Barring an unexpected breakdown in contract negotiations, the Pittsburgh Steelers will switch kickers on Monday, declining to match a restricted free agent offer sheet signed by incumbent Kris Brown last week and replacing him with unrestricted veteran Todd Peterson.

ESPN.com has learned that the Steelers and Peterson are close to a three-year agreement, and the nine-year veteran flew into Pittsburgh on Sunday night to meet with coach Bill Cowher, undergo a physical exam and consummate the deal.

The contract will be for three years and likely worth about $2.5 million. It will include a signing bonus of $450,000 and base salary of $650,000 for the 2002 season. In terms of salary cap space, it will be worth $250,000 less than it would have cost the Steelers this year to match Brown's offer sheet from the expansion Houston Texans.

Peterson kicked for the Kansas City Chiefs the last two seasons.

Pittsburgh officials have until Monday until at 4 p.m. to either match the offer sheet or permit Brown to move on to the Texans but, with the activity surrounding Peterson in the past two days, it seems their decision already has been made. The Steelers commenced negotiations Saturday with Peterson and agent Mike Moye and the two sides bargained again most of Sunday.

For signing Brown to a four-year, $4.7 million offer sheet as a restricted free agent, the Texans will have to compensate the Steelers with a seventh-round draft choice.

Peterson was originally seeking a four-year contract, but the Steelers held firm at three seasons, and the veteran kicker agreed to the shorter term. At this point in his career, Peterson, 32, sorely wants to play for a team that has a viable chance to advance to the Super Bowl.

Steelers management was clearly split over whether to match the offer sheet Brown signed last Monday. If they had matched, they would have inherited the terms of the offer sheet, which includes a $1 million signing bonus.

A major sticking point for the Steelers was that Houston had partially guaranteed base salaries in the final two years of the Brown offer sheet. He is scheduled to make $900,000 in 2004 and $1.3 million in 2005. But the Texans have guaranteed $375,000 in each of those years.

Beyond the fact Steelers owner Dan Rooney is philosophically opposed to such salary guarantees, Brown is coming off a terrible 2001 season, and Pittsburgh might not have wanted to make a long-term commitment to him.

Brown, 25, missed a league-high 14 field goal attempts in 2001, has blamed the surface at the new Heinz Field for his poor performance, and suggested last week he would prefer to kick in his native Texas.

That final remark would not sit well with the throaty Steelers fans if the team matched the offer sheet and Brown struggled again in 2002.

Peterson has kicked for three different teams in his NFL career and the Chiefs indicated early in the free agent period they wanted to re-sign him. He also was being pursued by Cincinnati and is believed to have been the next kicker on Houston's wish list if the Steelers retained Brown by matching the offer sheet to him.

The former University of Georgia star has converted 170 of 213 field goal tries and all but one of his 234 extra point attempts during his career. Peterson hit 27 of 35 field goals and 27 of 28 extra points for the Chiefs in 2001.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.