Without giving specifics, Mr. Gingrich said he was prepared to "look at a four-year package" and that his proposal "frankly is a smaller number."

Six months later, the Giants gave Strahan a $12 million signing bonus as part of a four-year, $32 million package.

But ESPN announced yesterday that it had acquired a new four-year package, through 2007-8, at a bargain price of $5 million.

Later, he used his contacts in television to help gain a four-year package worth $30 million.

Tennessee's final offer to Haynesworth reportedly amounted to a four-year package worth $34 million total, with about $20 million in guarantees.

In return, a source familiar with the negotiations said, the Jets signed Cadigan to a four-year package worth $2.075 million.

For the television companies, the four-year package carries enormous economic risks.

As part of a $400 million four-year package, it will televise six games a week.

That will help when it comes time to renegotiate the present television contracts, a four-year package worth $4.3 billion that expires in 1997.

Mr Clinton has promised a four-year, $500 billion package of new taxes and spending.