The three-year contract that "franchise" free agent Adam Vinatieri signed on Friday does not make him the highest-paid kicker in the league but does provide the New England Patriots star a level of security rarely achieved by players at the game's most tenuous position.

	Vinatieri

League sources told ESPN.com on Saturday that the contract is worth $5.375 million. Far more important than the total value, however, is that the deal is guaranteed. That virtually ensures the six-year veteran of continued employment through the 2004 season.

Guaranteed contracts in the NFL are rare, with an estimated five percent of the league's players having such job security, and Vinatieri may be the first kicker to have such a provision in his deal. It means that, even if he suffers a career-ending injury, the Patriots must pay him.

On a per-year average basis, Vinatieri's contract is worth just shy of $1.8 million annually. That ranks him third among all kickers and punters, trailing just Olindo Mare of Miami ($2 million average) and Tampa Bay's Martin Gramatica ($1.857 million), according to the NFL Players Association salary documents for the position.

Beating the 4 p.m. deadline with only a few minutes to spare, the Patriots on Friday completed a deal that had been weeks in the making. The timing was very significant, because 4 p.m. was the deadline for a "franchise" free agent to sign a long-term contract. If the deadline had passed without a long-term accord, the team and Vinatieri would have been precluded from negotiating such a deal until July 15.

Vinatieri, 29, has connected on 160 of 199 field goal attempts and also on 208 of 209 extra points. In 2001, he converted 24 of 30 field goal tries and all but one of his 42 extra points.

The former South Dakota State star is regarded as one of the best clutch kickers in the NFL and he certainly demonstrated that in the playoffs. His overtime field goal carried the Patriots over the Oakland Raiders in a division-round game and his 48-yarder provided the winning points in New England's victory over St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXVI.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.