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Jacksonville Jaguars: Despite criticizing the Jaguars repeatedly and openly pleading for a trade, it appears that strong safety Donovin Darius will remain in Jacksonville, The Florida Times-Union reported.

Darius was seeking a deal to either the Vikings or Dolphins after being designated the Jaguars franchise player for the third consecutive year.

The Jaguars turned down a pair of deals from Minnesota. One was a swap of first-round picks, giving the Jags the No. 7 pick while the Vikes would take No. 21. The other offer for Darius was a third-round draft pick.

Minnesota's interest in Darius ended when the Vikings signed former Packers safety Darren Sharper.

Miami Dolphins: Gus Frerotte has canceled a trip to Denver and has agreed to sign a contract with the club to be a backup quarterback.

The current Vikings backup decided Monday that negotiations were close enough with the Dolphins that he would allow his agent, Marvin Demoff, to work out the final details of a contract. Terms of that deal will be finished over the next 24 hours.

Frerotte was the personal choice of new offensive coordinator Scott Linehan to replace Jay Fiedler, who was released and eventually signed with the New York Jets. A.J. Feeley is expected to go into the season as the starting quarterback for new head coach Nick Saban.

However, Frerotte told The Miami Herald he will get an opportunity to win the job.

"Coach (Nick) Saban said it was going to be a fair competition," Frerotte said. "That's all I am looking for."

Frerotte, 33, will be joining his sixth team. He's been with the Redskins, Lions, Broncos, Bengals, Vikings and now the Dolphins during his 11-year career.

Dolphins cut ties with Konrad: The club released oft-injured fullback Rob Konrad.

The 28-year-old Konrad was inactive for the Dolphins' first three games last season with a bursal infection in his thigh before going on injured reserve. He started one game and played in a reserve role nine times before going back on the IR on Dec. 15th with a back injury suffered three days before at Denver.

Konrad had just two carries for 18 yards and eight receptions for 69 yards and a TD last season, his sixth in the league.

New York Giants: A week after signing defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy, the club released veteran Norman Hand.

Hand started 11 games at defensive tackle for the Giants last season before missing the last five games with a groin injury. He totaled 15 tackles, including 11 solo, one sack and one pass defensed.

The Giants plan to start Fred Robbins and William Joseph at defensive tackle with Clancy rotating as a reserve in 2005.

Hand started 88 of 115 games in his 10-year career with San Diego, New Orleans, Seattle and New York and recorded 300 tackles, 22½ sacks and two interceptions.

However, Hand's last two seasons have been cut short by injuries. In 2003, he tore a right biceps muscle and missed Seattle's final eight games.

Buffalo Bills: The team released Pierson Prioleau after the backup safety rejected the team's offer to restructure his contract.

Prioleau, a six-year NFL veteran, was scheduled to make a $1.25 million base salary in the final year of a four-year deal with the Bills next season.

Prioleau's agent, Brian Mackler, said Buffalo offered his client a new three-year deal, which included restructuring the final year of his current contract. But Prioleau turned it down, hoping to find a better opportunity with another team.

Mackler described the Bills' offer as fair, but Prioleau was willing to explore his options after being relegated to mostly special teams last season. After starting a career-high 16 games with Buffalo in 2002, Prioleau had only two starts last season.

His playing time was expected to drop even further after the Bills shifted veteran cornerback Troy Vincent to safety late last season.

Mackler didn't rule out Prioleau re-signing with the Bills.

Bills keep some depth at TE: The club also re-signed backup tight end Ryan Neufeld.

He had a career-high five starts in 16 games last season, taking over after the Bills lost starter Mark Campbell and backup Tim Euhus to knee injuries. Finishing with six catches for 61 yards, Neufeld showed versatility, capable of playing fullback and special teams.

With Campbell and Euhus still recuperating, the Bills were in need of bolstering their depth at the position.

Dallas Cowboys: The club retained safety Lynn Scott and linebacker Keith O'Neil, signing both to one-year contracts.

Scott, an unrestricted free agent who agreed to terms on March 1, had 33 tackles, nine assists, a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception in 2004.

O'Neil, an exclusive rights free agent, had 12 tackles, two assists and a fumble recovery last season.

Houston Texans: The team released a pair of veteran defenders, inside linebacker Jay Foreman and strong safety Eric Brown, who no longer fit into the team's plans for the future. The release of Foreman saved the Texans about $900,000 on the 2005 salary cap. It is not certain how much was rebated with the departure of Brown.

Foreman's exit came only about a week after Houston officials granted he and fellow linebacker Jamie Sharper permission to seek potential trade suitors. With his release, Foreman, 29, is free to sign with any team and the Minnesota Vikings are rumored to be interested in him.

The six-year veteran, who played the first three seasons of his career with the Buffalo Bills, before being traded to Houston in 2002, has 499 tackles, 4½ sacks, three forced fumbles, five recoveries and 14 passes defensed in 81 appearances. The former Nebraska star finished among the Texans' top two tacklers in all three of his seasons with the club.

Brown, 29, also was with the Texans for three seasons, after playing with the Denver Broncos for the first four years of his career. A former second-round draft choice, Brown is a physical hitter who has started in 87 games. He has 438 tackles, nine interceptions, 34 passes defensed and 6½ sacks. Brown saw his playing time decreased in 2004 and made only four starts.

Cleveland Browns: Free agent defensive tackle Jason Fisk, released by the San Diego Chargers two weeks ago, signed a three-year contract. Financial details were not immediately available.

The 10-year veteran will add experience and a solid defender against the run to a Browns unit in need of interior reinforcements.

Fisk, 32, has appeared in 142 games with 94 starts in stints with Minnesota (1996-98), Tennessee (1999-2001) and San Diego (2002-2004). The former Stanford standout has 325 tackles, 19 sacks, six forced fumbles, five recoveries and three interceptions for his career.

San Francisco 49ers: The club hired Duane Carlisle to be their assistant strength and conditioning coach.

Carlisle, the president and founder of Lightning Fast Training Systems, recently served as the speed development consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2000-04.

He has also prepared numerous players for the NFL combine including Pro Bowl players Priest Holmes, Matt Hasselbeck, Brian Westbrook and Jerry Azumah.

Oakland Raiders: The club reached an agreement with running back Chris Hetherington. The one-year, $690,000 deal includes a $25,000 signing bonus.

Hetherington, 32, signed with the Raiders in 2003 and has been a fullback, backup running back and special teams player. He's played in Indianapolis, Carolina, St. Louis and Oakland during his nine-year NFL career.

Information from The Associated Press and senior NFL writers Len Pasquarelli and John Clayton was used in this report.