Patriots keep Moss with three-year deal

~ The receiver set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches in 2007.

BOSTON -- Randy Moss is staying with the New England Patriots.

The defending AFC champions re-signed the All-Pro receiver to a three-year deal that's reportedly worth $27 million. The deal was confirmed by the team Monday shortly after Moss posted a message to fans on his Web site.

"I want to take time out to thank all of the fans for their support and for wishing me well in my return to New England," therealrandymoss.com quotes him as saying. "I'm ready to get back. We have some unfinished business to take care of."

Paring Moss with NFL MVP Tom Brady, the Patriots set offensive records and breezed through the regular season with a perfect record. They improved to an unprecedented 18-0 before blowing a chance at the league's longest unbeaten season with a 17-14 Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants.

ESPN.com reported the deal was worth $27 million.

A four-time All-Pro, Moss took a pay cut to get out of Oakland and come to New England last April. In his first season with the Patriots, Moss set the league record with 23 touchdown catches in a season and totaled 98 receptions for 1,493 yards.

Moss, 31, has caught 774 passes for 12,193 yards in a 10-year career with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders and Patriots. His 124 career receiving touchdowns are fourth in NFL history.

Roethlisberger signsextension with Steelers

Ben Roethlisberger signed an eight-year extension Monday with the Pittsburgh Steelers that is worth $102 million and makes him one of the league's top-paid players.

"He's a Steeler and he'll always be a Steeler," team chairman Dan Rooney said.

The agreement comes after Roethlisberger re-established himself as one of the NFL's best quarterbacks last season, and nearly two years after his life and career were threatened by a motorcycle crash. The accident happened a few months after he led the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory.

Roethlisberger's contract guarantees him $36 million and is easily the largest in the Steelers' 76-season history. The quarterback, who turned 26 Sunday, gets $25 million immediately as a signing bonus.

Roethlisberger, drafted in 2004 as part of the same QB class as the Giants' Eli Manning and the Chargers' Philip Rivers, won all 13 regular-season starts as a rookie, began his career 27-4 and already has appeared in two AFC title games and seven playoff games.

Last season, Roethlisberger threw 32 touchdown passes with only 11 interceptions in leading the Steelers to a 10-6 regular-season record and the playoffs, a major turnaround from his 23-interception season of 2006.

-- The Associated Press