FOXBORO - The Patriots aren't out of the free-agency market yet.

Tuesday afternoon, they added depth to their secondary by reaching a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent cornerback Tory James, who spent the past four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals.

ESPN.com reported that the contract with James, an 11-year veteran, is for one year with a base value of $1.35 million. Incentives could drive the payday for James to as much as $2.7 million.

This isn't a Super Bowl-ensuring move for the Patriots, who are still wrestling with several issues in their injury-prone secondary, including the reluctance of veteran cornerback Asante Samuel to accept a one-year tender offer of $7.79 million as the team's franchise player. But the avalanche of injuries that has buried the Patriots' secondary over the past three seasons has taught head coach Bill Belichick and personnel chief Scott Pioli that you can never have enough depth at the position.

James, 33, is coming off a disappointing 2006 campaign in which he had 41 tackles, four interceptions and 10 pass defenses. But he still posted 21 interceptions in his four seasons with the Bengals, and had several other suitors in free agency over the past few weeks, most notably Green Bay

James is likely to be used in nickel coverage packages by the Patriots initially.

In addition to Samuel's status in limbo, the Patriots have other depth issues in their secondary. Another of their young cornerbacks, Randall Gay, remains a restricted free agent and recently visited the New York Jets, who are facing a Friday deadline for offer sheets to restricted free agents.

James started all 16 games for the Bengals in 2006, but according to ESPN.com, he fell out of favor with their coaching staff late in the year. The Bengals made no effort to re-sign him once he entered free agency.

In a total of 158 games with Denver (1996-99), Oakland (2000-02) and Cincinnati (2003-06), James registered 429 tackles, 39 interceptions, 79 pass defenses, one sack, six forced fumbles and four recoveries. He was named to the AFC Pro Bowl team in 2004 after making a career-best eight interceptions, and was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2005.

James is another legacy of Nick Saban's Louisiana State coaching tenure and is familiar with a Belichick-style defensive system because of it.

Also Tuesday, the Patriots re-signed one of their exclusive-rights free agents, wide receiver Kelvin Kight.

Kight, 24, spent 13 weeks on the practice squad last season before being activated to the active roster for the final four regular-season games and two playoff games. He finished the season with one catch for 9 yards, one rush for 8 yards and four special teams tackles.

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