AROUND THE LEAGUE

On the eve of their season opener, the Arizona Cardinals said Saturday that first-round draft pick Andre Wadsworth has signed a six-year contract.

The 6-foot-3, 278-pound defensive end from Florida State, picked No. 3 in the draft behind quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf, had threatened to sit out the season. He is the last draft choice to sign.

Team spokesman Luke Sacks said the deal was signed Friday and that Wadsworth would be in uniform when the Cardinals open the season against the Cowboys in Dallas today.

The Arizona Republic said Wadsworth would receive $42 million, including a $10.49-million signing bonus. The Phoenix newspaper and radio station KMVP said the deal was for five years with a sixth year at the team’s option.

Manning received an $11.6-million signing bonus in a six-year deal that could reach $48 million if he meets all the incentives. Leaf got an $11.2-million signing bonus as part of a five-year contract worth $31.2 million.

The deal does not include a clause Wadsworth had sought allowing him out of the contract early if he so chose, the radio station and newspaper said.

“I haven’t had a chance to really endure preseason or training camp, but I’m excited,” Wadsworth said. “I’m going to try my best to get back there and say hello to No. 8 [Troy Aikman].”

Wadsworth became so disgruntled with the negotiations that he enrolled in graduate school in early August. The Republic reported earlier this week that a deal nearly had been reached the previous Friday when agent Eugene Parker agreed to drop the so-called voidable years demand.

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The Atlanta Falcons and starting quarterback Chris Chandler reached an agreement on a four-year contract extension.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported it to be worth $25 million, raising Chandler’s compensation for this season to about $8.5 million.

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Minnesota Viking owner Red McCombs changed his mind and rewarded Coach Dennis Green with a three-year contract extension.

“It never entered my mind that we would do a contract extension before the season was over,” McCombs said Saturday. “But every day that I saw Dennis work, and every day our personal relationship grew, I knew it was something I wanted to do.”

Green, who has 56 regular-season wins, said the deal did not approach $2 million a season but represented “a real nice raise” over his reported 1998 salary of $900,000.

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San Francisco 49er owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. has not been offered a deal by prosecutors in the case against former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, his lawyer said. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Saturday that prosecutors have targeted DeBartolo and former Treasure Chest Casino owner Robert Guidry as possible witnesses against Edwards in a racketeering case.

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Kansas City defensive end Chester McGlockton has decided to have back surgery and will miss the opener tonight against Oakland, ESPN and WDAF-TV in Kansas City reported, adding that McGlockton was in Los Angeles to have his back examined and would have surgery here.