“We have a pretty positive indication from them,” J.R. Rickert, one of Cribbs’ agents, said Thursday, Jan. 21.
Holmgren has taken an active role in reaching out to the Cribbs camp, which was chafed by negotiations with team representative Dawn Aponte shortly after the season ended. Aponte is no longer with the team.
“We didn’t see her as any factor in the solution,” Rickert said. “She was clearly not a person who had an interest in negotiating in good faith.”
The resignation of Aponte and the firing of former Browns President Mike Keenan came in the aftermath of Cribbs’ representatives going public with their contract frustrations. The Cribbs camp says it was led to believe the All-Pro was offered $1.4 million a year on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.
The process appears headed for Cribbs agreeing to a contract in the $2.5 million-a-year range.
Cowboys coach signs new contract
Head coach Wade Phillips has a new two-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys, a deal that indicates owner Jerry Jones is encouraged but not satisfied.
“This contract represents that,” Jones said Thursday after signing Phillips through the 2011 season. “Two years in the NFL is an eternity, but it has to be urgent and it has to be addressed as if there is no tomorrow. ... It addresses the urgency of where we want to go from here.”