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Right after seven o’clock on Monday evening, the phone rang on my desk at Channel 4. The person on the other end didn’t identify themselves, but told he they thought that Joe Gibbs had just been admitted to Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine with some sort of “diabetic situation.” All day long, Washington television stations and the Washington Post had been reporting that Gibbs was headed to Orlando to meet with Brunell. It didn’t make sense to me that Mark would go to Orlando, when he could easily meet Gibbs at any number of places in North Florida without much bother. Even his house in Ponte Vedra is secluded enough that Gibbs could have slipped in and slipped out without fanfare. So the tip on the phone rang true to me.
A big runway at the St. Augustine Airport allows big jets to fly in there, and with Brunell living in south Ponte Vedra, St. Augustine seemed a logical meeting point. In fact, Brunell, his wife Stacey and Gibbs were scheduled to have dinner in the Ancient City when Gibbs started feeling ill. The Brunells drove Gibbs to Flagler Hospital where he was treated in the emergency room and released. Apparently the meeting went on, and Gibbs was scheduled to head back to Washington.
The Post reported that if the meeting went well, the Redskins were going to do everything they could to acquire Brunell from the Jaguars. And that’s where it gets pretty tricky. The NFL has a moritoriam on making any moves until after March 3. But Brunell has a $2 million roster bonus due on March 1st. So Paul Vance, the Jaguars V.P. of Football Operations, said they Jaguars might entertain a “sign and trade” situation for Brunell. It’s common in other sports, signing a player to a contract then trading the whole deal to another team. The Jaguars are willing to pay the $2 million, but they can’t afford to take the $10.5 million cap hit Brunell would count against their payroll in 2004. So, they’re working on what works best for them both short and long term. And the Redskins aren’t the only team interested in Brunell.
The Jaguars have given Brunell and his agent, Leigh Steinberg, permission to talk with Washington, Dallas, Miami and San Diego. All four are interested in Brunell, and Brunell apparently is intereted enough in each to meet with them. But he wants to be a starter. He doesn’t want to go somewhere and groom somebody like Drew Brees, Quincy Carter or Patrick Ramsey. So if he signs with one of those teams, look for Brees, Carter or Ramsey to be moved. Miami is reportedly Mark’s favorite, but Gibbs is persuasive, and he and Brunell have a lot in common, starting with their strong committement to their faith.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars are working about five programs at the same time. The free-agent signing period is coming up, the combine is in Indianapolis, and the draft is the final weekend of April. So there’s no off-season.
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