Wide receiver Vincent Jackson, a second-round draft pick from Northern Colorado, ended his holdout Thursday and agreed to a five-year contract with the San Diego Chargers.
Jackson missed the first four practices of training camp.
All-pro tight end Antonio Gates was a no-show when veterans reported for training camp, joining holdout rookie Shawne Merriman, a linebacker from Maryland taken with the 12th overall pick, as the team’s only unsigned players.
Gates, who had 13 touchdown catches last year to set the NFL single-season record for tight ends, has yet to sign a $380,000 contract the Chargers tendered him as an exclusive rights free agent during the offseason. Gates can’t report until he signs the tender or a long-term deal, which the team says it has been working on since last season.
Asked for a comment Thursday evening, coach Marty Schottenheimer said: “You know, it’s all part of this business.”
During a May minicamp, Gates said his agent has asked for “market value,” which could mean something similar to the just more than $4 million a year Tony Gonzalez averages in his deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Saints: Deuce McAllister agreed to a seven-year contract extension in a deal the running back said will make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid players at his position.
“I basically know that they’re putting everything on my shoulders, and I’m big enough that I can carry it,” McAllister said. “I want the pressure. I want the ball because I want to get us in the playoffs, where we haven’t been.”
McAllister declined to say precisely how much he would be paid, but said it would approach the eight-year, $60 million contract San Diego gave LaDainian Tomlinson, the NFL’s highest-paid back.
Entering his fifth season, McAllister has run for 4,194 yards.
Raiders: Quarterback Rich Gannon will join CBS Sports as an NFL game analyst.
Gannon, who turns 40 in December, has not officially retired from the team, but the NFL’s 2002 MVP has suffered numerous injuries. Last season, he fractured a vertebra in his neck in the third week after a helmet- to-helmet collision with Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks.
Gannon will team with Craig Bolerjack on “The NFL on CBS.”
“We are thrilled to be adding Rich to our broadcast team,” CBS Sports president Sean McManus said. “He has proven himself to be a great quarterback and leader for 18 years in the NFL, and we expect him to bring that experience, knowledge and dedication to our NFL broadcasts.”
Dolphins: Former Pro Bowl safety Lance Schulters signed a one-year deal, six weeks after he was released by the Tennessee Titans for salary cap reasons.
Meanwhile, rookie defensive tackle Manuel Wright, who was scolded publicly at practice by coach Nick Saban on Tuesday, will be out indefinitely because of back spasms.
Panthers: Wide receiver Rod Gardner passed his physical, completing his trade from the Washington Redskins for a sixth-round draft pick.
The move clears $2.1 million of salary cap space for the Redskins, who need the money to sign first-round draft picks Carlos Rogers and Jason Campbell.
Gardner had 51 receptions for 650 yards and five touchdowns last year.
Patriots: Richard Seymour, a two-time all-pro defensive lineman, was listed on the “did not report” list.
Falcons: Despite visiting a hospital the previous day with concerns of internal bleeding, Dez White returned to practice. White, a sixth-year receiver from Georgia Tech, was cleared to participate in the two-hour session indoors.
