Safety Ryan Clark said he was intending to agree to a deal with the Miami Dolphins when he visited with them Monday because he did not have a contract offer from the Steelers.

But, after receiving a contract offer from the Dolphins, Clark phoned Coach Mike Tomlin and told him he didn't want to be anywhere but with the Steelers. So team president Art Rooney II and negotiator Omar Khan quickly put together a four-year, $14 million contract that Clark agreed to last night and signed today.

"It was always a situation where I wanted to be here ... I didn't want to leave," Clark said after arriving at the Steelers' South Side offices this morning. "When things seemed like they weren't going right, I'm not the type to sit at home and do nothing. I thought that was it. I was going down there to get a deal done."

Clark was so serious about getting a deal done with the Dolphins that he didn't plan to visit with any other NFL teams. But he said he didn't "use" the Dolphins to get a deal done with the Steelers.

And he said the Steelers' move to sign free-agent safety Will Allen to a three-year, $4.4 million contract earlier in the day did not affect his decision.

"This is the place where I wanted to be," Clark said. "If I get to finish my contract here, that's eight years in one place. That's an accomplishment for me. I finally have a home."

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