Starks signs four-year deal with Pittsburgh

Starks signs 4-year deal with Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH - Offensive tackle Max Starks has signed a four-year contract that keeps him with the Pittsburgh Steelers through the 2012 season and frees up several million dollars in salary-cap room for the team.

Starks, the starting left tackle, was designated as the Steelers' franchise player on Feb. 20 - less than three weeks after they won the Super Bowl - and he initially accepted a 2009 salary of $8.45 million.

Instead, the new contract is expected to pay him a signing bonus of slightly more than that amount but reduce his annual salary, creating additional salary-cap room for a team that was up against the cap most of last season. The signing bonus, for cap purposes, is spread out over the length of the contract.

By agreeing to the four-year contract, Starks no longer carries the franchise-player tag.

Bryant to retire

PITTSBURGH - Fernando Bryant, a cornerback and former first-round draft pick who played 10 NFL seasons with the Jaguars, Lions and Steelers, is retiring.

Bryant started 109 of the 112 NFL games he played, making seven interceptions and recovering nine fumbles.

Elsewhere

• The Atlanta Falcons signed their sixth-round draft choice linebacker Spencer Adkins. Adkins, 5-11, 246 pounds, had 72 tackles including 10 for a loss, five sacks and one interception in 31 games at Miami. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Kansas City Chiefs signed kicker Ryan Succop, one of the team's three seventh-round draft picks. Succop, taken with the 256th overall pick in last month's NFL draft, played 50 games in four seasons at South Carolina, hitting 71 percent of his field goals with a long of 55 yards. - From Wire Reports