In what is shaping up to be one of the most tumultuous offseasons in the short history of the USFL, the spring football league continues to see major incursions into its free agency pool, as well as its coaching ranks, by the NFL. With the league’s summer owners meeting only a week away, there is clearly a sense of urgency and anger with the new, more aggressive stance being taken by the NFL.
While the last 2 weeks have seen additional USFL free agents signing with the NFL, the biggest shock has been the departure of yet another top USFL Head Coach to a lucrative NFL offer. Jack Pardee, who led the Houston Gamblers to two straight USFL Championship Games, including the 1988 league title, has signed on to stay in Houston, but with the rival NFL Houston Oilers. Unlike the earlier case of Jim Mora, where a suspicious resignation was followed very quickly by the announcement that he would be signing with the New Orleans Saints, Pardee was no longer under contract. He had been in negotiations for a new contract with Jerry Argovitz and the Houston Gambler ownership group throughout the late spring, and following Houston’s ouster from the playoffs, officially was no longer under contract. But, despite the less-problematic nature of the signing, the fact that Pardee announced his departure from the Gamblers and agreement with the Oilers in the span of one day again begs the question as to whether any contact was made by the NFL team to Pardee prior to the end of Pardee’s contract and the Gamblers’ season. This, along with the Jim Mora situation, is certain to be a major topic of discussion when the owners meet in New York next week.
The other major item will almost certainly be a league-wide discussion on how to respond to the feeding frenzy NFL teams have had on USFL rosters. Just in the last 2 weeks we have seen yet one more wave of signings as NFL teams can now make offers to the teams who participated in the league’s Conference Finals and Championship Game, and the NFL has not been shy about doing so.
New Orleans was the fist to be hit, as the NFL’s Chicago Bears signed Defensive Player of the Year, safety Joe Restic to a 3-year, $4 million dollar deal. Restic won this year’s USFL DPOY as a dual threat safety, able to play deep coverage or come to the line to take on ballcarriers. New Orleans could not match the Chicago deal as they have already filled all 5 of their cap-exempt slots in resigning Marcus DuPree and Marcus Marek to lucrative contracts, along with restructuring QB Matt Robinson’s deal.
The other Conference Championship participant, Orlando, likewise took a big hit as the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys resigned one of their former players, safety Bill Bates, who had only been with Orlando for 2 seasons. Bates returns to his former team, while Orlando, fresh after resigning HB Curtis Bledsoe, now finds themselves with an open cap-exempt slot, and perhaps a chance to look at an NFL veteran in a position of need.
Upon completion of the USFL Championship game, league runner-up Denver immediately worked on their free agents, resigning DE Laval Short to a 3-year deal, but they ran into difficulty trying to get HB Harry Sydney to sign a contract extension. Sydney and his agent seemed to be stalling, and we soon found out why, as it was soon announced that the 7-year veteran of the Gold had become the newest member of the San Francisco 49ers. The ‘9ers, who already made the biggest splash of the offseason by signing Express QB Steve Young despite already having future Hall of Famer Joe Montana on the roster, are now doubling down on USFL talent with the signing of Sydney. In 7 seasons with Denver, Sydney had accumulated 7,068 yards rushing and 40 touchdowns. He has, for the past 3 seasons, been part of a “Thunder and Lightning” rotation with speedster Timmy Smith.
New Jersey, the newly crowned USFL Champion, was also a key target for NFL signings as once again the 3-time Super Bowl Champion 49ers reached out to snag a top offensive talent. Tight End Brent Jones signed with the 49ers this past Monday, making him the third offensive star to move from the spring league to Bill Walsh’s NFL club. This was a bad loss for the Generals, and for QB Doug Flutie, who relies often on Jones as a safety valve. The news got even worse for Flutie and the Generals when the league’s All-USFL Team fullback, Keith Byars signed on with the Philadelphia Eagles. Byars, who is another safety valve receiver for Flutie, as well as one of the league’s best lead blockers and a frequent halfback fill-in for Herschel Walker, came to New Jersey 4 years ago, and helped them win the title this year, but will now be headed down I-95 from the Meadowlands to Veterans Stadium and from spring to fall.
Byars represents the 6th 1989 All-USFL selection to depart for the NFL, alongside QB Doug Williams (TEX to Redskins), TE Mark Bavaro (WSH to NY Giants), WR Ricky Sanders (HOU to Redskins), Center Dermotti Dawson (MGN to the Steelers), and Defensive POTY Joe Restic (NOR to the Bears). When you add in other top offensive talent from around the league, including Young and Steve Beurlein at QB, HB’s Christian Okoye, Gary Anderson, Stump Mitchell, Harry Sydney, and Craig James, WRs Anthony Carter, Flipper Anderson, and Gary Clark, lineman like T Will Wolford, Center Kevin Carter, and Guard Kevin Gogan, you are looking at a major earthquake across the league. And then, we also have to look at the exodus of defensive talent. Not just Restic, but also DE’s Art Still and Simon Fletcher, LB Clay Matthews, and DB’s Solomon Wilcots, Bill Bates, Chuck Cecil, and Chris Dishman, it is basically an entire All-League team that has left the USFL.
It is unsure how teams will react. To date the only significant NFL signing has been Portland’s signing of former Atlanta Falcon QB David Archer, but there may be more as USFL teams regroup and try to recover talent. The issue for many is how to find cap room or cap-exempt slots for potential signings form the fall league. It may be easier for many to plug gaps with lesser-known names and focus on signing higher-ranked NCAA prospects, much as the league did in signing big names such as Herschel Walker, Steve Young,and Jim Kelly in the first place.
There is enough suspicion that the NFL owners are both colluding to create this wave of signings, and potentially tampering with players still under contract before the season ended to potentially lead the USFL to once again seek justice in the courts, as they did in 1984 with an anti-trust suit. Another court case may take months to resolve issues but could once again provide the USFL with both financial remuneration and leverage to force the NFL into a more collegial agreement on player and staff transfer from league to league, something the USFL has sought in the past, but with little to show for it.
The Pardee and Mora signings, along with the exodus of USFL players for the NFL this off-season have the owners worried, and have the fans upset. The USFL’s lower salary cap cannot sustain a coordinated and well-funded effort by the NFL to sign top talent. And while some stars, like Walker and Kelly, have reupped with their USFL squads, so many have left that teams are now left having to rebuild on the fly. Just how will teams do this? We talked to league owners, GM’s and coaches around the league, checked in with beat reporters, and these are right now the top questions that will need to be answered this offseason?
1. How will league owners respond? Will there be lawsuits brought? Perhaps changes to the cap and exemption system? A refocusing on free agency v. building through the draft? The owners have to consider some cap strategies to help their clubs become competitive with NFL offers, perhaps not for all players but for key talent, and yet the entire financial solvency model for the USFL still depends on avoiding bidding wars with the much-more financially stable NFL. The Owners may opt instead to focus their funds on big name college signings, and then risk losing those players later, as we saw with several stars this offseason. They may also opt to push the NFL towards arbitration or mediation to create an amenable free agency or player transfer structure between the two leagues by pushing legal action. This option will be more likely if USFL investigators can discover evidence of tampering by the NFL, either with players under contract or with coaches such as Mora and Pardee.
2. How does this impact the balance of power in the league? While the NFL raids have impacted almost every team in the USFL, it is clear that teams like LA, Texas, New Jersey and Tampa will have major rebuilding to do or are losing hard-to-replace talent. Does Portland’s relatively weak roster and salary cap room allow them to do what others cannot and go after some NFL talent? Will teams like Memphis, Philadelphia, or Arizona, which are hard-pressed with the cap and their use of exemptions have to make deals or make cuts to free up funds or cap-exempt slots in order to sign new talent? A lot will depend on how each team addresses the cap, and what, if any, the USFL owners decide next week about adjustments to league cap structures as a response to the NFL raids.
3. Will USFL teams take shots at NFL starters? There are not many NFL free agents left right now, but if teams are willing to wait, they could see several quality names become available in January and February when the NFL regular season ends. Some of the potential names that could be available to join USFL teams in February include Quarterbacks Warren Moon, Joe Montana, Steve Walsh, Dave Krieg and Chris Chandler. Other potential targets could include halfbacks Ernest Byner, Gerald Riggs and Alonso Highsmith or defenders Bruce Smith, Lawrence Taylor, or Darrel Green. There is talent like this across the NFL that will be free agency eligible if not right now then in January or February (depending on playoff status for their teams). The question is whether the NFL will focus on resigning during the season and limit the access USFL squads may have.
4. With so many HB’s off to the NFL, where will their replacements come from? The Draft is the obvious answer, as running back is one of the positions where a rookie can have an immediate impact. The 1989/1990 pool of draft-eligible backs is quite deep, led by Penn State’s Blair Thomas, Florida’s Emmitt Smith, Minnesota’s Darrell Thompson, Georgia’s Rodney Hampton, and Washington State’s Steve Broussard. NFL prognosticators expect as many as 10-12 halfbacks would be Round 1 or Round 2 picks, so this is almost certainly where USFL squads will try to replace players like Gary Anderson, Christian Okoye, Harry Sydney or Craig James.
5. What will LA and Texas do at QB? The Express have recently drafted USC QB Rodney Peete, and may opt to bring in a veteran to compete and/or mentor Peete, but only if they feel confident that he can emerge as a viable starter. Otherwise, they may have to look for a potential starter from among USFL backups and NFL free agents. In Texas the bench behind Williams included some talent. Blair Kiel, Glenn Carano and Mike Shula could be the basis for a QB competition, but again, is there confidence among the Outlaws’ coaching staff that one of these three could emerge as a viable starter?
So much uncertainty and so much angst for one offseason. Hard to imagine that it was only 3 years ago when the USFL David defeated the NFL Goliath in court, paving the way for the ongoing growth and relative financial success for spring football through the USFL. So, with an eye on positivity, let’s finish today’s report by looking forward to next year with optimism. As they did last year, Russell Athletic has undertaken team identity revisions for three more clubs this year, Denver, Memphis, and Orlando. In some cases the changes to the team identities are expected to be minor, in other cases quite significant. This week RA and the Orlando Renegades unveiled their new look for 1990.
Coming off their first playoff season, and a run that saw them upset both Tampa Bay and Birmingham to reach the Eastern Conference Championship, Orlando did not want to throw out the baby with the bathwater. They wanted to retain most of the look that has begun to gain value as the team improves. So, the changes to Orlando’s look are somewhat muted. The most obvious change will be the increase in the use of black as one of the team colors. Black has always featured on the team’s official color palette, and has been part of the team’s tomahawk logo since their inception in 1987, but it never appeared on the uniform outside of the logo. That changes this year with black being used as a complementary color, found in the sleeve, pant, and helmet stripes as well as appearing as part of the new number outlines.
The second significant change is the introduction of a blue set of pants to be worn with the white away jersey. Although the all-white look will remain an option for the Renegades, the new blue pants will be a common feature of the team’s look for away games. And finally, the logo itself will be altered slightly for the 1990 season, with the block letter “ORLANDO” removed from the helmet logo, while being retained for marketing items. The tomahawk will also be tweaked, with both feathers now featuring silver tips instead of red and blue tips. Red will still appear in the “Renegades” script, but the emphasis is clearly on blue, silver and black as the team’s colors moving forward. Here is a design sheet for the new look Renegades. Based on comments made at the reveal event in Orlando, it sounds like we can expect an announcement from Denver very soon, while Memphis may not be ready to reveal their look until January’s draft. Sounds like something bigger is in the works in the Mid-South.
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