The Green Bay Packers have signed veteran free safety Scott Frost as a free agent, GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman announced Wednesday.

Linebacker Chris Gizzi, who underwent disk surgery this morning, will be placed on injured reserve to make room for Frost on the team's 53-man active roster, Sherman said.

A fourth-year pro, Frost had been a special teams standout for the Cleveland Browns this season after spending his first three NFL seasons with the New York Jets, posting 14 tackles in 11 games prior to being placed on waivers Dec. 10. He also was credited with one fumble recovery. Frost had been claimed by the Browns Aug. 28 after being waived by the Jets.

Overall, the 26-year-old defender has played in 54 regular-season games, with one start, recording 49 tackles. He posted a career-high 29 tackles, his first NFL interception and sack and 12 special teams tackles (third-most on the team) in 2000, making his first career start in Game 8 at Buffalo.

Frost, at 6-3 and 219 pounds one of the game's largest safeties, was a highly productive quarterback as a collegian at Nebraska, where he led the Cornhuskers to a split of the national championship in 1997. He posted a 23-2 record as a starting quarterback after transferring to Nebraska from Stanford, where he had begun his collegiate career under Bill Walsh.

As a senior, Frost became the only Nebraska player to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in both passing (1,237) and rushing (1,095), setting school records for most carries (176), yards (1,095) and touchdowns (19) by a quarterback in a single season.

Frost's father, Larry, played halfback at Nebraska earlier (1967-69), his brother, Steve, was a teammate and defensive tackle at Stanford (1994-95) and his mother, Carol, won the gold medal in the discus at the 1967 Pan-Am Games.

The newcomer, who joined the Packers at practice Wednesday, has been assigned jersey number 47. Practice squad cornerback Hurley Tarver, who had been wearing 47, has been reassigned jersey number 26.