The Houston Oilers signed Dallas Cowboy all-pro center Mark Stepnoski to a four-year, $9.2 million contract Saturday.
Stepnoski told The Dallas Morning News that he gave the Cowboys a final chance to get into the bidding but that Dallas did not make a competitive offer."They were still pretty far away," he said. "If it would have been close, I would have stayed."
Stepnoski, 28, will get $5.5 million guaranteed, his agent told the newspaper.
Those guarantees were the deciding factor in choosing Houston over late bids from Philadelphia and Dallas. Eagles' owner Jeffrey Lurie met with Stepnoski at D-FW Airport Saturday while the Cowboys made a late attempt to keep their All-Pro center.
Stepnoski's contract includes a $1.5 million signing bonus, but there are skill and injury guarantees that make the contract exceptional, agent Ralph Cindrich said.
According to NFL Players Association figures, Stepnoski's average of $2.3 million per year makes him the game's highest-paid center.