NFL NOTES

The NFL suspended Arizona Cardinal running back Michael Pittman for one game, hours after he was sentenced to five days in jail for arguing with his estranged wife.

Pittman pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and criminal damage.

Pittman will serve the suspension by sitting out the opener against the Washington Redskins on Sept. 16. The Cardinals have a bye when the rest of the league opens the week of Sept. 9.

Minnesota Viking receiver Cris Carter said that comments he made in May about possibly retiring after this season were misinterpreted. “I never said that this is definitely my last season. . . . I said the way I feel, this will probably be my last year. They said, ‘Can you guarantee that?’ I said no I can’t guarantee that,” Carter told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. . . . Mike Tomczak retired after 16 seasons as an NFL quarterback to become an analyst for the Pittsburgh Steeler radio network. . . . Kicker John Kasay’s recovery from a fractured kneecap is ahead of schedule and he is expected to play in the Carolina Panthers’ first exhibition game Aug. 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. . . . The Panthers signed linebacker/defensive end Chris Slade. . . . The Indianapolis Colts signed tight end Marcus Pollard to a five-year contract, a day after he agreed to a one-year, $2.107 million deal. Shawn King, the defensive end who sat out last season while serving an NFL suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, informed the Colts that he is retiring.

Kenyatta Walker, a first-round draft pick who is expected to start at left tackle, agreed to a five-year, $8-million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Other first-round picks who signed: wide receiver Reggie Wayne from Miami (Colts, no terms announced), defensive lineman Marcus Stroud from Georgia (Jaguars, five years, $8.4 million), defensive end Andre Carter from California (San Francisco 49ers, five years, $11.6 million) and cornerback Will Allen from Syracuse (New York Giants, five years, $6.2 million).