PRO FOOTBALL: DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Saints Sign Top Pick Dunbar

The New Orleans Saints have signed first-round draft pick Vaughn Dunbar, a running back from Indiana, to a three-year contract.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune said Dunbar probably received a signing bonus of at least $1 million, the largest in club history.

“The good thing about this is I don’t have to sit,” Dunbar said, referring to a potential training camp holdout. “I didn’t want to have to do that, and (Saint President and General Manager Jim) Finks knew that. We weren’t asking for crazy numbers. Just what was fair.”

As a senior at Indiana, Dunbar rushed 336 times for 1,699 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Quarterback Wade Wilson has agreed to a contract with the Atlanta Falcons and is expected to sign today.

Wilson, 33, was waived by the Minnesota Vikings last week. He worked out with the Falcons on Monday and Tuesday.

Wilson, an 11-year veteran, started the first five games last season for Minnesota. In his NFL career, Wilson has thrown for 12,135 yards and 66 touchdowns, with 75 interceptions.

San Diego Charger quarterback John Friesz remained unsigned, reminding new Coach Bobby Ross of the differences between college and professional football.

“Obviously the thing of not being at practice if you’re unsigned has been totally new to me,” Ross said as the Chargers opened training camp at UC San Diego. Ross came to the Chargers from Georgia Tech.

“It’s been a frustrating thing, but I’m not going to let that interfere with how I deal with a player,” he added. “It’s not going to be something that I’m going to hold against a player.”

Friesz, paid $120,000 in base salary plus $155,000 in incentives last year, reportedly is seeking a $1-million base salary for 1992.

Before Ross arrived, the Chargers had three consecutive 6-10 seasons before stumbling to 4-12 last year.

Safety Thane Gash, a Plan B free agent with the San Francisco 49ers, was held out of training camp at Rocklin, Calif., while the club sought a second medical opinion on his return from a serious neck injury.

Gash, 26, missed all of last season for the Cleveland Browns after an examination last summer revealed a herniated disk in his neck that required surgery to fuse two vertebrae.

“Because of the nature of what his injury was, because of what we’re getting involved with (contact drills), it would just be protection for him,” 49er Coach George Seifert said.