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Out with the old . . .

 
Published Nov. 3, 1993|Updated Oct. 10, 2005

Steve DeBerg is no longer the oldest player in the NFL.

Because he's no longer in the NFL.

In a move that surprised the 17-year veteran, the Tampa Bay Bucs on Tuesday waived the man who opened this season as their starting quarterback. In announcing Tampa Bay's decision, Bucs coach Sam Wyche attributed the timing of DeBerg's departure to the emergence of Craig Erickson as the team's starter and a desire to elevate third-teamer Casey Weldon to the backup role.

To replace the 39-year-old DeBerg on the roster, the Bucs agreed to terms with reserve quarterback Mark Vlasic, the fifth-year veteran who signed with Tampa Bay this spring before being waived in the final preseason cut.

Tampa Bay's moves also appear to be cost-conscious: With the subtraction of DeBerg and the addition of Vlasic, the Bucs will save an estimated $400,000.

By cutting DeBerg at the midpoint of the NFL's regular season, the Bucs will not be responsible for $460,000 _ half of both his $600,000 1993 base salary and $320,000 pro-rated roster bonus.

The $400,000 or so the Bucs save by letting DeBerg go is just less than the combined salaries of Erickson ($232,000) and Weldon ($205,000). And figure in Vlasic, who returns to Tampa Bay at a bargain price (he'll likely receive near the NFL minimum of $150,000, pro-rated to half a season).

The Bucs' decision also would appear logical in its timing: DeBerg, as a vested veteran under the league's new collective-bargaining agreement, was entitled to at least 50 percent of his season salary if he was waived any time after making the opening-day roster. In short, it would have cost Tampa Bay about $51,000 per week to keep their seventh-highest paid player past Tuesday.

"They wanted to move Weldon up and give him some playing time," said DeBerg's agent, Jack Childers. "Obviously the team has next to no playoff possibilities. Why keep Steve as a third-string quarterback who makes more than the first-

and second-teamer combined? So I think dollars and cents had to be a factor."

The end of DeBerg's second tenure with Tampa Bay came without warning, Childers said. Tuesday is the traditional off day for NFL players, but DeBerg was called by Wyche and asked to come to One Buc Place around 4 p.m.

"There certainly wasn't any inkling of this until it happened," Childers said. "It was unexpected to him. He's a little disappointed, but it's certainly not a problem. I would say he's upbeat. Steve agrees with me that he'll probably have an opportunity to sign with a contending team before the season is over.

"He just went in and sat down and talked with Sam. Sam explained it to him, and he said, "Okay.' "

DeBerg did not speak to the media Tuesday, but plans a 10:30 a.m. news conference today at One Buc Place. In a prepared statement released by the team, he expressed his feelings about the move:

"I'm surprised, but I understand," he said. "I have great respect for Sam. This is a deserved vote of confidence in Craig Erickson. He's going to be an outstanding quarterback and soon. I also believe in Casey Weldon. I know people haven't seen him play yet, but I've seen enough on the practice field to know. So the Bucs have what they would need at the quarterback position, especially for the future.

"As for my future, I don't want to leave this area, but anything can happen in football. My initial thought is not to immediately declare my retirement, but to keep training and see if anything happens where someone needs help due to injuries or whatever later this season. I will pursue a coaching career, but don't do that in the middle of a season. I've never had any free time during football season and we'll just hang out by the hot line and see what happens."

DeBerg started Tampa Bay's season opener at home against Kansas City, but was replaced by Erickson in the second half of the 27-3 loss after completing 12 of 20 passes for just 79 yards and one interception. He also appeared twice in relief of Erickson this season, in a 47-17 loss at Chicago and, just 10 days ago, in a 37-14 home loss to Green Bay.

All told, DeBerg was 23-of-39 (59.0) this season for 186 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions. In his career, which has been spent with San Francisco, Denver, Kansas City and separate stints with Tampa Bay, DeBerg has 2,731 completions in 4,777 attempts (57.2) for 32,351 yards passing, 187 touchdowns, and 196 interceptions. He ranks 10th all-time in NFL passing yardage, and sixth in completions.

DeBerg, who had publicly stated his intent to retire after this year, viewed this season as a final, unexpected, victory lap. Thrust into the starter's role after Vinny Testaverde signed with Cleveland on March 31, DeBerg put off his plans to become a Bucs assistant coach and beat out Erickson and Vlasic for the No. 1 job coming out of preseason.

DeBerg signed with Tampa Bay as a Plan B free agent from Kansas City in the spring of 1992, started two games for the Bucs last season and relieved Testaverde in four others. In his first stop in Tampa Bay, he spent four seasons with the Bucs (1984-87), starting 34 of the 55 games he played.

"Steve has been a close friend since our days together with the 49ers 15 years ago, so this was a difficult decision," Wyche said in a statement. "However, Craig Erickson has established himself as a starting-caliber quarterback and we believe it is time for Casey Weldon to assume the full-time backup role. We've known for some time that this was going to be Steve's final season with us and we think the time is now to add a quarterback to the roster who can prepare to compete for a roster spot next year."

In the first 24 hours after being waived, DeBerg can be claimed by another NFL team. But that team would have to assume his contract for the rest of the season _ an unlikely scenario. After the waiver period has ended, DeBerg can sign with any team as a free agent, at any amount he can negotiate. Tampa Bay did not ask DeBerg to retire, Childers said.

"The reality of the situation is that it's remote, the possibility of someone signing him off the waiver wire," Childers said. "Why do that when you can turn around and sign him 24 hours later for less? But you watch, I assure you every team when this comes out on the wire will have Steve on their list of available quarterbacks."

Interestingly, one of the teams in need of help at quarterback is Kansas City, where starter Joe Montana is again hobbled by a pulled left hamstring and could miss as much as three or four weeks. DeBerg, who led the Chiefs to the playoffs in 1990, his greatest season ever, left Kansas City after it signed Dave Krieg before the 1992 season. The Chiefs, however, earlier this week said they will go with Krieg and backup Matt Blundin until Montana heals.

Vlasic's agent, Mike Merkow, said his client received an offer from Kansas City Tuesday, but opted to return to Tampa Bay for competitive reasons. Vlasic was waived in the Bucs' final preseason cut, meaning Tampa Bay was not responsible for anything more than the signing bonus in his two-year, $1.2-million contract.

"There are so many quarterbacks going down," Childers said. "You've had Dan Marino, Randall Cunningham, Jim McMahon's hurt for a few weeks, Drew Bledsoe has been out for a few weeks. There's a lot of situations around the league that could develop. Wouldn't it be ironic if Steve ended up back with Kansas City?"

In another roster move Tuesday, Tampa Bay placed offensive lineman Tim Ryan on injured reserve with torn tendons in his ankle. Ryan, a third-year veteran, was injured in Sunday's win at Atlanta and will be lost for the season.

For the record

Here is Steve DeBerg's record as a Bucs starter.

Year W-L

1984 5-8

1985 1-10

1986 0-2

1987 2-6

1992 0-2

1993 0-1

All 8-29

DeBerg's statistics

Year Team G-S Att. Comp. Yds. Pct. TD Int. LG Rate

1978 49ers 12-11 302 137 1570 45.4 8 22 58 39.8

1979 49ers 16-15 578 347 3652 60.0 17 21 50 73.1

1980 49ers 11-9 321 186 1998 57.9 12 17 93 66.5

1981 Broncos 14-1 108 64 797 59.3 6 6 44 77.6

1982 Broncos 9-5 223 131 1405 58.7 7 11 51 67.2

1983 Broncos 10-5 215 119 1617 55.3 9 7 54 79.9

1984 Bucs 16-13 509 308 3554 60.5 19 18 55 79.3

1985 Bucs 11-11 370 197 2488 53.2 19 18 57 71.3

1986 Bucs 16-2 96 50 610 52.1 5 12 45 49.7

1987 Bucs 12-8 275 159 1891 57.8 14 7 64 85.3

1988 Chiefs 13-11 414 224 2935 54.1 16 16 80 73.5

1989 Chiefs 12-10 324 196 2529 60.5 11 16 50 75.8

1990 Chiefs 16-16 444 258 3444 58.1 23 4 90 96.3

1991 Chiefs 16-15 434 256 2965 59.0 17 14 _ 79.3

1992 Bucs 6-2 125 76 710 60.8 3 4 28 71.1

1993 Bucs 3-1 39 23 186 59.0 1 3 24 47.6

Total 193-135 4777 2731 32351 57.0 187 196 _ 70.8