The Redskins have signed quarterback Donovan McNabb to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced prior to Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The deal locks up McNabb, 33, and helps solidify his standing as the Redskins' quarterback of the present and future.
"We had ongoing talks and once the regular season started, we really were aiming toward the bye week [to get a deal done] and it came together," Redskins executive vice president/general manager Bruce Allen said.
Said McNabb: "We communicated about a lot of different things, but I think all of our focus is on the present time and what we can do to get things going in the right direction. The contract shows, obviously, confidence in that."
McNabb, in his 12th year in the NFL, joined the Redskins on April 4 as part of a trade with the Eagles. He immediately gave the Redskins a franchise quarterback with credentials to back it up.
Said Allen: "When we made the trade for him, we understood what we were getting in Donovan. We're pleased with the leadership that he brings and we believe that he can help us win."
In eight games this season, McNabb has completed 57.4 percent of his passes for 1,971 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. His QB rating is 76.0.
The extension followed two weeks of scrutiny after head coach Mike Shanahan benched McNabb in the final two minutes of a 37-25 loss to the Detroit Lions on Oct. 31.
McNabb was 17-of-30 for 210 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the game.
Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said the benching was due to lingering hamstring and quad injuries that limited him practice the previous week.
Still, speculation swirled about McNabb's future with Washington. His contract came to an end after the 2010 season.
All along, McNabb remained confident that a contract extension would still happen with the Redskins. At one point, he said he was "100 percent" certain that a deal would get done.
He turned out to be right.
News of the contract extension broke about five hours before Redskins-Eagles kickoff.
It's appropriate that the extensions comes on a day when the Redskins host the Eagles in a nationally televised game.
McNabb was originally selected by the Eagles in the first round (second overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft.
While in Philadelphia, McNabb led the Eagles to five NFC Championship games while setting franchise records in passing attempts, completions, passing yards and passing touchdown and was named to the Eagles' 75th Anniversary Team.
The 6-foot-2, 240-pound McNabb, is one of six players in NFL history with at least 25,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards (Randall Cunningham, Steve Young, Fran Tarkenton, Steve McNair and John Elway).
This season, McNabb has quarterbacked the Redskins to a 4-4 record.
The offense has been a work in progress all season, as the Shanahans implement a new scheme that takes some time to learn.
Pass protection has been a problem in recent games. In the loss to the Lions, McNabb and Grossman were sacked a combined seven times.
Through it all, McNabb has remained steady and sure as a leader of the Redskins.
"I have a pretty good relationship with the people in the organization here and some great backup support," McNabb said. "That goes for the players as well. For me, it's just going out and playing my game and having fun doing it."
