Vikings closing in on deal with QB Frerotte

Vikings closing in on deal with QB Frerotte

Negotiations between the Vikings and free agent quarterback Gus Frerotte should be completed in time for Frerotte to join the offseason conditioning program Monday.

The Vikings have been in contract discussions with Frerotte, but no deal had been announced by Thursday. He became their target as the backup to Tarvaris Jackson after growing convinced that Houston would not trade backup Sage Rosenfels.

Meanwhile, the Vikings will make one preseason appearance on national television, on Aug. 23 against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Metrodome. That game will be televised by CBS.

The NFL announced all preseason opponents Thursday, but exact dates for the Vikings' other three games have not been determined. They will host Seattle on the weekend of Aug. 7-11, travel to Baltimore sometime between Aug. 14 and 18 and then conclude the preseason at Dallas on Aug. 28 or 29.

Those games will be televised on KSTP (Ch. 5). Ari Wolfe and Mike Mayock will return as the announcing team.

The regular season schedule is expected to be announced soon.

KEVIN SEIFERT
Del Rio gets extension

Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio signed a five-year contract extension after leading the Jaguars to an 11-5 record and a first-round playoff victory.

Del Rio's salary was not disclosed, but it was believed to be a significant jump from the original five-year, $6.5 million contract he signed in 2003.

Jacksonville is 45-35 in five years under Del Rio.
Pack: No truth to report

Green Bay General Manager Ted Thompson is laughing off a published report that Brett Favre is considering a comeback with a team other than the Packers.

"We don't know anything about it, and it's inconceivable," Thompson told the Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday.

The Los Angeles Times, citing anonymous sources, reported on its website Thursday that a representative of Favre has "quietly inquired" with other teams about their interest in trading for him.
Bengals cut Henry

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry lost his job while in jail awaiting arraignment on assault charges.

The Bengals cut Henry after his fifth arrest since 2005.

An attorney for Henry, 24, entered not guilty pleas for him after Henry was accused of punching an 18-year-old man in the face and breaking his car window with a beer bottle.
Etc.

• Domestic violence charges were dropped against Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who was arrested in March after hitting his girlfriend.

• Cleveland Browns defensive back Kenny Wright, a former Viking, was jailed on charge of marijuana possession in Pearland, Texas, after police said he led them on a quarter-mile foot chase that began in the parking lot of the police station.

• Buffalo will face Pittsburgh in a preseason game Aug. 14 in Toronto to kick off the Bills' five-year bid to expand their market north of the border.

[www.startribune.com]