Running back Rashaan Salaam, the 1994 Heisman Trophy winner who has not played a regular-season NFL game since 1999, has reached agreement on a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers and will participate in organized workout sessions this week.

Salaam, 28, impressed San Francisco coaches and officials with his audition during the club's recent mini-camp. Although the team's backfield is already crowded, and the club again expects tailbacks Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow to log most of the carries, the consensus was that Salaam is intriguing enough to earn a shot at making the roster.

He will sign a one-year contract for $530,000, the league minimum for veteran player of his tenure, and the deal does not include a signing bonus. It is believed the contract also includes a waiver clause that releases the 49ers from any obligation if Salaam is injured during a football-related activity.

"I think he has a chance (to be in) training camp," said general manager Terry Donahue. "I think that is fair to say."

Despite his inactivity, Salaam is said to be in reasonably good shape and has spent the past four months working out at the Cris Carter Fast Camp in Boca Raton, Fla. Still, he faces long odds in his comeback attempt.

Salaam has not played in an organized game since his stint with the Memphis Maniax of the XFL. In the past four years, he has been released by four different NFL teams. He last played in the NFL in 1999, when he appeared in two games with the Cleveland Browns, and carried only one time for two yards.

The former Colorado star was the first-round choice of the Chicago Bears in the '95 draft, the 21st player selected overall, and as a rookie, he carried 296 times for 1,074 yards and 10 touchdowns. His numbers fell off dramatically in 1996, as he gained only 496 rushing yards, and started six games. He missed all but three games in 1997 with an ankle injury.

For his NFL career, Salaam rushed for 1,684 yards and 13 touchdowns on 471 carries.

As the head coach at UCLA in the early 1990s, Donahoe recruited Salaam, but he instead went to Colorado, and in 1994 he became just the fourth player in Division I-A history to run for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

In recent months, Salaam has been contacting teams and expressing the desire just for a tryout. A few franchises indicated interest but the 49ers were the only team to bring him in for an organized workout.

Salaam is the second player attempting a comeback this spring to sign with the 49ers. The team earlier signed seven-year veteran defensive tackle D'Marco Farr, who hadn't played in a game since 2000, but the former St. Louis Rams starter ended his comeback attempt after a mini-camp in which he struggled badly with his conditioning.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.