Willie Parker, a backup at North Carolina and a product of Clinton High School, signed a $13.6 million, four-year contract Thursday with the Steelers that runs through the 2009 season. Parker and the Steelers had until September 7th to get a deal done, as the club does not negotiate contracts during the season.

Duce Staley was on pace a couple of years ago for one of the best seasons by a Steelers running back. When the Steelers wrap up their exhibition schedule Thursday night against Carolina, Staley might be playing to remain with the team. Steelers coach Bill Cowher isn't saying if Staley, a former starter who has looked slow during training camp and in games, is playing for a job. Perhaps the most telling indicator was he wouldn't say Monday that Staley isn't.

A man charged with impersonating Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to get dates was accused of stealing $3,200 from a different woman by telling her he was another player on the team, tight end Jerame Tuman. Brian Jackson was charged with theft by deception for borrowing the money and not repaying it. The woman lent the money to the 32-year-old Jackson because she believed he was Tuman, District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. said.

Ben Roethlisberger can't stay away from injuries, only now they're happening on the football field. Roethlisberger, his facial injuries from a motorcycle crash two months ago apparently healed, has a sprained ligament in his right thumb and is questionable for the Pittsburgh Steelers' exhibition game against Minnesota on Saturday night.

Steelers linebacker Joey Porter told the NFL Network last night that he nearly did not show up at camp this summer, and the main reason he did was because of his close relationship with coach Bill Cowher. "He's one of the main reasons why I'm back here at camp," Porter said. "Contract-wise I wasn't too happy with the situation that we [had] going into the season. But I talked to coach Cowher, and after me and him had our words ... he said he's going to be here, so he had a big impact on me being here in camp this year." Co-host Marshall Faulk then asked a follow-up question about holding out of camp and whether Porter felt like he was underpaid. "Definitely," Porter said. "I definitely feel that I have outplayed the contract that I am under. What I bring to the team ... It's not just me out there playing football. Me being the leader I am and the response I get from my team ... The whole city of Pittsburgh knows what I bring. Coach Cowher knows what I bring. "We had a talk, and it was 'I need you.' I was unhappy. There was no use me lying about it. I wasn't going to talk to anybody and just play football since they made it the business it is. I was ready to just come out here and give them the business. "I didn't have to come out here and be nice to anybody. But me having a talk with coach Cowher and the relationship we have, I feel like I can suck it in, even though I'm not happy with the contract, go out there for coach Cowher and play like I know how to play and just put it all in God's hands and see what happens next year."

The Pittsburgh Steelers made official what has seemed evident for weeks: coach Bill Cowher is no longer negotiating an extension to a contract that runs through 2007. The team announced that it has ceased talks with Cowher on signing an extension so he can focus on coaching the returning Super Bowl champions. The team, which has had just two coaches in 38 seasons, has long had a policy of not negotiating contracts during a season, but wants to renew talks with Cowher once the season ends. This is the first time since Cowher was hired by his hometown team in 1992 that he will go into a season with as few as two seasons remaining on his contract. Cowher and the team had been discussing an extension since shortly after the Steelers won the Super Bowl in February.

Bill Cowher is unhappy former Steelers star Jerome Bettis predicted on national TV this might be his final season as Pittsburgh's coach. Cowher said Monday that Bettis spoke with no inside information.

Ben Roethlisberger didn't mind that his appearance at the grand opening of the extravagant new home of the Cardinals was as brief as it was fruitless. After what the Steelers quarterback has been through, simply taking the field at all was enough. "It kind of hit me right before the kickoff," Roethlisberger said, "to sit here and say thank you that I'm able to be out here, to put on the jersey, to be in front of people and playing again two months to the day after a pretty bad accident."

A franchise long labeled a wasteland among the otherwise fertile fields of the NFL finally has a home of its own. The Cardinals' new football stadium will host the defending champion Steelers on Saturday. And this is no one-bedroom fixer-upper. This is a $465 million palace. Cardinals Stadium, has already been voted one of the top 10 sports facilities in the world by Business Week magazine. "Man, it's sweet," running back Edgerrin James said. "It's everything you'd want in a stadium. I'm happy I came at the perfect time."

The jury-trial hearing on domestic violence and abuse charges against rookie receiver Santonio Holmes has been postponed until Aug. 24 because of a conflict in his attorney's schedule. The new trial date for Holmes is the day before the Steelers' third preseason game in Philadelphia. Shamansky said he still does not know if Holmes has to be present for the hearing. Holmes, the team's first round choice from Ohio State, has been charged with domestic violence and abuse against Lashae Boone of Columbus, who is the mother of his third child.