In January, star offensive tackle Tony Boselli informed the Jaguars he would not re-structure his contract if quarterback and best friend Mark Brunell wasn't re-signed. Today, Boselli was in the Jaguars' offices to sign a re-structured contract.
Why?
Because Boselli believes Brunell will be signed to a new deal next week, or at least has every confidence Brunell will remain the team's quarterback next season and for the years that follow.
Boselli's re-structured contract converts salary into bonus money paid now. It is a technique the Jaguars have used in almost all of their re-structurings. What it does is allow this year's salary to be amortized over the remaining four years of Boselli's contract. No years were added to Boselli's current deal, which Boselli signed following the 1998 season.
Converting salary to bonus is a way of pushing a significant portion of this year's cap hit into future seasons, but it is the only means by which the Jaguars can make it under the 2001 $67.4 million salary cap limit by the March 2 deadline. Of course, it also guarantees the Jaguars will have more and similar cap problems with which to deal next winter.
Boselli wore a walking cast on his lower right leg today, following ankle surgery in Vail, Colo., by Dr. Roger Mann a month ago.
"They found a big piece of bone," said Boselli, who wore a hard cast the first three weeks following the surgery, his third on an ankle he injured in the final minutes of a game in Memphis, Tenn., in 1997.
He had suffered swelling, loss of range of motion and pain in the right ankle, and the symptoms worsened each season following the injury. Nonetheless, Boselli has played in 47 of 48 regular-season games the past three seasons, despite the injured ankle and reconstructive knee surgery last winter.
"I'm excited to get out there and rehab this thing," Boselli said of his ankle.
He will spend the next three weeks in a walking cast, before rehab begins.
