Hoping to further solidify a position in offseason flux, the Denver Broncos on Monday morning reached a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent safety Lee Flowers, ESPN.com has learned.

The agreement comes just a few days after the eight-year veteran, who has played his entire NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers to this point, visited with the Denver coaches and team officials. The Broncos almost immediately opened discussions and stayed in close contact with Flowers and his agent over the weekend.

Flowers, 30, will sign a one-year contract. While details were not immediately available, it is believed the deal is for more than the league minimum.

The Broncos lost starting free safety Izell Reese to Buffalo in free agency and may move strong safety Kenoy Kennedy into that spot. Second-year strong safety Sam Brandon, a fourth-round choice in the 2002 draft, is promising but inexperienced. Securing Flowers provides the Broncos a possible starter and, at worst, a veteran safety net. And it should allow Denver to improve its run defense as well.

In the three months of free agency, Flowers had overtures from several teams, including the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints. But the Patriots instead signed former San Diego starter Rodney Harrison and the Saints traded for Tebucky Jones.

Pittsburgh made no attempt to retain Flowers, even though he had been a full-time starter each of the past five seasons, because the defensive coaches felt that he had lost a step, and was a liability in coverage schemes. The Steelers do agree, however, that Flowers is still an effective defender against the run.

A fifth-round choice in the 1995 draft, Flowers spent his first three years in Pittsburgh primarily playing on special teams and in some "dime" coverage situations. He moved into the starting lineup in 1998 and became a fixture in the interior secondary, averaging 14.8 starts and 79.8 tackles over the ensuing five seasons.

For his career, the former Georgia Tech standout has 403 tackles, four interceptions, 35 passes defensed, 12 sacks and nine forced fumbles. Flowers started 14 games in 2002 and posted 73 tackles. He has appeared in 102 games and has started in 74 of them.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.