PHOENIX – Edgerrin James ran off to the Arizona Cardinals yesterday, agreeing to a four-year contract worth $30 million with one of the NFL’s weakest teams.

James, who became a free agent after seven seasons with the Colts, knew there was little chance he would return to Indianapolis when the season ended in a loss to Pittsburgh in the AFC divisional round.

Last month, Colts president Bill Polian admitted he was taking a gamble by letting James hit the free-agent market. Now James is gone after setting team records for rushing attempts (2,188), yards (9,226), and touchdowns (64).

Polian could have kept James by using the franchise tag on him for the second straight year. Instead, Polian, decided against the move, which would have increased James’s salary next season to more than $10 million. That made James, a four-time Pro Bowler, one of the most attractive free agents available when free agency opened Saturday.

“I’m happy for him,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said in Indianapolis, where he was watching the Big Ten title game when he was informed of the news. “He was fantastic for us the time we were here, we wish we could have kept him but you can’t keep everyone.”

It was clear James wanted a fresh start. He was looking for a long-term deal, something the Colts weren’t willing to give him. After Indianapolis placed the franchise tag on him last year, Polian gave James’s agent permission to look for a trade but there were no takers – even when Polian said the asking price was less than a first-round pick.

But Dungy credited James with playing through his disappointment and turning in a Pro Bowl season.

James and the Colts had clashed before. When he skipped a mandatory minicamp in 2002, Polian said publicly that it was because James wanted to renegotiate his contract. James contended, however, that he was still rehabbing his injured left knee in Miami and couldn’t have participated in the workouts anyway.

His freewheeling personality also created some problems. Last summer, James said he wouldn’t travel with the team to Japan for a preseason game because he didn’t want to sit on a plane that long. But he backed off that stance during training camp and made the trip anyway, at the urging of team officials.

At the Super Bowl, James said he hoped to play for a team that wanted him. When next season starts, he’ll be taking handoffs from Kurt Warner instead of Peyton Manning.

The two-time NFL rushing champion teamed with Manning to make the Colts one of the best teams in the league. James helped Indianapolis make the playoffs six times in his seven seasons, missing the postseason in 2001 when James sat out the final 10 games after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

James has been one of the most productive running backs in the NFL since the Colts took him with the fourth overall pick in 1999. He has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in six of his eight NFL seasons, and ran for more than 1,500 yards in each of the last two.

“It’s something we’ve never had to look to do before, we’ve had to replace other positions and now we just have to look at running back, and that’s the way the system works,” Dungy said.

In another significant signing around the NFL yesterday, receiver/return man Antwaan Randle El left Pittsburgh to agree to a six-year, $31 million deal with the Washington Redskins. The deal includes $10 million in bonuses. Randle El, who had a career-low 35 receptions for the Steelers in 2005 but in four seasons has established himself as one of the game’s most versatile performers, turned down a six-year, $18 million offer from the Bears that included $8 million to sign with the Skins.

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VIKES MAKE PLAY FOR HUTCHINSON

The Minnesota Vikings signed All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson to an offer sheet yesterday, the latest move in their aggressive approach to free agency.

The Seattle Seahawks placed the transition tag on Hutchinson in the offseason, giving them a week to match the deal or lose him to the Vikings without compensation. Terms of the Vikings’ offer weren’t disclosed.

With $31 million in salary cap room, the Vikings have been one of the fastest teams out of the gate in free agency. They signed running back Chester Taylor, kicker Ryan Longwell and linebacker Ben Leber on Saturday, the first full day the market opened. This past season, Hutchinson and Walter Jones led a Seahawks rushing attack that paved the way for NFL rushing champion Shaun Alexander, who had a team-record 1,880 yards and a league-record 28 touchdowns. Seattle entered the weekend about $17 million below the league’s $102 million salary cap for 2006. So, depending on the Vikings’ offer, they could have the ability to make a competitive offer to keep Hutchinson.

The NFC champions have already given quarterback Matt Hasselbeck $16 million in guaranteed money and Alexander $15.1 million guaranteed to keep two of their biggest offensive stars in Seattle.