FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-15       4/18/01

Three NFL restricted free agents have offers from new teams that can be matched by their old teams through Friday, April 20.

In the past week, restricted free agent offers were tendered by New England to Pittsburgh running back CHRIS FUAMATU-MA’AFALA, Kansas City to St. Louis wide receiver TONY HORNE, and San Diego to San Francisco kicker WADE RICHEY. The players’ old clubs have until this Friday, April 20 to match the offer.

St. Louis and San Francisco possess a right of first refusal only for Horne and Richey, respectively, while Pittsburgh would receive a sixth-round selection in this weekend’s NFL Draft if it does not match the offer for Fuamatu-Ma’afala.

Restricted free agents are players who have completed three accrued seasons of service and whose contracts have expired.

They received qualifying offers from their old clubs and were free to negotiate with any club from March 2, the start of the 2001 free-agency signing period, until April 16, at which time their rights reverted to their original club.

If a player accepted an offer from a new club, the old club had the right to match the offer and retain the player. If the old club elected not to match the offer, it could receive draft-choice compensation depending on the level of the qualifying offer made to the player.