Bus Cook Quotations

What this amounts to is they decided to pay $1 million and not add three years to his contract, so this is his last year. At the end of this year, Steve will be a free agent.

We have to get some things resolved. I'm sure the Titans want to keep Steve, and I'm sure they will. Steve wants to stay, and we want to keep him in Tennessee.

He is a starter. Why would he want to mentor a young guy to take his place? He is not ready for the rocking chair. It doesn't make sense for Steve McNair to take a huge cut in pay ... to be a mentor for some young guy no matter who it is. It might be great for Tennessee, but it wouldn't be good for Steve.

He is under contract, so they have to do what they have to do. But if we can't agree on a new deal that compensates him for 2-3 years on his existing deal, the right thing to do is release him. But that is their choice.

Steve deserves to be treated better after he's done so much for them.

There's no deadline. I don't know where that got started. The deadline will be whenever he decides he's ready.

There's only one Brett - thank goodness - but they have a lot of (the same) characteristics. They both played in college at small schools. They pretty much carried their teams on their shoulders. They overcame a lot of deficiencies that the teams might have had. They're both winners, competitors. Tough, smart. There are a lot of similarities.

I understand them feeling like (if) he is going to get hurt on their property they are going to have to pay him. But it's the same thing with every player on that roster. A $3 million player is going to get hurt just as easily as a $9 million player, and they have to pay him if he gets hurt.

It's up to them if they want him. Steve wants to be there. They have a huge cap number right now. Maybe they can afford it.

They've instructed him to work out somewhere else other than their facility.

Once they don't exercise that option, their cap number is out the roof. If they want to carry that big number through free agency, that is their choice.

I imagine he would have a hard time going back over there.

I don't think Steve's going to take a pay cut. He's scheduled to make $9 million, maybe $10 million this year. Why would you take less?

All I know is Steve is a starter and he is one of the best quarterbacks in football. And if the Titans do in fact draft a new quarterback and they want Steve to stay around and be a mentor to him, then he needs to have a long-term deal. Otherwise it doesn't make sense for him to stay around.