ATLANTA -- Having spent the big money early in free agency, the Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday continued their shopping spree in the bargain basement, retaining unrestricted veteran tailback and special teams standout Travis Jervey with a new contract.

Jervey, 29, is expected to sign a one-year contract with a base salary of $650,000. It will permit the Falcons to take advantage of the new rule this year, which grants a team a savings on its salary cap when it signs a long-time veteran to a minimum-salary contract.

Atlanta also officially announced the signing of unrestricted free-agent cornerback Fred Weary, a deal first reported by ESPN.com last week. Weary signed a three-year contract, which will void to a one-year deal if he reaches predetermined playing time benchmarks.

The retention of Jervey keeps the Falcons among the most active teams in the free-agent market, although the club has scaled back in terms of compensation following the huge deals it awarded to offensive tackle Todd Weiner and tailback Warrick Dunn.

Although he is listed as a tailback, Jervey carried just three times for six yards for the Falcons in 2001. His biggest contribution, as has been the case for several years now, was on special teams. Jervey had 15 tackles on the kickoff and punt coverage units, third highest on the team.

A former star at The Citadel, Jervey entered the league as a fifth-round choice of Green Bay in the 1995 draft. He played four seasons for the Packers (1995-1998), and was named to the Pro Bowl team in 1997 as a special teams performer.

Jervey signed with San Francisco in 1999 and then with the Falcons last year.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.