In a Dallas Cowboys cornerback corps undergoing an offseason overhaul, count Charlie Williams among the survivors. Williams, who started a career-high eight games in 1999, has ended his fling as an unrestricted free agent and agreed to a contract that will keep him with the Cowboys for the 2000 campaign.
Williams, 28, will sign a one-year contract worth the league veteran
minimum of $440,000. There also is an incentive package, based primarily on
playing time, that could earn Williams six figures in additional
compensation, teams sources said.
The team selected three cornerbacks in the recent draft to augment a
position where the Cowboys were decimated by injuries a year ago.
Three-year veteran Kevin Mathis was traded away to the New Orleans Saints
last week and Deion Sanders will be released next month. Keeping Williams
will provide another veteran, along with Kevin Smith, to the mix.
The former Bowling Green standout was selected by Dallas in the third round
of the 1995 draft and has spent most of his career as a "nickel" or "dime"
defender.
In five seasons, he has played in 70 games, with 11 starts. Williams has 82
tackles, two sacks, no interceptions and 17 passes defensed. He played in
all 16 games last season, starting eight times because of injuries to
Sanders and Smith, and had career highs with 46 tackles and seven passes
defensed. Williams participated in a weekend mini-camp and had made it
clear during the free agent signing period that he preferred to remain in Dallas.
Cowboys officials on Monday continued negotiations with former Tennessee
middle linebacker Barron Wortham, released last week by the Titans despite
starting 15 games for the AFC champs in 1999. The Cowboys are optimistic
they will reach an agreement with Wortham in the next day or two.
-- Len Pasquarelli
FINCASTLE, Va. -- Dallas Cowboys defensive end Dimitrius Underwood, who has battled personal problems since being drafted by Minnesota in 1998, has been fined and had his driver's license suspended for driving 95 mph.
A state trooper clocked Underwood on March 19 exceeding the speed limit while driving southbound on Interstate 81 near Buchanan. Nine days earlier, Underwood had signed with the Cowboys and he told the trooper he was headed to Dallas.
General District Judge L.K. Campbell convicted Underwood in absentia last Wednesday, finding him guilty of reckless driving by speeding. Campbell imposed a $350 fine plus $40 court costs and suspended Underwood's license for 12 months.
Underwood, whose driver's license listed his address as Lansing, Mich., has until May 8 to pay the fine or his license will be suspended indefinitely.
-- Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA -- Seth Joyner and Keith Byars both "re-signed" with Philadelphia on Monday, then promptly retired, forever to be known as Eagles.
Joyner played eight of his 13 NFL seasons with the Eagles and Byars played seven of his 13 seasons in Philadelphia.
"They were the most memorable years of my career," said Joyner, a linebacker who was an eighth-round draft pick by Philadelphia in 1986. He played with the Eagles until after the 1993 season and then signed with Arizona as an unrestricted free agent. He also played with Green Bay and Denver.
Byars was a first-round pick in 1986 and the Eagles chose him despite head coach Buddy Ryan calling the running back a "medical reject" in the days leading up to the draft.
-- Associated Press