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The Chicago Bears, who made no secret entering the free-agency period of their desire to land one of the top young pass rushers in the talent pool, achieved their goal Saturday.

SportsLine has learned the Bears have reached an agreement with unrestricted free-agent defensive end Phillip Daniels, a four-year veteran who played his entire career in Seattle.

Daniels, who is only 26 years old and seems to have his best football still ahead of him, will sign a five-year contract worth $24 million. The deal includes a signing bonus of $8 million. His total compensation for 2000, counting signing bonus and base salary is $10.25 million. Over the first three years, the contract is worth $16.5 million and there is not the severe back-loading that so many deals now have.

Playing on a defensive front that included end Michael Sinclair and tackles Cortez Kennedy and Sam Adams, the former fourth-round draft choice (1996) had a better season in 1999 than all his more famous teammates. Daniels started all 16 games at right end and had 48 tackles and a career high nine sacks.

With the Seahawks, he played in 60 games, with 41 starts, and totaled 21½ sacks.

Daniels is a player who has improved every season in the NFL and bulked up by more than 20 pounds since entering the league. He was already viewed as one of the best young ends in the market but his stock skyrocketed when several key players at the position either re-signed with their current teams or were designated as "franchise" free agents.

Chicago notched only 37 sacks in 1999 and only nine clubs in the league had fewer.