By the time the Cincinnati Bengals convene for a mini-camp next weekend, the team figures to have an experienced backup to starting quarterback Jon Kitna.

Team officials make no pretense of the fact that they hope it is Gus Frerotte, nor do they hide the uncertainty over negotiations with the eight-year veteran, who last spring passed on the chance to win the starting job in Cincinnati and re-signed with Denver as the caddie to Brian Griese.

After days of having their phone messages unreturned, the Bengals finally heard late Friday from agent Marvin Demoff and proposed a number of scenarios aimed at getting unrestricted veteran Frerotte to sign with them. The two sides will speak again Monday but, make no mistake, the Bengals are seeking an expeditious resolution to the Frerotte flirtation.

"We won't wait forever," one Cincinnati coach said. "If he wants to be here, and get an honest shot at being a starter in the league again, that’s great. If not, we'll move on."

Frerotte visited Cincinnati on Wednesday with his wife, Ann, and was told by coach Dick LeBeau that he will have a chance to unseat the inconsistent Kitna for the starting job. Because Demoff was out of his office, it took Bengals officials two days to reach him with a proposal. Frerotte has spent the weekend mulling the offers.

Cincinnati has demonstrated flexibility in its proposals -- offering both short- and long-term deals -- and provided assurances Frerotte will be appropriately rewarded if he wins the starting job. But the Bengals are, at the same time, leery of Frerotte. After all, while the veteran contends he wants to be a starter in the NFL again, his actions might indicate otherwise.

This time a year ago, the Bengals were all but prepared to sign Frerotte to a four-year contract, and essentially hand him the starting job. But when his wife balked at moving their family to the Cincinnati area, Frerotte went back to the Broncos on a second consecutive one-year contract worth $1 million.

He agreed to visit Cincinnati last week on the provision he be viewed as a potential starter and not just a backup. The Bengals, who could be one of the NFL's most improved teams if they could just get consistent play from the quarterback position, went out of their way to assure the journeyman passer he will compete for the top job.

Said team vice president Troy Blackburn: "If he wants to play again, we're going to give him the chance on the field and we'll pay him if he plays like a starting NFL quarterback."

Frerotte, 30, has not been a full-time performer since he started 13 games for Washington in '97. In the succeeding four seasons, he has just 15 starts, including only one in 2001. The Bengals feel he could regain the form that made him a Pro Bowl player in 1996, when he started in 16 games for the Redskins, and threw for a career-best 3,453 yards.

Former first-round draft choice Akili Smith, who underwent surgery late last season to repair a torn hamstring, certainly won't be ready for next week's mini-camp and might not be recovered in time for the start of July training camp. There is no plan to re-sign unrestricted free agent Scott Mitchell, a backup in 2001. That leaves inexperienced Scott Covington as the lone quarterback under contract after Kitna.

The clock clearly is ticking on Frerotte, and the Bengals don't plan to go very deep into the week before turning their attention elsewhere. Shane Matthews, released by Chicago last week, and Jonathan Quinn, a little-used four-year veteran from Jacksonville, could move into the picture if Frerotte delays his decision or opts to jilt the Bengals for a second straight spring.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.