Byline: Combined wire services
NEW YORK -- The NFL is investigating the Washington Redskins' offer sheet to New York Jets wide receiver Laveranues Coles, intensifying the competition for free agents between the teams.
Two football sources, both of whom requested anonymity, said the NFL is looking into whether the Redskins broke the rules by failing to promptly notify the league after reaching an agreement with Coles. On Wednesday he signed an offer sheet for $35 million over seven years.
Redskins spokesman Karl Swanson said: ``We're happy to have the NFL look into it. There is nothing improper.''
Both the NFL and the Jets declined to comment.
The Jets have until Wednesday at 4 p.m. to match the offer. Chargers: Have given Junior Seau permission to seek a trade, apparently ending the star linebacker's 13-year run as the team's leader.
Seau, a first-round draft pick in 1990, was named to his 12th Pro Bowl last season. Panthers: Running back Stephen Davis, released by Washington in a salary move, agreed to a five-year $15.5 million contract.
He ran for 820 yards and seven touchdowns last season before a shoulder injury forced him to miss the last two games of the season. Minority award: Bobby Mitchell, the team's first black player in 1962 who rose to the position of assistant general manager, said his decades in the Redskins' front office amounted to no more than an ``internship'' and showed how hard it is for black executives to advance in the NFL.
Mitchell received the first Paul ``Tank'' Younger award from the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a new group of coaches and executives promoting minority hiring in the league.
``I spent over 40 years with the Redskins, and the best I could do was an internship,'' said Mitchell. Eagles: Linebacker Nate Wayne signed a four-year contract, four days after being released by the Green Bay Packers.
Wayne, whose contract is worth more than $13 million, led the Packers with 132 tackles last year.
