In their pursuit of defensive-end depth, the third time proved the charm for the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday, as ESPN.com confirmed that the team reached a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent Chukie Nwokorie after two failed previous attempts.

The addition of Nwokorie, who played the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Indianapolis Colts before entering the free-agent market this spring, provides the Packers with an experienced No. 3 end. It also affords the team insurance in the event starter Joe Johnson is not fully rehabilitated from the arm injury that limited him to one game in '02.

Nwokorie, 27, will sign a two-year contract worth slightly more than $2 million. The deal includes a $500,000 signing bonus and the ability to earn an additional $300,000 through a variety of incentives.

Green Bay considered signing Nwokorie to an offer sheet a year ago, when he was just a restricted free agent, but decided against it when it became obvious that the Colts would match such a move. The Packers also attempted to acquire Nwokorie at the trade deadline last season, to help solve their manpower shortage, but could not complete the deal.

"The Packers have been a team that demonstrated an interest in Chukie in the past," said agent Frank Murtha, "and he's always liked the idea of playing there."

A few other teams, notably the New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants, pursued the former Purdue standout, who signed with the Colts as an undrafted college free agent in 1999, during the current free agent period.

Although he spent much of 2002 on the physically unable to perform list recovering from a back injury, and made little impact in the three games in which he appeared, Nwokorie is still regarded as a solid and versatile defender. He can play both ends spots, and move inside to tackle on third down, where he has displayed good pass rush skills.

In 2001, when he appeared in all 16 games, Nwokorie posted five sacks as a backup and played the run very well.

The Packers lost starter Vonnie Holliday in free agency on Tuesday, will be forced to move Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila into the starting lineup this year, and hope that Johnson will return 100 percent after appearing in just one game in 2002. Nwokorie should be able to provide significant snaps and certainly spell Gbaja-Biamila, who is less effective when he has to log a lot of playing time.

At the very least, Nwokorie will be a viable replacement for Billy Lyon, the versatile defensive lineman the Packers lost to Minnesota as a free agent last month.

Nwokorie has appeared in 22 games, with five starts, and has 43 tackles and five sacks.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.