Desperate to land an experienced backup for first-year starter Deuce McAllister, the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday signed the veneable Terry Allen to a one-year contract, and he will report to training camp with the rest of the team later this week.

Allen, 34, played for the Baltimore Ravens in 2001 and rushed for 525 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games, seven of them as a starter. He met last week with the Saints officials and coaches and impressed them with his solid conditioning and his willingness to accept a backup role to McAllister, the club's first-round choice in the 2001 draft and the heir to the starting job previously held by the departed Ricky Williams.

This will mark Allen's second stint in New Orleans. In 2000, he played in four games for the Saints and rushed for 179 yards.

While financial details of the contract were not immediately available, it is likely Allen will earn a base salary of $750,000, the minimum for a 11-year veteran. Allen had some interest from other teams earlier in the free agency period, but then the market turned on him, except for the Saints.

McAllister is already penciled in as the starter, but logged just 16 carries in 2001, as Williams was once again the team's workhorse. As big a problem for New Orleans as McAllister's lack of playing time was the fact the team had no experienced tailback.

None of the other tailbacks on the roster has ever been a full-time NFL starter.

Even in his NFL dotage, Allen is a proven commodity, a back who knows the ropes and who still runs hard.

In 11 seasons, he has carried 2,152 times for 8,614 yards and 73 touchdowns, and caught 204 passes for 1,601 yards and six scores.

Allen has gone over the 1,000-yard mark four times and is believed to be the only running back in NFL history to recover from major surgeries on both knees and resume his career. He has played in 130 games and started 113 of them in stints with Minnesota (1991-94), Washington (1995-98), New England (1999), New Orleans (2000) and Baltimore (2001).

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.