SEATTLE - Jerry Rice thinks he can still contribute to an NFL team. Now he just has to find one willing to give him a chance to prove it.

Rice asked to be released by Seattle and the Seahawks accommodated the greatest receiver in NFL history on Friday.

Rice let it be known after the Seahawks were eliminated by St. Louis in the playoffs last month that he still was interested in playing.

"I still feel like I have football left in me, a lot of football in me," he said.

But is there a team willing to bring Rice back for a 20th NFL season?

"He's going to evaluate the landscape over the next several months," said his agent, Jim Steiner. "I think the fire still burns for him."

Seattle acquired the 42-year-old Rice from Oakland at the trade deadline last season.

"We are grateful to Jerry and the role he was willing to fill for the Seahawks last year," coach Mike Holmgren said. "He is one of the greatest players in the history of our game and we wish him nothing but the best."

Rice isn't the only big-name player looking for a new team after being released Friday.

Ty Law, the star of New England's secondary through the Patriots' first two Super Bowl titles, and Muhsin Muhammad, Carolina's Pro Bowl receiver, were salary cap casualties as teams prepared for the start of free agency on Wednesday.

Marshall Faulk is staying with the St. Louis, but now that he has lost his starting job to Stephen Jackson he'll also be taking a pay cut.

Faulk, 32, just finished the third year of a seven-year contract. He would have made $6 million in salary and workout bonuses in 2005. Under the new four-year deal, Faulk gets a $2 million signing bonus this year, and will earn $2 million in both 2005 and 2006, said his agent, Rocky Arceneaux.

Rice was the third receiver taken in the 1985 draft behind Eddie Brown and Al Toon, who have both been out of the NFL for more than a decade. Neither can compare with Rice.

He was taken with the 16th pick by the San Francisco 49ers, who traded up to select him after he set several NCAA records at Division I-AA Mississippi Valley State. While some doubted his ability to dominate against elite competition, Rice would go on to rewrite the NFL record books, too.

Rice is the career leader in receptions with 1,549; total yards with 22,895; and touchdowns receiving with 197, all far ahead of the closest pursuer. He also leads in total touchdowns with 207, 32 more than Emmitt Smith, who announced his retirement earlier this month.

He won three Super Bowls with the 49ers and a Super Bowl MVP in 1989.

But in recent years, Rice's production has been more pedestrian.

He was released by San Francisco after the 2000 season and moved across San Francisco Bay to sign with the Oakland Raiders.

In 2002, Rice had 92 catches for 1,211 yards and seven touchdowns in helping the Raiders reach the Super Bowl.

But Rice started being phased out of the Raiders' offense in 2003, catching 63 passes and two TDs. This past season, Rice had only five catches with the Raiders before being traded to Seattle.

In Seattle he was reunited with Holmgren, who was San Francisco's offensive coordinator during some of his best years.

Last season, Rice had 30 catches for 429 yards, by far the lowest totals of his 20-year career other than in 1997, when he missed most of the season with a knee injury.

Rice's best game for Seattle came in a 43-39 loss to Dallas on Dec. 6. Rice had eight catches for 145 yards and a touchdown.

"He was brought in on a one-year basis to make the run this year," Steiner said. "He understands the situation and felt this was the right thing to do."

Rice's possible return to San Francisco has been a hot topic in the Bay Area, but new 49ers coach Mike Nolan has mostly discouraged such speculation. Earlier this week, Nolan acknowledged the club discussed signing Rice so he could retire with San Francisco, but Nolan doesn't believe Rice would be able to play regularly with the Niners.

"It's my understanding in our discussions that Jerry still wants to test the market and see if someone is interested in having him on the team as a full-time participant," Nolan said Tuesday. "If he wants to retire (with the 49ers), that is certainly something that we would be very open to, but it's my understanding that those aren't his desires."