Jay Cutler Lifestyle

Rookie quarterback Josh Freeman has signed a five-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team has announced. The club reports to training camp Friday and practice begins Saturday. Freeman, from Kansas State, was the 17th overall selection in the NFL draft in April. The signing means that all three quarterbacks drafted in the first round this year made it to training camp on time. The Detroit Lions signed Matthew Stafford before making him the top overall selection in the draft, and the New York Jets signed fifth overall choice Mark Sanchez in June.

The Oakland Raiders released quarterback Andrew Walter on Thursday, the team announced. The move leaves the Raiders with four quarterbacks on their roster: JaMarcus Russell, Jeff Garcia, Bruce Gradkowski and Charlie Frye. Walter made nine starts in four seasons with the Raiders in which he totaled three touchdown passes and 16 interceptions.

The pace of the first-round signings is picking up considerably. The Atlanta Falcons have announced that they've signed defensive tackle Peria Jerry. The Mississippi product was the 24th overall choice in April.

The St. Louis Rams announced that they'd signed offensive tackle Jason Smith. The Baylor product was the second overall selection in the NFL draft in April. According to a source, Smith's six-year contract has a maximum value of more than $60 million. The deal includes approximately $33 million in guaranteed money and contains a mechanism by which the sixth season can be voided, the source said.

New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick was asked during a news conference Thursday about just-reinstated quarterback Michael Vick. Belichick said: "Michael's an outstanding player. [He] hasn't played in a couple years. But right now our focus in on our team, our players, and trying to get the New England Patriots ready. So that's really where my attention has been. But he's a tremendous athlete. Where exactly he is right now, I don't know." Belichick did not say directly whether the Patriots would be interested in signing Vick, who was conditionally reinstated this week by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith has shot down reports of a rift between new quarterback Jay Cutler and star linebacker Brian Urlacher, saying they're simply not true. "That's no story," Smith said Thursday, when his team reported to camp. "You've got questions about what's going on?"

Linebacker Clay Matthews reportedly has agreed to a five-year contract with the Green Bay Packers. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the deal has a base value of $10 million and a maximum potential value of $13.275 million. The USC product was the 26th overall pick in the NFL draft in April and was the second of the Packers' two first-round choices. Defensive tackle B.J. Raji, taken ninth overall by the Packers, remains unsigned.

Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey has agreed to a five-year contract with the Oakland Raiders, a source said. The University of Maryland product is scheduled to report to the team Friday. The Raiders selected Heyward-Bey with the seventh overall choice in the NFL draft in April.

UPDATED (2:36 p.m.)... According to reports, New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce testified before a grand jury Thursday in Manhattan. Pierce's testimony is to continue Friday, his attorney, Michael Bachner, told reporters outside the courthouse. It's the same grand jury before which Pierce's former Giants teammate, Plaxico Burress, testified Wednesday in his weapon possession case. The grand jury is considering indicting Burress on charges stemming from the incident last year in which he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub. Pierce also reportedly faces a potential charge. He accompanied Burress to the nightclub and allegedly was in possession of the gun after the shooting. Pierce and the Giants are scheduled to report to training camp Sunday in Albany, N.Y. Giants co-owner John Mara strongly defended Pierce in a written statement issued this week, calling any potential charge against Pierce unwarranted. Burress is a free agent

Quarterback Tom Brady was on the field in Foxborough, Mass., Thursday morning as the New England Patriots opened their training camp. According to the Boston Globe, Brady wore a brace over his surgically repaired left knee and was cheered loudly by the several thousand fans watching the practice. Training camp represents the next step in Brady's recovery from the knee injury that he suffered in the opening game of last season, sending him to the injured reserve list and leaving the Patriots to miss the playoffs, albeit barely, with Matt Cassel as their quarterback. Brady participated in offseason practices and acknowledged then that he had a bit of rust to knock off his game and needed to improve considerably before the regular season arrives. The last time he played a full season, the Patriots took an unbeaten record into the Super Bowl before being upset by the New York