Rams reach deals with Smoker, Hargrove

Quarterback Jeff Smoker and defensive end Anthony Hargrove have signed three-year deals with the St. Louis Rams, making them the last of the defending NFC West champion's picks from April's draft to be under contract.

Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Smoker, drafted in the sixth round out of Michigan State, joins 38-year-old Chris Chandler as a backup to Marc Bulger, the Rams' starting quarterback for the past season and a half.

As a senior, Smoker led the Big 10 in passing and total offense. He became the first quarterback in school history to top 3,000 passing yards in a season.

Smoker was suspended for the last seven games of the 2002 season for substance-abuse problems that have never been specified.

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Hargove, a third-round selection out of Georgia Tech, was academically ineligible last season, which would have been his junior year.

-- AP