The Oakland Raiders further bolstered their already strong offensive line Thursday as the team reached a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent Brad Badger.

ESPN.com has learned that Badger, 27, will sign a one-year deal with a base salary of $650,000. It permits the Raiders to take advantage of the new rule which grants a team a break on its salary cap when it signs a veteran to a minimum-salary contract. Because of the rule, Badger will count just $450,000 toward Oakland's 2002 cap.

The five-year veteran played the past two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and started a dozen games in 2001, principally at left tackle.

The former Stanford star chose the offer from the Raiders over a similar proposal from Seattle because it allows him to return to the Bay Area. The lack of interest in Badger on the part of the Vikings is somewhat puzzling, since he generally played pretty well in Minnesota last season.

Badger can play guard and tackle and gives the Raiders, who typically have great depth on the line, yet another experienced performer. The retirement of left guard Steve Wisniewski means the Raiders will have to move either Matt Stinchcomb or Mo Collins into that spot, and Badger could wind up as the top backup tackle, behind starters Barry Sims and Lincoln Kennedy.

Selected by the Washington Redskins in the fifth round of the 1997 draft, Badger started all 16 games in his second season in the league. He moved from Washington to Minnesota in 2000, signing with the Vikings as a restricted free agent.

Badger played exclusively as a backup in 2000, then moved into the starting lineup last season after longtime incumbent Todd Steussie was released for cap considerations. Badger has played in 71 games in his career and started in 33 of them.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.