Thomas Not Under Contract?

January 27, 2000 / 4:47 PM EST / CBS/AP

All-Pro linebacker Derrick Thomas, left partially paralyzed but now out of intensive care after a traffic accident that killed another man, is not under contract to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Kansas City Star reported Thursday that according to information it obtained from the NFL Players Association, Thomas voided the remaining two seasons on his contract by reaching certain playing incentives in 1999.

A Chiefs spokesman declined to comment on the status of the contract. Chiefs president Carl Peterson and assistant general manager Denny Thum, who handles contracts, were in Atlanta for the Super Bowl and could not be reached.

Leigh Steinberg, Thomas' agent, could not be reached at his office in California.

Thomas was released from intensive care and upgraded to good condition Thursday in Miami. But the 33-year-old player remained at Jackson Memorial Hospital, recovering from surgery to rebuild part of his spine.

He is paralyzed from the chest down but could eventually walk again, doctors say.

"His spine is now well-aligned and stable in a collar," Dr. Frank Eismont said. "His lungs and heart are fine. He is kept sedated and in a rotary bed to keep him from contracting pneumonia or having other complications."

Thomas would have been eligible to become a free agent on Feb. 11, when his contract expires, had the sides not come to a new agreement before then, the newspaper said. The expiring contract gave the Chiefs an option to add years onto Thomas' contract by giving him a $3 million signing bonus.

It was not clear how Thomas' injuries affect the Chiefs' salary-cap situation. The Chiefs still had to account against future salary caps for at least $2.5 million of his original signing bonus.

If Thomas' contract were still valid, he would have counted about $4.175 million against their salary cap in 2000.

In the spring of 1997 Thomas signed a seven-year contract worth about $26.9 million, including a $7.5 million signing bonus.

Last January, the sides renegotiated a deal that dropped the final two years of that contract and included some playing incentives for 1999 that could void the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Bob Moore, the Chiefs' director of public relations, told the newspaper that owner Lamar Hunt, president and general manager Carl Peterson and the Chiefs "would do the right thing by Derrick Thomas."

"It's an inappropriate time to be talking about the salary cap and such matters," Moore said.

He said Peterson and Steinberg, have had conversations about the matter.

Thomas was injured Sunday when his car left an icy road in Kansas City as he and two companions were on their way o the airport. One of his companions was killed.

Thomas could be transferred to a rehabilitation facility in about two weeks. He already has begun working with therapists.