Taking advantage of some of the salary cap room created by the release of backup quarterback Kent Graham recently, the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday signed versatile wide receiver Hines Ward to a contract extension.

The extension is for four years and, added to the one season on Ward's existing deal, ties him to the Steelers through the 2005 campaign. In terms of "new money," the extension is worth about $9.5 million and includes a $2.5 million signing bonus.

Ward, 25, had signed a one-year, $512,000 qualifying offer in the spring as a restricted free agent. Without the extension, the fourth-year pro would have been eligible next spring for unrestricted free agency.

As a matter of policy, the Steelers characteristically do not restructure or extend contracts once the regular season begins, so the sides were working against a Saturday deadline.

"It's a tremendous deal, we think, for a player who has been a No. 2 or No. 3 receiver all his career, and is just now coming into his own," agent Roosevelt Barnes said. "It provides security for Hines and also for the Steelers, and allows him to stay with the team that he wanted to be with. From our standpoint, we accomplished all our goals."

A former University of Georgia standout who started at four different positions and also returned punts and kickoffs in college, Ward was selected by Pittsburgh in the third round of the 1998 draft.

In three seasons, he has appeared in 48 games and started 29 of them. Ward has 124 receptions for 1,556 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has returned eight kickoffs for 210 yards and one punt for two yards. Ward could see both those special teams duties increased in 2001.