Buffalo Bills fullback Larry Centers has finally signed the contract extension to which he agreed nearly two months ago, a move which slightly increases his salary cap charge for 2002, but ensures his services for another season.

	Centers

The extension is for one year and, added to the original two-year contract Centers signed last summer, ties him to the Bills through the 2003 season. In training camp earlier this month, Centers suggested he could play "at least" one more productive season.

Under the extension, Centers received a $250,000 signing bonus, according to NFL Players Association documents. His base salary for '02 was reduced from $800,000 to $750,000. But in terms of total compensation, Centers gets a raise to $1 million this season, the aggregate of the signing bonus and the base salary.

His cap charge for 2002 increases by $75,000, from the scheduled $950,000 to $1.025 million.

Centers, 34, will have a base salary of $1.1 million for 2003, the year added to his original deal, and a cap number of $1.225 million for that season.

The Bills approached Centers about the extension this spring, with president Tom Donahoe citing the 13th-year veteran's importance to Buffalo both on the field and in the locker room. Centers was signed by the Bills as a free agent last summer after he was released by the Washington Redskins.

In his first season with the Bills, he started 13 of 16 games, carried 34 times for 160 yards and had 80 receptions for 620 yards.

The former Stephen F. Austin star is the leading receiver from the backfield in NFL history, with 765 catches for 6,303 yards and 27 touchdowns. He has 583 carries for 2,050 yards and 12 scores. A three-time Pro Bowl player, he has appeared in 173 games and started 100 of them.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.