Three-time Pro Bowl tight end Bubba Franks, absent from the Green Bay Packers during the entire offseason after declining to sign the one-year qualifying offer as a "transition" free agent, has reached agreement with the club on a seven-year, $28 million contract. Final details of the contract, which runs through the 2011 season, were expected to be completed Wednesday, with Franks likely rejoining the Packers in time for practice Thursday. It is unlikely the five-year veteran will play in the preseason game Friday night against New England. Franks, 27, was the Packers' first-round choice in the 2000 NFL draft and signed a five-year, $6.5 million contract as a rookie. When that contract lapsed following the 2004 season, the Packers limited his mobility as a free agent by designating the former University of Miami star a "transition" player, with a one-year qualifying offer of $2.095 million.