Veteran tight end Marco Battaglia, who did not play football last season, signed a one-year contract with the Steelers yesterday.

Battaglia played in one game for the Steelers in 2002 after starter Mark Bruener went on injured reserve with a knee injury.

He has played 96 games in eight NFL seasons and has 71 receptions for 660 yards and two touchdowns.

Battaglia, drafted in the second round in 1996 from Rutgers by the Bengals, also played for the Redskins, Buccaneers and, most recently, the Panthers, who released him in December 2003.

49ers

Defensive end Marques Douglas agreed to a three-year contract, leaving the Baltimore Ravens after six seasons.

Douglas has spent all but a few months of his NFL career with the Ravens, where new 49ers coach Mike Nolan was his defensive coordinator for the last three years.

He started 31 games for Baltimore over the past two seasons, getting 5 1/2 sacks and 48 tackles last year.

Browns

Restricted free agent safety Brian Russell is joining Cleveland after the Minnesota Vikings decided not to match the Browns' offer.

Russell, who started at safety the past two seasons, signed an offer sheet for a two-year contract with the Browns last week.

Minnesota's vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski said the team would not be matching it.

Cleveland has released both of its starting safeties since the end of last season, Robert Griffith and Earl Little.

The Vikings, who signed former Green Bay free safety Darren Sharper last month, had tendered Russell the minimum one-year qualifying offer of $656,000.

Raiders

Linebacker DeLawrence Grant was re-signed, a month after waiving him in a salary-cap move.

Grant started the first nine games last season then was inactive the final seven games, apparently struggling to get the hang of coach Norv Turner's defense.

He finished the season with 20 tackles and two sacks.

Falcons

A woman is suing quarterback Michael Vick, claiming he knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease.

In the civil lawsuit, Sonya Elliott, who says she is Vick's former girlfriend, claims Vick gave her genital herpes in an April 2003 encounter.

In the complaint, Elliott, 26, seeks damages, alleging negligence by Vick, unwanted physical contact, pain, suffering and potential future medical complications.

In a statement issued through a spokesman, the Falcons said the team would not comment on the lawsuit but hoped the issue "will be resolved in a fair and expeditious manner."