Alex Smith officially signed with the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday and other first-rounders began to fall into line as teams prepared to open their training camps.

The former Utah quarterback, the first overall pick in April’s draft, put his name on a $49.25 million deal that could be worth as much as $57 million with incentives. It includes $24 million in guaranteed money.

“Now it’s time for me to go earn this money and prove that I deserve this money,” said Smith, who will try to take the 49ers’ starting job from Tim Rattay. “The primary goal is to get on the field. I don’t think this team is paying me this money to sit on the sideline.”

Smith agreed to terms on Monday with the 49ers. Two players at the bottom of the first round, offensive linemen Logan Mankins of New England and defensive tackle Mike Patterson of Philadelphia, signed deals Monday.

On Tuesday, the Colts’ first-round pick, cornerback Marlin Jackson of Michigan, agreed to a five-year contract worth nearly $7 million. Doug Hendrickson, Jackson’s agent, confirmed the deal worth $6.95 million that will allow the 29th overall pick to report to training camp Wednesday with the rest of the team.

“Marlin is excited, and the Colts are excited,” Hendrickson said. “We’re really happy we got it done.”

Defensive tackle Luis Castillo agreed to terms with San Diego and cornerback Fabian Washington signed with Oakland. Castillo was the 28th overall choice and Washington was 23rd.

Castillo’s deal is potentially worth $7,035,000, including guaranteed money of $4,664,000. Washington got a five-year, $7.8 million contract that calls for about $5 million for a signing bonus and other guarantees.

The normal procedure at all levels of the draft is that once salaries are determined at a certain level, teams and players in that area reach agreement. Thus, the flurry of first-rounders reaching deals.

But because Smith is a quarterback – salaries for the position tend to be higher than for players at other spots – that makes it a little more difficult to establish criteria for such players as running backs Ronnie Brown of Miami, Cedric Benson of Chicago and Carnell Williams of Tampa Bay. They were the second, fourth and fifth choices in the first round; No. 3 was wide receiver Braylon Edwards of Cleveland, also unsigned.

In other developments Tuesday:

-Green Bay coach Mike Sherman professed not to be concerned about the potential absence of four starters when training camp opens Friday. “The guys that are here are my focus, not the guys that aren’t,” Sherman said of possible holdouts by wide receiver Javon Walker, tight end Bubba Franks and possibly defensive linemen Grady Jackson and Cletidus Hunt.

– St. Louis re-signed veteran guard Tom Nutten, who came out of retirement last year to help the team for whom he started in their Super Bowl-winning season of 1999.

– The Cardinals moved their training facility from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff to Prescott, Ariz., after a viral outbreak at the school. The Cardinals already planned a three-day extended training camp there Aug. 24-26. The camp will open as scheduled, with players gathering on Sunday and the first workout on Monday.

“It will be a minimal distraction for our football team,” said Rod Graves, Cardinals vice president of football operations. “In fact, players will hardly know the difference, other than a change of scenery.”

– Jacksonville signed its sixth-round pick, wide receiver-return man Chad Owens.

AP-ES-07-26-05 2202EDT


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.