|
Feb. 13, 2000 By Len Pasquarelli SportsLine Senior Writer |
Last week included the emotional departures of the last three veterans from Buffalo's Super Bowl seasons of 1990-93. This week began a little better for the Bills, with the club able to retain one of its best young players, but then took on a good-news/bad-news twist
later in the evening.
Forum: Should the Bills have gotten rid of so much for Riemersma?
SportsLine has learned that Jay Riemersma, perhaps the premier tight end in the unrestricted free-agent market, reached an agreement early Sunday morning to return to the Bills.
Related Links:
Ranking the top free agents T O P N E W S
Several hours later, however, Bills cornerback Thomas Smith exited the team to sign with the Chicago Bears as an unrestricted free agent.
Riemersma will sign a four-year contract worth $12.036 million, including a signing bonus of $4 million. Smith received a $7.5 million signing bonus from the Bears on a five-year contract that totals $22.6 million. The agents for both players confirmed the deals.
Riemersma, 26, had been tentatively scheduled to visit with the New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns next week. He had said he wanted to remain in Buffalo, but it appeared even as late as Saturday morning the salary cap-strapped Bills would not be able to afford him. In the end, the Bills squeezed out enough cap space, thanks in part to a contract restructuring by Ted Washington, the veteran defensive tackle.
Simply to get under the $62.172 million spending limit by the Thursday deadline, the Bills had to part with defensive end Bruce Smith, tailback Thurman Thomas and wide receiver Andre Reed, the last three veterans from the team's glory years.
Riemersma joined the Bills as a seventh-round pick in the 1996 draft. In four seasons, he has 88 catches for 992 yards and 12 touchdowns. Despite missing significant playing time in '99 because of injury, he posted career bests in receptions (37) and receiving yards (496). His receiving yards equaled his total for the first three years of his career. Known as a solid all-around performer, Riemersma is a tough blocker and is particularly effective as a receiver in the "red zone."
 | |
| Tight end Jay Riemersma is staying with the Bills after signing a 4-year deal.(Allsport) |
There is no doubt the departure of Smith, 29, will negatively impact a Bills secondary that could also lose starting free safety Kurt Schulz, who is also an unrestricted free agent. Smith is a seven-year veteran who has played his entire career in Buffalo.
A first-round pick in the 1993 draft, Smith played in 110 games with 95 starts and was a mainstay in the lineup since his second season in the league. Amazingly, he intercepted only six passes in seven years, and never had more than two pickoffs in a campaign, but still was regarded as a top-flight coverage cornerback by league talent scouts. Most general managers felt he was one of the two best cornerbacks in this spring's unrestricted free agent pool. He ranked as the No. 10 player in SportsLine's analysis of the free agent market.
Chicago aggressively pursued Smith right from the start of free agency and brought him to town for a visit on Friday. Although negotiations did not look promising on Saturday, the Bears were able to land Smith when they raised their offer from an average of $4.25 million per year to $4.52 and the signing bonus from $6 million to $7.5 million.