picks, remained unsigned as players reported to training camp. But the Bengals announced the signing of six other rookies.

Safety Madieu Williams, the second of the Cincinnati's two second-round picks, signed a four-year deal. Third-round picks Caleb Miller and Landon Johnson, both linebackers, as well as fourth-rounders Matthias Askew (defensive tackle), Robert Geathers (defensive end) and Stacy Andrews (offensive tackle) agreed to three-year contracts.

The Bengals also signed free-agent tight end James Whalen to a one-year deal. Whalen was released by the Dallas Cowboys on Monday.

Patriots

New England signed safety Guss Scott and running back Cedric Cobbs, third- and fifth-round draft picks. The Patriots also released safety Matt Cercone.

Tight end Ben Watson, the Patriots' second first-round pick, is the only rookie who remains unsigned.

Packers

Green Bay signed cornerback Joey Thomas, its third-round draft pick. That leaves only first-rounder Ahmad Carroll and sixth-rounder Corey Williams unsigned. Carroll is a cornerback and Williams a defensive tackle.

Panthers

Carolina offensive lineman Bruce Nelson will need a second hip operation and is expected to miss at least six games. He was healing nicely from an operation on his right hip in June, but doctors decided the left hip also required surgery.

Defensive end Kavika Pittman will miss the first part of training camp after having a knee scoped, and wide receiver Drew Carter _ the team's fifth-round draft pick _ will go on injured reserve and miss the season with knee injury.

Titans

Tennessee agreed to terms with tight end Ben Troupe and defensive ends Travis LaBoy, Antwan Odom and Bo Schobel, the last of their draft picks to sign.

Troupe was the Titans' top pick after the team traded out of the first round. The tight end from Florida was taken with the 40th choice. LaBoy, from Hawaii, was the second of three picks in the second round and Alabama product Odom the third.

A fourth-round pick from TCU, Schobel might miss all of the preseason after breaking his right foot during June workouts.

Jaguars

Also coming to terms with Jacksonville were linebacker Daryl Smith, running back Greg Jones, linebacker Jorge Cordova and wide receiver Ernest Wilford. Smith was a second-round choice out of Georgia Tech, Jones a second-rounder from Florida State, Cordova a third-rounder from Nevada-Reno and Wilford a fourth-round choice from Virginia Tech.

The Jaguars also signed eighth-year guard Chris Naeole to a multiyear contract extension, claimed free agent defensive tackle Willie Blade and placed second-year defensive tackle Matt Leonard on waived/injured reserve.

Cowboys

Dallas agreed in principle on a deal with offensive tackle Jacob Rogers, a second-round pick from Southern Cal and the team's only unsigned drafted player. Safety Darren Woodson and center Gennaro DiNapoli will be placed on the physically unable to perform list.

Giants

New York waived incumbent place-kicker Matt Bryant, who led the team in scoring the last two years. That leaves Bill Gramatica and Todd France to compete for the job.

Free agent rookie quarterback Jared Lorenzen was placed on the reserve-did not report list. Guard Rich Seubert (leg), defensive end Lorenzo Bromell (knee) and guard Scott Peters (ankle) were placed on the PUP/active list.

Bucs

As promised, wide receiver Keenan McCardell was a no-show when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reported to training camp.

``This is not a surprise,'' coach John Gruden said, noting the wide receiver also skipped all voluntary, as well as mandatory, workouts this summer. ``We'll move on if we have to.''

McCardell is scheduled to earn $2.5 million this year and $2.75 million in 2005. But after making 84 catches for 1,174 yards and eight touchdowns last season, the two-time Pro Bowl selection wants to be paid closer to the average salary for No. 1 receivers in the NFL. A year ago, that was about $4.4 million.

Dolphins

Miami signed first-round draft pick Vernon Carey to a five-year contract. Carey, a 6-foot-4, 335-pound offensive lineman was the 19th overall pick. He was the first offensive player taken by the Dolphins in the first round since running back John Avery in 1998.

The Dolphins placed Ricky Williams on the reserve/did not report list a week after the running back told coach Dave Wannstedt he was retiring from football. The team also placed linebacker Zach Thomas (knee), tackle Damion McIntosh (ankle) and safety Shawn Wooden (back) on the active/physically unable to perform list.

The Dolphins also signed four late-round draft choices _ linebacker Anthony Bua, center Rex Hadnot, offensive tackle Tony Pape and linebacker Derrick Pope _ to four-year contracts.

Vikings

Minnesota signed first-round draft pick Kenechi Udeze to a five-year contract, allowing the defensive end from USC to avoid a training-camp holdout. Udeze, selected with the No. 20 pick, tied for the NCAA lead with 16{ sacks last season for the co-national champion Trojans last season.

Negotiations with second-round pick Dontarrious Thomas, a linebacker from Auburn, remained at an ``impasse'' Friday night, according to agent Jeff Sperbeck.

Seahwaks

Seattle signed free agent linebacker D.D. Lewis and guard Sean Locklear. The Seahawks, who originally signed Lewis as a free agent in 2002, gave him a three-year deal.

No terms were released for Locklear, an All-Atlantic Coast Conference lineman from North Carolina State. He was chosen in the third round.

49ers

San Francisco agreed to with all five of its remaining unsigned rookies, including first-round pick Rashaun Woods.

Woods, a receiver from Oklahoma State selected 31st overall, got a five-year deal after missing the first session of workouts on the opening day of training camp. Justin Smiley, an offensive lineman from Alabama chosen in the second round, got a four-year deal.

The 49ers also signed second-round pick Shawntae Spencer, a defensive back from Pitt; third-round choice Derrick Hamilton, a receiver from Clemson; and defensive lineman Isaac Sopoaga from Hawaii, a fourth-round selection.

Broncos

Denver defensive tackle Dorsett Davis will miss the season after having surgery Friday to repair a torn finger tendon.

Davis was injured during practice Wednesday and saw a specialist in Vail on Thursday. Team doctors decided to have surgery right away to keep Davis from losing his finger.

``If you don't get it fixed right away, you lose the finger very quickly because of a lack of blood going to the finger,'' coach Mike Shanahan said.