"Chad Pennington knows he could have been competing to be a starter again if he had signed with a quarterback-starved team. But Pennington, who turns 34 in June, said he's content being a backup here -- No. 3 on the depth chart, but No. 2 in reality.

``I felt like the grass isn't always greener on the other side,'' he said. Re-signing ``just feels right. I feel I was brought here to be a part of something special, and I feel I needed one more year to help finish what we started in 2008. As you get older and have more years in this league, you start to value the people and coaches you work with, and that becomes more important to you.''

Plus, ``this is the right place for me to rehab and become the quarterback I know I can become after a third surgery.''

Pennington, recovering from a torn shoulder capsule in September, expects to be 100 percent by training camp: ``I'm pleasantly surprised. Since March 22, I've done everything everyone else has. All of the underneath and intermediate stuff is really good. The last thing to always come in rehab is the long ball.''

• Pennington -- who signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal that could be worth as much as$5.75 million with incentives -- said he's OK with being No. 3. ``The thought process is, `We've got to give these young guys as many snaps as they can get,' make sure their progress is not impeded,'' he said. ``I don't need to be in the way. They know what I can do.''"