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Wednesday, May 1
 
QB Frerotte will get shot at starting role

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

Unrestricted veteran quarterback Gus Frerotte secured the best of both worlds Wednesday afternoon, agreeing to a contract with the Cincinnati Bengals that allows him to compete for the starting job this summer, but also leaves him eligible to re-enter the free-agent pool for a fourth consecutive year next spring.

ESPN.com has confirmed Frerotte will sign a one-year contract, a dramatic compromise after both agent Marvin Demoff and club vice president Troy Blackburn had proposed a multiyear arrangement.

The one-year agreement is believed to be worth about $1.4 million-$1.5 million.

The agreement actually culminates the team's two-year pursuit of the quarterback. He was offered a four-year contract by the Bengals last spring, rejected it, and instead re-signed with the Denver Broncos. Cincinnati, jilted by his rejection last year, quickly signed Jon Kitna as its starter.

Kitna suffered the kind of inconsistency in 2001, though, that has marked his career. The Bengals wanted to at least provide competition for the top job and turned to Frerotte once again. After much deliberation, the agreement was struck Wednesday afternoon.

"Every player we take to training camp will be competing and the best players will play," Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said. "Jon will be No. 1, yes, but everybody is in a competition."

Frerotte, 30, and his wife visited with Bengals officials last Wednesday and the eight-year veteran was assured by coach Dick LeBeau that he will be afforded an opportunity to oust the incumbent Kitna. Had he returned to the Broncos for yet another year, Frerotte would have been the backup to Brian Griese for a third straight season.

Although he has not been a full-time performer since he started 13 games for Washington in '97, the Bengals feel Frerotte could be capable of pushing the team closer to respectability. In the succeeding four seasons, he has just 15 starts, including only one in 2001.

The Bengals are gambling Frerotte will regain the form that made him a Pro Bowl player in 1996, when he started in 16 games for the Redskins, and threw for a career-best 3,453 yards.

The former Tulsa star entered the league in 1994 with the Washington Redskins as a seventh-round draft choice. He played his first five seasons in Washington, went to Detroit in 1999 and then Denver in 2000.

For his career, Frerotte has appeared in 76 games and started 59 of them. He has completed 1,087 of 1,990 passes for 13,970 yards, with 69 touchdown passes and 59 interceptions.

The Bengals expect Frerotte to be on hand Friday when the team opens its minicamp at Paul Brown Stadium. Training camp opens July 26 in Georgetown, Ky.

Other quarterbacks on the Bengals' roster are Akili Smith, who is recovering from a severe hamstring tear suffered in December, backup Scott Covington and rookie free agent Gavin Hoffman.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.






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