Carl Pickens Signs 5-Yr/$23M

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 9, 1999 / 8:35 PM EDT / CBS Sportsline

Just one day after signing a one-year contract tender, Cincinnati Bengals "franchise" wide receiver Carl Pickens agreed on Friday to a five-year, $23.25 million deal, CBS SportsLine confirmed. Between the signing bonus and base salary, the contract will pay Pickens $8 million in 1999.

The long-term deal is hardly surprising, although it did come a few days earlier than both sides predicted on Thursday. SportsLine first reported Thursday that Bengals officials and agent Steve Zucker already had reached agreement on many parameters of a multi-year contract. It was assumed the five-year deal would not be finished until early next week, but both sides pushed to finalize it before Sunday's season opener.

Pickens first signed the one-year tender of $3.531 million on Thursday and will officially sign the longer contract Saturday, and is expected to play 15-20 snaps against Tennessee on Sunday.

The maneuver, signing Pickens to a one-year tender now and then subsequently to a long-term contract, is the same one used Thursday in the deal that ended wide receiver Rob Moore's holdout in Arizona. If a team signs a player to the tender offer, then follows that up with a long-term contract, the club can retain its "franchise" designation and use it on another player next spring. If the "franchise" player initially signs for more than one year, the designation stays with him the entire length of the contract."

Pickens had vowed several times during the offseason never to play for the Bengals again.

Pickens bristled Thursday when it was suggested that he caved but, like most players who talk of early retirement, he opted for remuneration over relaxation. At an afternoon press conference, coach Bruce Coslet leaped to the defense of Pickens when a reporter asked if the wideout might be "a cancer" to the team. "That's bull!" the coach responded. But Coslet's job is in jeopardy and his passing game has sputtered in preseason, so there is little doubt he welcomes the return of Pickens.

Talks stalled for weeks and Brown at one point suggested the team was taking seriously Pickens' threats to retire. "Happy golden years," he joked at one point a few weeks ago when queried about Pickens. When he was reminded of those words Thursday, he joked: "We're just happy Carl has decided to spend his golden years with us."

Pickens had 82 catches for 1,023 yards and five touchdowns last season. His best season was in 1996 when he had 100 receptions for 1,180 yards and 12 touchdowns and was named a starter for the AFC Pro Bowl team. Pickens' career total of 6,150 yards ranks third on the Bengals all-time list behind Isaac Curtis (7,101) ad Cris Collinsworth (6,698).