For offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie and the Minnesota Vikings, the long wait is finally over.

	McKinnie

Several league sources told ESPN.com on Friday evening that McKinnie, the seventh overall player selected in the 2002 April draft, had agreed to a contract that will end his 98-day holdout. The former University of Miami star officially signed a five-year contract on Saturday.

"I'm elated with this contract,'' McKinnie said. "I know this has taken some time, but ... I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to put on a Vikings uniform. I feel like my dream is just about to begin. I can't wait to play in my first game.''

The agreement ends a long stalemate, one that often became acrimonious, and which cost the Vikings a much-needed offensive lineman. McKinnie, who never permitted a sack during his college career, was projected as the team's starter at the critical left tackle spot.

During the impasse, Vikings owner Red McCombs was openly critical of agents Ben Dogra and Jim Steiner, but the pair held firm in their convictions that the club's offer was a below-market proposal. Perhaps more important, McKinnie refused to be swayed by rhetoric or public opinion.

"It's been a long, difficult process,'' said Rob Brzezinski, Minnesota's vice president of football administration and lead contract negotiator. "We kept working toward a mutual goal and tried to find a compromise that worked for both parties.''

The five-year contract includes combined signing and guaranteed option bonuses of $9.35 million, a dramatic increase over the $8.1 million figure on which the Vikings had been stuck for months. The deal totals $13.55 million, and McKinnie will not lose any compensation despite his absence for the first seven games of the season.

Getting a five-year contract, with this season counting as a full year toward the pension fund, represents a major victory for McKinnie and his agents. The contract is for a shorter term than most first-round accords and will make the tackle technically eligible for free agency after the 2006 season.

"Bryant is a very determined individual,'' agent Dogra said. "It was really more a matter of principle than bottom-line dollar. I think the same traits that came out of the negotiations are the same traits that will allow him to be a really good player for the Minnesota Vikings for years to come.''

In the past week, the two sides made substantial progress but, over the last two days, it appeared that the momentum might be stymied by the club's insistence that the NFL Players Association drop a collusion investigation against the Vikings.

The players association and the league have reached a settlement of the collusion case, ESPN.com has learned. Just as in the case of Kansas City top pick Ryan Sims, whose negotiations were also the subject of a collusion case, there will be no financial damages.

"We're very pleased McKinnie has signed and is going to be playing,'' NFLPA general counsel Richard Berthelsen said. "McKinnie doesn't desire to seek any damages, and this settlement answers our concern so we're dropping the case.''

The contract permitted the team and McKinnie to avoid a fast-approaching Nov. 12 deadline.

According to the collective bargaining agreement, McKinnie could not have played at all this season if he was not signed by Nov. 12. If the deadline had passed without an accord, it was very likely that McKinnie would never have played a single down for the Vikings. He almost certainly would have been traded next spring or permitted to go into the 2003 draft.

The mammoth blocker is the last player in the league, veteran or rookie, to sign for the 2002 season. The last rookie to sit out his entire debut season was Bo Jackson of the Tampa Bay Bucs in '86. Minnesota had been offering a five-year deal worth $13.1 million, including an $8.1 million signing bonus.

McKinnie, 23, started 22 games at Miami and graded out at an 86 percent rate for assignments carried through.

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