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Detroit Lions: In their continuing efforts to surround third-year quarterback Joey Harrington with an upgraded arsenal of playmakers, the Lions have reached a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent tight end Stephen Alexander, who played the last two years with the San Diego Chargers.

ESPN.com has learned that Alexander agreed to a one-year, $1.25 million contract, and he is scheduled to report to the Lions over the weekend. The contract includes a signing bonus of $600,000 and base salary of $625,000.

	Alexander

A six-year veteran, Alexander is an accomplished receiver and, despite losing some of his speed, still can split the safeties and get deep up the middle seam. The problem has been keeping the oft-injured Alexander on the field, and last season was indicative of that, as he played in just three games before sustaining a season-ending groin injury. In 2001, he missed seven games with a leg injury.

If he is healthy, Alexander would provide the Lions their best pass-catching threat at the tight end position in years and he certainly seems a good fit for the Steve Mariucci style of offense. He would be a nice complement to the young wide receiver corps the Lions have assembled in the past two years.

Four times in his career, Alexander has posted more than 25 catches in a season, and his best season came in 2000, when he had 47 receptions for the Washington Redskins. For his career, Alexander, 28, has 167 catches for 1,812 yards and 10 touchdowns. A former Oklahoma standout, Alexander was a second-round pick in the 1998 draft and played his first four seasons in Washington, before signing with San Diego as a free agent in 2002.

In advance of signing Alexander, the Lions apprised veteran tight end Mikhael Ricks that he is free to speak to other teams. Ricks had 37 catches for 434 yards in 2003 and is regarded as a solid receiver. But he has two seasons remaining on his contract, at base salaries of $1 million for 2004 and $1.1 million for 2005, and the Lions would prefer that he restructure his deal and reduce his compensation.

If the six-year veteran and converted wide receiver declines to do so, the Lions likely will release him. Ricks was apprised by team officials that he would not be allowed to take part in this week's on-field sessions.

Atlanta Falcons: It appears the Falcons have suffered a loss to the depth in the secondary, with ESPN.com learning that veteran safety Keion Carpenter sustained a likely season-ending knee injury during a Wednesday workout.

While there probably will be a follow-up exam, initial indications are that Carpenter has a torn anterior cruciate ligament. If that is confirmed, the fifth-year pro is almost certain to be sidelined for the entire 2004 campaign.

Carpenter, 26, is a solid but underrated player, and started 24 games since signing with the Falcons in 2002. An unrestricted free agent at the end of the '03 campaign, he re-upped with the Falcons two months ago, on a one-year deal with a $535,000 base salary.

He has appeared in 68 career games and started in 46 of them. Carpenter started all 16 games for Atlanta in '02, began the 2003 season as the starting free safety, and then was benched along with the rest of the secondary at mid-season.

St. Louis Rams: With the departure of Kurt Warner leaving them a body shy for training camp, the club has signed undrafted free agent quarterback Russ Michna. The free agent played collegiately at Western Illinois, in Macomb, Ill., where the Rams have held their training camp since 1996.

Michna has a strong arm but will have a difficult time cracking a depth chart that includes Marc Bulger, Chris Chandler, and 2004 draft pick Jeff Smoker. There is a chance, of course, that Michna could earn a spot on the practice squad. He was twice named as the offensive player of the year in the Division I-AA Gateway Conference.

St. Louis also signed undrafted tight end Joel Jacobs of Nebraska-Kearney, a three-time all-conference player who had 66 catches for 623 yards in his career.

Jacksonville Jaguars: In a surprise move, senior vice president Dan Connell, a fixture with the franchise since its inception, has tendered his resignation to owner Wayne Weaver.

Connell had overseen the team's marketing and sales efforts. The club is coming off a 2003 campaign in which it posted the lowest average attendance in its history. It marked the fifth consecutive season in which attendance declined, but the Jaguars were in the midst of an aggressive marketing program this spring.

"It was definitely a surprise," said Jacksonville vice president of communications Dan Edwards. "Dan indicated he had some other things he wanted to do."

New York Giants: For the third time in only six weeks, two-year veteran quarterback Kurt Kittner has been released, this time by the Giants. The former Illinois standout was nudged out of a roster spot on Thursday, when the Giants signed Warner.

Kittner was released by the Falcons, who had chosen him in the fifth round of the 2002 draft, earlier this spring. He was claimed on waivers by Cincinnati but, after taking part in a three-day minicamp, the Bengals released him after just nine days. The Giants then claimed Kittner about two weeks ago.

He started four games for the Falcons in 2003 but posted just a 1-3 record and might lack the arm strength to be anything more than a journeyman backup.

In another move, the Giants released second-year offensive lineman Jeff Roehl, who starred two games during the unit's injury-ravaged 2003 season. To replace him, New York signed tackle Greg Walker, recently released by the Detroit Lions.

San Diego Chargers: The Chargers on Thursday signed free agent Bill LaFleur, who punted the last two seasons in San Francisco, but who was not tendered a qualifying offer by the 49ers after the 2003 campaign.

LaFleur, 28, is expected to vie with second-year veteran Mike Scifres for the starting job. The Chargers released nine-year veteran Darren Bennett early this offseason in a cap-type move and he eventually signed with Minnesota. Scifres was a fifth-round pick of San Diego in the 2003 draft but did not punt at all in his rookie season. Instead, the former Western Illinois star handled just kickoffs.

In 21 games with the 49ers, including all 16 contests in 2003, LaFleur posted a 38.2-yard gross average and a net average of 32.8 yards.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.