Manning, Giants agree to six-year pact

? Eli Manning has yet to play an NFL game and he’s almost as wealthy as his brother, the league’s co-MVP.

Manning, the first pick in the NFL draft, signed Thursday with the New York Giants on a deal that includes a $20 million signing bonus in a package that with incentives could be worth $54 million over six years. The base package is $45 million.

The bonus is one of the highest in NFL history, the top being the $34.5 million paid to Peyton Manning when he re-signed with Indianapolis this year. The difference, of course, is that Peyton is one of the NFL’s top players and Eli could very well start this season on the bench.

“I just wanted to get here on time,” Manning said. “When it came to crunch time, they got it worked out.”

Eli Manning’s bonus is 43 percent higher than the $14 million Cincinnati gave Carson Palmer as the No. 1 pick in the draft last season.

Offensive tackle Robert Gallery, the second overall pick in the draft, also signed. He agreed to a seven-year contract with Oakland. A source said the deal could pay Gallery as much as $18.5 million in guaranteed money and $60 million over the life of the contract. The Raiders did not release details of the contract.

  • Dolphins: Ricky Williams admitted Thursday that marijuana played a larger role in his retirement than he originally indicated, and that he learned of a third failed test and upcoming suspension before informing Miami coach Dave Wannstedt of his decision. The former Dolphins running back would have faced a four-game suspension and been fined as much as $876,000 had he played this year.
  • Bears: Lance Briggs, who started 13 games at outside linebacker last season, moved to the middle as the temporary replacement for Pro Bowler Brian Urlacher, who pulled a hamstring Wednesday, and is expected to be out several weeks.
  • Rams: Marshall Faulk is healthy again, but he acknowledged that he doesn’t know how long his body will last. A bad knee and a broken hand kept Faulk out of five games last season, and he had knee surgery in the offseason. The Rams are taking steps to conserve Faulk, limiting his participation and shutting him down for the morning practice during two-a-day workouts. He won’t play much in the preseason.
  • Ravens: Baltimore cornerback Dale Carter will miss the season because a blood clot in his lung.

“It’s quite serious, very serious to the degree that it was life-threatening,” coach Brian Billick said of the former Kansas City Chief. “He is on blood thinners and will be for six months. That will preclude him from playing this year.”

Carter, a four-time Pro Bowler, had been expected to be Baltimore’s nickel back this season.

  • Titans: Tennessee came to terms with cornerbacks Rich Gardner and Michael Waddell. Gardner, a third-round selection, is a former walk-on at Penn State.

Waddell was picked in the fourth round out of North Carolina. The Titans have signed nine of their 13 draft picks.

  • Packers: Punter B.J. Sander and offensive lineman Scott Wells came to terms with Green Bay. Wells, a four-year starter at Tennessee, agreed to a three-year deal. The seventh-round draft pick fits the Packers’ need for a center-guard combination backup. Sander, a left-footed punter from Ohio State, was taken in the third round. Terms of his contract were not revealed.
  • Cardinals: Arizona signed guard Nick Leckey, its sixth-round pick out of Kansas State. The Cardinals also came to terms with offensive lineman Everett Lindsay, who has played 136 games with Minnesota, Cleveland and Baltimore since 1993.