Sanders signs extension

Two-time Pro Bowl safety Bob Sanders signed a five-year contract extension with Indianapolis on Friday. The deal will keep him with the Colts through 2012 and make him one of the league’s highest-paid safeties.

The deal is worth $37.5 million and includes $20 million in guarantees, a person familiar with the negotiations said on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced.

Sanders’ average salary of $7.5 million under the extension is nearly $1 million more than what Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu got in his new deal in July, and the guaranteed money is more than what Ed Reed got when he signed an extension with the Ravens in June 2006.

Colts spokesman Craig Kelley said the team would not confirm the deal, but Sanders told the Associated Press in a telephone interview that he had signed the deal Friday.

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Wide receiver Terrell Owens and cornerback Terence Newman were declared inactive for the Dallas Cowboys’ regular-season finale at Washington. Backup safety Patrick Watkins will also sit out for the Cowboys, who have clinched home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs.

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The NFL has fined official Jim Quirk one game check for inappropriate physical contact with players, including Green Bay Packers linebacker Nick Barnett.

The fine totals $8,150, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.

The decision came after Quirk grabbed Barnett by the neck and threw him to the ground while breaking up a scuffle during the Packers’ loss at Chicago on Sunday.

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Chris Weinke will be the San Francisco 49ers’ fourth starting quarterback this season when he replaces injured Shaun Hill at Cleveland on Sunday.

Weinke, the former Heisman Trophy winner and Carolina quarterback, signed with San Francisco only two weeks ago. The 49ers also signed former UCLA quarterback Drew Olson from the practice squad to back up Weinke.

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Reggie Bush is out for the Saints’ game Sunday at Chicago. Bush sat out practice Friday, and the Saints listed him as out for their regular-season finale. . . . Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison will probably start Sunday night against the Tennessee Titans after practicing a second day. . . . The NFL fined Houston Texans defensive tackle Travis Johnson $5,000 for a late hit on Colts tight end Bryan Fletcher during Sunday’s loss to Indianapolis.