Falcons cut Harrington as purge continues in rebuilding Atlanta

Joey Harrington is the latest victim of the Atlanta Falcons' purge.

The third overall pick in the 2002 draft by Detroit, the quarterback who started 10 of Atlanta's games last season was cut Wednesday. Running back Warrick Dunn was released Monday by Atlanta, which last month cut tight end Alge Crumpler, offensive tackle Wayne Gandy and quarterback Byron Leftwich.

The move leaves Atlanta, 4-12 last season, with only two quarterbacks on the roster: Chris Redman, who has been re-signed to a two-year deal, and D.J. Shockley, who missed all of last season with a knee injury. They are likely to pick a quarterback in April's draft, perhaps Boston College's Matt Ryan, with the third pick.

Harrington, who was traded from Detroit to Miami and released by the Dolphins, was the primary replacement for Michael Vick, who is serving 23 months in prison for his involvement in dogfighting.

A more renowned quarterback than Harrington, Brett Favre, scheduled a news conference for today to discuss his retirement. The Packers announced Tuesday that the 38-year-old star is retiring.

In other NFL free agent news:

• Oakland, which has been on a spending spree, agreed to terms with wide receiver Javon Walker, who had been released by Denver, and former San Francisco offensive tackle Kwame Harris.

Walker will receive a $6 million signing bonus and $5 million in salary in each of the first two years. The six-year deal could be worth up to $55 million, a person familiar with the contract said on condition of anonymity because the terms were not released.

Harris is guaranteed $3 million in the first year of his deal that would pay him $16 million over three years, the person said.

After losing receiver Jerry Porter to Jacksonville through free agency, the Raiders had only one wide receiver under contract with more than six career catches.

The signings fill positions of need for the Raiders, who are trying to build their offense around quarterback JaMarcus Russell, the first overall pick in last year's draft.

• New England re-signed wide receiver Jabar Gaffney, who had 36 receptions for 449 yards and a career high five touchdowns last season. His biggest was for the winning TD with 44 seconds left in Baltimore that kept alive New England's unbeaten streak at 12 games en route to a 16-0 regular-season mark.