The new five-year contract that star tailback Stephen Davis signed with the Washington Redskins last Wednesday provided the team $750,000 in additional salary cap room for 2002 but will still force the club to address exorbitant cap values in future seasons.

According to NFL Players Association documents, Davis will still earn the $3 million in base salary scheduled for 2002, but the team has now guaranteed $1.5 million of it. That move reduced Davis' cap charge for '02 from $6.678 million to $5.928 million and gave the club enough wiggle room to sign a minimum salary veteran free agent, most likely an interior offensive lineman.

But the new contract, which replaces a nine-year deal signed in 2000 and renegotiated last March, substantially increases some future cap values. It also guarantees $2.5 million of Davis' base salary of $7.5 million for 2003. The new deal runs only through 2006, while the former contract ran through the 2008 season.

"It creates some salary cap room for the team this year (only)," agent Steve Weinberg said. "Stephen's situation is a work in progress from both sides' standpoint."

Washington officials have been talking with Weinberg on and off through much of the offseason, but it was believed the team was seeking a long-term solution to Davis' status, not just a quick fix for 2002. The matter of his cap charge for 2003 was always an issue, but now it is imperative that the team rework his deal before next year, or risk having to release him next spring.

Like the former contract, the new pact includes a no-trade clause.

Under the new contract, Davis' base salaries are altered every season from what they were initially scheduled to be. For 2003, his base salary goes from $5 million under the former contract to $7.5 million on the new one. Davis' base is reduced to $5.5 million, from $6 million, for 2004. For 2005, it increases from $7 million to $8 million and in '06 it decreases from $8 million to $7.5 million.

But it is the cap numbers that present the biggest challenge to the Redskins in the new deal. In 2003, for instance, Davis' cap charge is a suffocating $11.428 million. It drops to $9.928 million in 2004, then skyrockets again, to $13.428 million in 2005 and $14.278 million in 2006.

A six-year veteran, Davis has rushed for 4,970 yards and 38 touchdowns on 1,176 carries in his career. Since becoming a full-time starter in 1999, the former Auburn standout has averaged 1,386 rushing yards. He established new career bests in attempts (356) and yards (1,432) in 2001.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.