PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAMS : Slater Signs Two-Year Deal

Tackle Jackie Slater signed a two-year deal worth close to $2 million that will not expire until he is 40. He said Friday that he had every intention of playing as long as he could.

“I always try to honor the contracts that I sign, so I guess I can say I’m going to play two years,” Slater, 38, said after reporting to camp in time for dinner. “There’s a lot of variables, obviously, as there always has been. But if everything goes well. . . .”

Slater, the only Ram who played for Coach Chuck Knox in his first term with the team, said he thought about retiring last season, but decided that he should go on.

“I guess a lot of things have happened this past spring and the end of this past football season that kind of made me realize, ‘hey, this is a talent I’ve been blessed with and I enjoy using the talent. I enjoy being a part of professional sport. Why not do it as long as I can?’ ” Slater said.

His signing brings the Rams’ unsigned list to two: safety Michael Stewart and No. 2 draft pick Steve Israel, a defensive back. Running back Robert Delpino is under contract but is absent from camp, seeking a renegotiation.

To make room for Slater on the team’s 80-man roster, the Rams put defensive end Jonathan Sims on the injured-reserve list because of a knee injury.

Starting defensive end Robert Young sprained his left ankle in Friday’s afternoon workout, but Knox said he didn’t think it was serious. . . . Starting left tackle Gerald Perry was held out of the afternoon practice with soreness in his left knee. . . . The Rams, after 10 consecutive two-a-day sessions for the advance camp attendees, will not practice on Sunday.