clarinews@clarinet.com (02/02/90)
DALLAS (UPI) - Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson said Thursday the Minnesota Vikings have accepted a deal that will allow the Cowboys to keep three players who came to Texas in the Herschel Walker trade last season. The Cowboys will keep linebackers Jesse Solomon and David Howard and cornerback Issac Holt in return for giving Minnesota third-round draft choices this year and in 1991, and a 10th round pick this year. Johnson had already decided to keep all seven draft picks also received from the Vikings in exchange for Walker. But until Thursday's deal, the Cowboys would have had to release Solomon, Howard and Holt to keep the draft picks. The Cowboys last season received from Minnesota seven draft picks, including a trio of first round choices, and the use of five players in return for Walker. The complicated deal called for Dallas to return draft choices for each player the Cowboys decided to keep beyond the end of the season. Dallas eventually decided to keep Solomon, Howard and Holt and began seeking a deal allowing them to keep the trio and all the draft choices. Johnson had said Wednesday that he made a ``final'' offer of an unspecified draft choice this year and another next year in return for the rights to the three players. The Cowboys coach threatened to release the three players if Minnesota did not accept the deal. In other news, Johnson revealed Thursday that safety Bill Bates, a 7-year veteran who is among the Cowboys' most popular players, will be protected when the team submits its Plan B free agency list to the National Football League. The announcement was considered a bit of a surprise since the Vikings accepted a deal allowing Dallas to keep Holt. Johnson said Wednesday that the team would not protect veteran cornerback Everson Walls, defensive end Ed Jones or center Tom Rafferty. The failure of the Cowboys to protect those three players came as no surprise since Walls clashed with Johnson during the 1989 season, while Jones has been in the NFL for 15 years and Rafferty for 14. Each team may protect 37 players under Plan B, with the rest of the squad given the chance to negotiate with other teams. The Cowboys had planned to release its Plan B list Thursday, but Johnson said work in that area had been delayed by discussions with the Vikings.