Continuing a streak of negotiations that has enabled the franchise to retain most of its key performers for the long-term, the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday reached agreements to extend the contracts of two more starters and one key backup, ESPN.com has confirmed.

Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca, starting defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen and backup quarterback Tommy Maddox all agreed to new deals.

One of the league's best young guards, Faneca will sign a six-year, $25 million contract that will make him one of the highest-paid players at his position. The team's 1998 first-round draft pick, he has played in 62 games and started 57 of them. The contract is believed to include a signing bonus of about $6 million.

Faneca, 25, is a strong in-line blocker, an improving player in the passing game, and the former LSU star is a key to the Pittsburgh running attack. He would have been eligible for unrestricted free agency next spring without the new contract.

"It's not something that had to be done in my mind,'' Faneca told the Associated Press. "But it's definitely nice to know where you and your family are going to be for the next couple years. It makes things nice and easy.''

An eight-year veteran, von Oelhoffen started all 16 games at right end in 2001 and posted 29 tackles, four sacks, one forced fumble and two recoveries. Von Oelhoffen still had two years remaining on the four-year contract he signed when he moved to the Steelers as an unrestricted free agent in 2000. With the restructured deal, the 31-year-old lineman now will have a four-year, $10 million contract that includes a $3.5 million signing bonus.

He was scheduled to earn a base salary of $2.3 million for the 2002 season and $2.41 million in 2003, with salary cap values of $3.33 million and $3.28 million, respectively, for those years.

In securing the services of von Oelhoffen through the 2005 season, the Steelers now have nine of their 11 defensive starters under contract through at least the 2004 campaign. The team has spent close to $60 million in signing bonuses in less than a year and more than $30 million in upfront money has been paid to defensive starters.

A former Boise State standout, von Oelhoffen was a sixth-round choice of Cincinnati in the 1994 draft. He played the first six seasons of his career with the Bengals before going to the Steelers in 2000. For his career, he has 178 tackles and two sacks.

After playing nose tackle in Pittsburgh's 3-4 front in 2000, he moved to end last season when the team used its first-round choice on nose tackle Casey Hampton.

Maddox extended his current contract, which had one more season remaining, by an additional four seasons. Details of the extension were not yet available. The journeyman quarterback signed last summer with the Steelers after being named the most valuable player in the short-lived XFL. He won the No. 2 job behind starter Kordell Stewart and played in three games, completing seven of nine passes for 154 yards, with one touchdown pass and an interception.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Senior writer John Clayton and the Associated Press contributed to this report.