http://profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFL/AFC/AFC+East/New+England/WWHI/default.htm?channel=2004
April 26, 2004
We hear that the Patriots were seriously considering selecting Ohio State RB Maurice Clarett either late in the first round or early in the second. However, once it became apparent that Clarett was going to lose his appeal of the stay preventing him from entering this year’s draft, head coach Bill Belichick and V.P.-pro personnel Scott Pioli struck a tentative deal with the Bengals, which called for the Pats to send Cincy a second-round pick (No. 56 overall) for three-time Pro Bowl RB Corey Dillon. They then met with Dillon and his agent, Steve Feldman, at a Connecticut hotel, where the two parties got to know each other better and hammered out a contract agreement, which led to the execution of the trade on April 19. The two sides restructured Dillon’s contract, which has two years remaining, reducing the base salary from $3.3 million for 2004 to an undisclosed sum. However, Feldman told PFW that there are “easily reachable†performance incentives that will allow Dillon to earn more than $4 million. None of the money is guaranteed, so if things don’t work out with Dillon, the move will have cost the Patriots relatively little.
April 26, 2004
We hear that the Patriots were seriously considering selecting Ohio State RB Maurice Clarett either late in the first round or early in the second. However, once it became apparent that Clarett was going to lose his appeal of the stay preventing him from entering this year’s draft, head coach Bill Belichick and V.P.-pro personnel Scott Pioli struck a tentative deal with the Bengals, which called for the Pats to send Cincy a second-round pick (No. 56 overall) for three-time Pro Bowl RB Corey Dillon. They then met with Dillon and his agent, Steve Feldman, at a Connecticut hotel, where the two parties got to know each other better and hammered out a contract agreement, which led to the execution of the trade on April 19. The two sides restructured Dillon’s contract, which has two years remaining, reducing the base salary from $3.3 million for 2004 to an undisclosed sum. However, Feldman told PFW that there are “easily reachable†performance incentives that will allow Dillon to earn more than $4 million. None of the money is guaranteed, so if things don’t work out with Dillon, the move will have cost the Patriots relatively little.
