Wednesday, March 14

Steussie available on free agent market

---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- ESPN.com news services

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Vikings waived offensive tackle Todd Steussie on Wednesday.

According to the Star Tribune newspaper, Steussie said he was offered a new contract by the team that was for less than their original offer several weeks ago. The team faced a 3 p.m. deadline Wednesday to release him and avoid paying a $1 million roster bonus Thursday. Steussie would have counted more than $7 million against the Vikings' 2001 salary cap. As of late last week, the team was only $2.256 million below the $67.4 million cap and is seeking further relief to fill out its roster and sign draft choices. The Vikings saved more than $3.6 million by releasing Steussie, which makes him an unrestricted free agent. The move makes Brad Badger the Vikings' starting left tackle. Teams around the league had expressed little interest in trading for Steussie, who most teams expected to be available for free by the end of th

-- Mark (Karch 222@aol.com), March 14, 2001