PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Aikman Soon to Be Highest-Paid Player?

Dallas Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman is expected to sign a contract within days that will make him the NFL’s highest-paid player.

The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reported Friday that although terms of the six-year deal have not been revealed, Aikman’s contract should be worth more than the five-year, $26-million contract of San Francisco’s Steve Young.

Aikman has two years remaining on his current contract and was to be paid $1.17 million and $1.287 million for those years.

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Officials trying to bring a football team to St. Louis met Friday to discuss their next move now that the NFL has rejected that city as an expansion site.

Stan Kroenke, who led that St. Louis expansion effort, got promises of support from St. Louis County and city officials as they considered the possibility of trying to lure an existing team such as the New England Patriots.

Patriot owner James Orthwein has said repeatedly he plans to sell the Patriots to an owner who would keep the team in the Boston area, and Hartford, Conn., has also been discussed. But he is from St. Louis, and reportedly has been approached by officials in that city.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue repeated in a conference call Thursday the league’s position that Orthwein agreed, when he bought the Patriots in 1992, to seek league approval for any possible move. But he seemed to tie the team’s future in New England more closely to construction of a new stadium to replace the club’s current facility, which is considered inadequate.

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The Indianapolis Colts placed Pro Bowl tackle Will Wolford on the injured reserve list and activated offensive lineman John Ray.