Lions expose center Pyne to Browns
Posted: Wednesday January 13, 1999 10:31 AM
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) -- The Detroit Lions are making
starting center Jim
Pyne and four reserves available to the Cleveland Browns for next
month's expansion draft.
Each NFL team was required to make five players available for the Feb. 9
draft. Each team can lose no more than two players.
In addition to Pyne, the Lions also left wide receiver Tommie Boyd, defensive
tackle Marc Spindler,
cornerback Robert
Bailey and running back Jerris McPhail
unprotected.
Pyne started all 16 games in 1998, but asked the Lions to place him on the
expansion list. His agent has said Pyne was disappointed that coach Bobby
Ross did not defend him when he was criticized for the offensive line's
poor play.
Detroit signed Pyne, an unrestricted free agent who played guard during his
four seasons at Tampa Bay, to a four-year, $8.9 million contract.
Spindler, the Lions' third-round draft pick in 1990, returned to Detroit in
1997 after two seasons with the New York Jets. He started
two games last season.
Boyd had four receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown in 1998. Bailey saw
limited action and McPhail was active for only three games.
Quarterback Scott
Mitchell, relegated to the sidelines after Detroit opened the season
with two straight losses, was not eligible for the draft because a change
was made to the four-year, $21 million contract he signed in 1997.
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