NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans deny they breached their contract with Steve McNair by not allowing the quarterback to work out on their property, a union spokesman said Monday.
The Titans defended themselves in a response to a grievance filed on McNair's behalf by the NFL Players Association on April 7. The team counsel had declined to discuss the Titans' answer for why they told McNair on April 3 that they don't want him working out on their property.
"They've actually denied any wrongdoing in not permitting him to work at his place of employment while under contract," said Carl Francis, the NFLPA's director of communications. "At this point, we're moving forward to try to bring some remedy to this."
Francis said general counsel Richard Berthelsen was reviewing the response to determine the union's next step. That could include asking for an expedited hearing before an arbitrator that could be held within 10 days or placing it on a docket that could take up to three or four months.
The Titans generally don't comment on player grievances and refused to talk Monday.
An expedited hearing might help McNair, the co-MVP of 2003 whose $23.46 million salary cap hit for 2006 is why the Titans asked him not to work out on their property. They fear an injury that would make them liable for the entire amount, which would limit their ability to sign their draft picks.
McNair has been asked to work out someplace else with the team willing to pay him the $110 that players get each day they work out during the Titans' offseason conditioning program.
The Titans have said they want to rework McNair's contract to free up salary cap room. But McNair's agent, Bus Cook, said he hasn't received a new offer since he countered the Titans' first and only proposal.
Cook did not immediately return a message Monday.
NINERS SIGN LB SLAUGHTER: The San Francisco 49ers signed linebacker T.J. Slaughter on Monday, his fifth NFL team in five seasons.
Slaughter spent last season with the New Orleans Saints, making 10 tackles and one start in 10 appearances. A third-round draft choice by Jacksonville in 2000, he spent three seasons with the Jaguars before joining Green Bay and then spending the 2004 season with the Baltimore Ravens, where he played for 49ers coach Mike Nolan.
San Francisco also waived running back DeCori Birmingham.
BILLS RELEASE CB THOMAS: The Buffalo Bills released backup cornerback Kevin Thomas.
Thomas, Buffalo's sixth-round pick in the 2002 draft out of UNLV, missed all of last season with a knee injury. The Bills announced his release on Monday.
In 38 career games with the Bills, he had one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Thomas underwent surgery to repair a broken bone in his right knee last spring, then aggravated the injury before training camp. He was forced to have surgery a second time last September, and was never activated after beginning the year on the physically unable to perform list.
FORMER BROWNS NOW VP FOR NINERS: The San Francisco 49ers finally added an experienced football man to their front office Monday, hiring former NFL and Cleveland Browns executive Lal Heneghan as their executive vice president of football operations.
Owner John York has been under public pressure to hire a veteran executive ever since he turned over his franchise last year to coach Mike Nolan, a longtime NFL assistant who had never made personnel decisions or negotiated contracts. After the 49ers went 4-12 last season, even Nolan lobbied for another strong voice in one of the league's thinnest front offices.