Red McCombs is again considering selling his Minnesota Vikings or moving them.
“Given that the Vikings must remain competitive in the NFL,” McCombs said in a statement issued Monday, “I have engaged J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. to assist me in evaluating all possible options. These options will include, but not be limited to, relocation or a sale.”
The Vikings are under lease to play in the Metrodome for nine more seasons.
But for the last two years, the team has come to the legislature seeking state help for a stadium costing as much as $500 million that would be built on the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus. McCombs has offered to put up $100 million and the NFL would contribute another $51.5 million.
The legislature has approved a stadium for the Minnesota Twins, who had been threatened with contraction by baseball although it has not yet been signed by Gov. Jesse Ventura.
– Ryan Leaf is without a job again after the Dallas Cowboys cut him, the third team in 15 months to release the former No. 2 overall draft pick.
Leaf may have been a model citizen in the Cowboys’ locker room, but his play was still erratic. Plus, he was expendable with the emergence of Quincy Carter and the recent acquisition of former Stanford QB Chad Hutchinson, who spent the past four seasons playing pro baseball.
“This is a decision that came down to numbers on our depth chart at the quarterback position, and we wanted to dedicate the practice repetitions to the younger players,” team owner Jerry Jones said.
Leaf’s agent, David Dunn, didn’t return a phone message.
– Linebackers Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware skipped the first day of Baltimore Ravens’ passing camp, drawing the ire of coach Brian Billick.
Although the four-day session is voluntary, Billick was angry because both players told him they would participate. Lewis also missed a voluntary mini-camp last month.
– The NFL plans to sell $200 million of 15-year bonds, sources said. The league, which expands this fall to 32 teams with the new Houston Texans, plans to use the proceeds to help fix up old stadiums and build new ones, the sources said.
Last August, the NFL sold $285 million of 15-year bonds, nearly double the original $150 million planned, for the same purpose.
– San Francisco 49ers kick return specialist Vinny Sutherland was arrested Saturday on charges he was drunk when he drove his car into two light posts in Saratoga, Calif.
