Free agent guard Rich Tylski, who began his professional career in New England, may now end it there as well.

	Tylski

A six-year veteran who was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this spring, Tylski has signed a one-year contract with the Super Bowl champion Patriots. He began his NFL career with the Pats in 1994, signed as an undrafted college free agent from Utah State.

Tylski, 31, signed for a base salary of $650,000, the league minimum for a player of his tenure. Because of a new rule this year, which provides teams a cap break when they sign a veteran to a minimum base-salary deal, Tylski will count only $450,000 against the New England salary cap for 2002.

He is joining his fourth different team, after spending much of his career in Jacksonville, and provides the Patriots with experienced depth behind incumbents Joe Andruzzi and Mike Compton. In a pinch, Tylski can also play center.

The addition of Tylski, who started 26 of a possible 32 games for the Steelers over the last two seasons, is a typical acquisition for the Patriots, who are well poised again to bring in veteran depth in the post-June 1 free agent market. The Pats fattened the roster in 2001 with similar acquisitions, players who still had good football left in them, but in whom the club invested only modest salaries.

"They like to have veterans around here, guys who know the ropes, so I think that it's a good fit for me and for them," said Tylski, who in recent weeks fielded overtures about possibly re-signing with Pittsburgh for a salary significantly less than the $975,000 he was to have earned before his release. "It's a really solid atmosphere."

For his career, Tylski has played in 80 games and started 62 of them. He suffered through an injury-plagued '01 season, starting 10 games, and became expendable when Pittsburgh matched an offer sheet to restricted free agent guard Oliver Ross and used its first-round draft choice on Auburn offensive lineman Kendall Simmons.

Tylski spent time on the Patriots practice squad in 1994 ,was claimed on waivers by the Jaguars the following season and spent four full years in Jacksonville before signing with the Steelers as an unrestricted free agent in 2000.

Also the Patriots re-signed linebacker Mary Moore, 31, who has 175 tackles and 110 special teams tackles in eight seasons. He was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 2 with a heel injury. Terms of Moore's deal werenot released by the team.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.