Just minutes after an overtime victory against Philadelphia that secured a wild-card berth for the New York Giants in the regular-season finale, general manager Ernie Accorsi allowed that he "had to" find a way to retain both of his team's starting offensive tackles.

As of late Thursday night, one down, one to go.

ESPN.com has learned through league sources that the Giants have reached a contract agreement in principle with left tackle Luke Petitgout, clearly the most important item on Accorsi's offseason "to-do" list. Now the team can turn its attention to retaining its other key free agents, including right tackle Mike Rosenthal.

Agent Tom Condon, who worked throughout the day on Thursday to strike the accord, gave Petitgout the thumbs-up late in the evening. The signing was officially announced on Friday.

The contract is for six years, worth a total of $30 million, and includes a $9.75 million signing bonus. That boosts Petitgout into an elite class of offensive lineman, in terms of compensation, certainly among the top 10 in the league.

Condon could not be reached for comment, but two league sources confirmed the contract numbers.

"I certainly wanted to be a Giant so there wasn't any reason for me to look around if we could work out an agreement,'' Petitgout said Friday. "This is where I wanted to be.''

"Luke was a very high priority as far as our own unrestricted free agents were concerned, and we were aware of a lot of interest in him around the league,'' Accorsi said. "We are pleased that we kept him off the market and secured his future here.''

Petitgout, 26, was the Giants' first-round choice in the 1999 draft. He played left guard as a rookie, starting eight games there, then moved to right tackle in his second season.

The former Notre Dame star switched to left tackle in 2002, quickly gained a sense of comfort at the line's most difficult position, and essentially became the centerpiece for the revamped blocking unit. A four-year veteran, Petitgout has the kind of frame teams favor at the left tackle spot, with long arms and quick feet. But he also has enough power to be effective in the running game as well.

New York officials will continue discussions with Rosenthal and also with starting guard Jason Whittle, both of whom officially became unrestricted free agents at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.