Three strikes knocks you out only in baseball.

Just a day after being released by the Dallas Cowboys, the third team to give up on him in just more than a year, quarterback Ryan Leaf agreed to a contract with the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday.

Leaf will sign a one-year contract worth $525,000, the minimum base salary for a player of his tenure in the league. He will count only $450,000 against the Seahawks' 2002 cap because of a new rule this year. The contract is contingent upon Leaf passing a physical examination.

It is not yet known when Leaf will report to the team or undergo the exam.

The former Washington State University star was the second overall player selected in the 1998 draft, behind Peyton Manning, and was viewed as the savior of the San Diego Chargers. But he was petulant off the field and often putrid on it and, despite an investment of more than $12 million, the Chargers released him last spring.

He was subsequently claimed and released by Tampa Bay, signed with Dallas, but was running as no better than the No. 3 quarterback with the Cowboys when released. He will be the third quarterback for Seattle as well, behind starter Trent Dilfer and backup Matt Hasselbeck, but might challenge for the No. 2 job eventually.

Hasselbeck has not responded well to the team's re-signing of Dilfer and the public elevation of the veteran to the starting spot this offseason. How Leaf advances might in part depend on the condition of his injured right wrist. Off the field, Cowboys officials insist Leaf was a model citizen in his tenure in Dallas.

Leaf, 26, has played in 25 games and started 21 of them. He has completed 317 of 655 passes for 3,666 yards, with 14 touchdown passes and 36 interceptions.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.