ST. LOUIS (AP) - Marc Bulger’s numbers put him in the top tier of NFL quarterbacks, and now he has a contract to match.

The St. Louis Rams signed the two-time Pro Bowler yesterday to a six-year, $65 million contract extension that makes him the highest paid player in franchise history. The contract includes $27 million in guaranteed money and puts him in a group of six quarterbacks making $10 million a year.

"He’ll be in the very upper echelon of quarterbacks," said Tom Condon, Bulger’s agent.

The Rams tied up both of their loose ends on the first day of training camp, also reaching agreement on a five-year deal with first-round draft pick Adam Carriker.

Bulger, coming off a career year, was a no-show for a mandatory team meeting Thursday and is in the final year of a four-year, $19.1 million contract with a salary of about $4 million for this year.

"The whole time we knew it was going to get done, it was just a matter of logistics," Bulger said.

Bulger took some of the first snaps of training camp for the Rams, coming off an 8-8 year in Coach Scott Linehan’s first season. Carriker, the 13th overall pick of the draft, did not participate in the opening workout because he had not signed a contract that he agreed to early yesterday but was expected to be on the field for an evening practice.

Bulger had threatened to hold out without a new deal, and skipping the meeting while negotiations intensified might have sent a strong message. Condon said, though, that Bulger would have reported yesterday with or without a deal.

Bulger disagreed with a headline in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that referred to the situation as a "holdout," and Linehan said Thursday after talking to the quarterback that it was an excused absence.

"Fashionably late," Linehan chimed in. "I didn’t think anybody doubted for a minute that he’d be here. I’m not saying it’s fair to say it’s not his style, but Marc wants to help this team win a championship, and he knows to do that he’s got to be out here."

Carriker played defensive end at Nebraska, where he was the Big 12 defensive lineman of the year as a senior and had a team-leading seven sacks. He is expected to move to tackle for the Rams, whose major weakness is in the interior line.

Earlier this decade, the Rams used first-round picks on defensive tackles Ryan Pickett and Damione Lewis in 2001 and Jimmy Kennedy in 2003. None are still with the team. Kennedy was dealt to the Broncos for a sixth-round pick in June.

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