Miami Dolphins: Miami running back Robert Edwards, who made a remarkable comeback from a wrecked knee, underwent arthroscopic surgery Tuesday to remove bone chips from his ankle.

Edwards will miss the rest of this week's workouts, but will be ready for the start of training camp, coach Dave Wannstedt said.

"It's been bothering him the last week or so,'' said Wannstedt, who called the injury minor. "He practiced last week with it and went and got a second opinion. They figured to clean it up would be the best thing.''

Edwards, New England's first-round draft choice ini 1998, returned from three seasons out of the NFL after tearing his left knee in a beach football game at the February 1999 Pro Bowl. He rushed 20 times for 107 yards, and had 18 receptions and scored two touchdowns as a third-down back.

He was second in comeback player of the year voting behind Pittsburgh quarterback Tommy Maddox, who was 7-3-1 as a starter and led the Steelers to the AFC North title.

Denver Broncos: Veteran quarterback Danny Kanell, who has not played in the NFL since the 2000 season, on Tuesday signed a one-year contract with the Denver Broncos in an attempt to resurrect his career.

Kanell, 29, will vie with backups Steve Beuerlein and Jarious Jackson for a spot on the regular-season roster. His contract includes a base salary of $530,000, the minimum for a player with five years of NFL experience.

In stints with the New York Giants (1996-1998) and Atlanta Falcons (1999-2000), the former Florida State standout appeared in 38 games and started 22 of them. He completed 438 of 853 passes for 4,687 yards, with 29 touchdown passes and 29 interceptions.

The highlight of his career came in 1997, when he started 10 games for the Giants and led the team to a division title. He signed with the Falcons as a free agent in 1999. Since his release in the spring of 2001, Kanell has often considered a comeback, but generated only modest interest from teams. At one point after leaving the NFL, he launched a baseball career with an independent minor league team.

The Denver Broncos have also signed former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Lee Flowers.

"We're giving Lee a shot to come in here and battle both those guys,'' Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist said Monday, shortly after the agreement was reached.

A fifth-round choice out of Georgia Tech in the 1995 draft, Flowers moved into Pittsburgh's starting lineup in 1998. He averaged 14.8 starts and 79.8 tackles the past five seasons.

Washington Redskins: The Redskins shuffled their front office Tuesday, parting ways with vice president of football operations Joe Mendes and promoting director of player personnel Vinny Cerrato to take his place.

The move had been long expected. Cerrato had taken the lead role in preparing for this year's draft and as the public spokesman for the team's free agency moves.

Also, owner Dan Snyder handled most of the contract negotiations during free agency this spring, further diminishing Mendes' role.

Mendes was the conservative fiscal voice in the Redskins general-manager-by-committee, offsetting the more aggressive spending tactics of Snyder and Cerrato. Snyder assembled the odd mix of personalities after he fired coach and director football operations Marty Schottenheimer last year.

Mendes was the Redskins' chief contract negotiator and salary cap expert from 1993-2000. He quit, citing exhaustion, at the end of the 2000 training camp.

Cerrato was one of Snyder's first hires when the owner bought the team in 1999, serving as director of player personnel until he was fired by Schottenheimer in 2001.

Mendes became a consultant for player agents, while Cerrato worked as an analyst for ESPN, until Snyder rehired them both in January 2002.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Running back Terry Kirby signed a one-year contract with the Buccaneers on Tuesday.

The 11-year veteran spent the last three seasons with the Oakland Raiders, mostly as the team's kick returner. He missed all but six games last season with a broken leg.

Kirby, 33, had 16 carries for 51 yards rushing last season and added 17 catches for 115 yards and one touchdown. He also averaged 22.4 yards on kick returns last season and had one touchdown.

A third round pick in 1993 by the Miami Dolphins, Kirby has also spent parts of his career with the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers.

Buffalo Bills: Former Oakland Raiders receiver James Jett signed with the Bills on Tuesday.

Jett was released by the Raiders last February after his playing time diminished over the past two seasons playing behind Jerry Rice, Tim Brown and Jerry Porter. Jett had no receptions in one appearance last season, and managed just two catches for 19 yards in 2001.

The Bills already have depth at receiver with Eric Moulds, Josh Reed and recent free-agent acquisition Bobby Shaw.

Jett, who signed a one-year contract that includes a base salary of $755,000 and a signing bonus of $25,000, said he has put his release from the Raiders behind him.

"You've got to look past it, look beyond it and be a professional," said Jett, who will count just $475,000 against the Bills' 2003 salary cap because of a rule that provides a team a discount for signing a veteran to a minimum-salary deal. "I'm real excited to come out here and compete and try to make this team better.''

Jett, who started his career with the Raiders in 1993 when they were based in Los Angeles, caught 40 or more passes from 1996-98. Jett's best year came in 1997, when caught 46 passes for 804 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Overall, he has 256 receptions for 4,417 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Green Bay Packers: With both starting offensive tackles still rehabilitating from injuries, and unlikely to be full speed until the start of training camp at the earliest, the Packers bolstered the position Tuesday afternoon with the addition of veteran Marcus Spriggs.

A six-year veteran, Spriggs, 29, played the last two seasons with the Miami Dolphins. He signed a one-year contract and the base salary is believed to be $530,000, the minimum for a veteran of his league tenure.

Spriggs provides the Packers some insurance against the possibility that Chad Clifton or Mark Tauscher, the team's starters on the left and right side, respectively, might not be fully recovered for the start of the season.

Clifton is recovering from a severe pelvic injury, the result of a controversial blindside block by Tampa Bay defensive tackle Warren Sapp, and also from surgery to remove debris from his elbow. Tauscher is still rehabilitating from knee surgery that limited him to just two games in 2002.

Neither player has participated in any of the team's offseason organized activities. The Packers lined up with youngsters Jerry Wisne and Kevin Barry, who between them have just four regular-season starts, at the starting tackle spots on Monday when they began their latest mini-camp.

In previous stints with the Buffalo Bills (1997-2000) and Dolphins (2001-2002), Spriggs played in 47 games and started 18 of them. He appeared in all 16 contests for Miami in 2002 and started four times at left tackle. In 2000, while with the Bills, he started in 11 games, nine at right tackle and two at left tackle.

Green Bay director of pro personnel Reggie McKenzie said that part of the attractiveness of Spriggs was his ability to play tackle or guard, but there is little doubt a major element in acquiring the former University of Houston standout was the protection he affords the packers at the former position.

Spriggs originally entered the league as the Bills' sixth-round pick in the 1997 draft.
-- Len Pasquarelli

Cleveland Browns: The team reached agreement on a four-year, $6.5 million contract with backup halfback Jamel White.

White will receive a $1.3 million signing bonus in the deal. Despite drafting William Green in the first round last season, the Browns valued White so much that they placed the first-round tender at $1.318 million in February to limit his chances of signing with another team as a restricted free agent.

White's game is speed. His nickname in college was "Track Meet." The 26-year-old White entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2000 with the Indianapolis Colts.

White is coming off his best season, in which he rushed for 470 yards on 106 carries and scored three touchdowns. During his Browns career, he has rushed for 1,058 yards on 279 carries.
-- John Clayton