PITTSBURGH — Offensive tackle Max Starks has signed a four-year contract that keeps him with the Pittsburgh Steelers through the 2012 season and frees up several million dollars in salary cap room for the team.

Starks, the starting left tackle, was designated as the Steelers' franchise player on Feb. 20 — less than three weeks after they won the Super Bowl — and he initially accepted a 2009 salary of $8.45 million.

Instead, the new contract is expected to pay him a signing bonus of slightly more than that amount but reduce his annual salary, creating additional salary cap room for a team that was up against the cap most of last season. The signing bonus, for cap purposes, is spread out over the length of the contract.

By agreeing to the four-year contract, Starks no longer carries the franchise player tag.

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Buccaneers: Tampa Bay reached contract agreements with two more draft picks, signing fourth-round selection Kyle Moore and seventh-rounder E.J. Biggers to four-year deals.

Moore is a defensive end from Southern California. Biggers is a cornerback from Western Michigan. Only first-rounder Josh Freeman and third-rounder Roy Miller remained unsigned.

Chiefs: Kansas City will retire the number of the late Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Thomas during a ceremony Dec. 6.

Thomas wore No. 58 during his 11 seasons with the Chiefs. He died in February 2000 of injuries from a car accident. He will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 8 in Canton, Ohio.

Jets: The New York Jets are taking advantage of a new NFL rule this summer that will allow them to place a corporate logo on their practice jerseys as a source of additional revenue.

The rule allows teams to sell sponsorships on their practice jerseys, and the patches can be no larger than 3 1/2-by-4 1/2 inches. The patch the Jets will wear starting in training camp features the logo of Atlantic Health, a New Jersey-based health care provider.

Retirement: Fernando Bryant, a cornerback and former first-round draft pick who played 10 NFL seasons with the Jaguars, Lions and Steelers, is retiring.

Bryant, 32, started 109 of the 112 NFL games he played, making seven interceptions and recovering nine fumbles. He was No. 26 overall pick out of Alabama by Jacksonville in 1999.