Walsh Will Meet With Goodell and Specter

NEW YORK | Former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh will meet separately with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Sen. Arlen Specter today to discuss New England's videotaping of opposing coaches' playcalling signals in violation of league rules.

Walsh is scheduled to meet with Goodell at the NFL offices in New York at 7:30 a.m. Afterward, he will travel to Washington to meet with Specter. Specter, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been critical of the NFL's handling of the investigation.

Goodell and Specter each plan to hold a news conference after meeting with Walsh.

Last week, Walsh sent the NFL eight videotapes that showed the Patriots recording playcalling signals. The tapes included signals by coaches of five opponents in six games from 2000-02.

The league said the tapes were consistent with what it already knew.

Walsh worked for New England from 1997 to 2003. His name surfaced just before this year's Super Bowl, nearly five months after the Patriots were sanctioned.

After more than two months of negotiations, lawyers for the league and Walsh finally agreed April 23 to terms that would allow him to talk with Goodell. They include an agreement by the Patriots not to sue Walsh and to pay his legal expenses and his airfare to New York from Hawaii, where he is now a golf pro.

Goodell has said that the Patriots could be subject to further sanctions if new information about previously unknown infractions arises.

Bears' Gould Strikes Gold

LAKE FOREST, Ill. | Robbie Gould became the highest paid kicker, agreeing to a five-year, $15.5 million contract extension with the Chicago Bears that includes a $4.25 million signing bonus.

The deal runs through 2013.

"I'm excited about the contract I signed," Gould, who had a year left on his contract, said during a conference call with reporters. "I'm excited to be a Bear. ... This is definitely a win-win on both ends."

Gould has made 84 of 99 field-goal attempts and 99 of 100 PATs with the Bears. He hit 31 of 36 field-goal attempts last season.