The Washington Redskins have agreed to a contract with first-round draft pick Sean Taylor. After late night negotiations, Taylor was on a flight to Washington on Tuesday morning to sign his contract.

Taylor, the No. 5 overall pick in last April's draft, is expected to compete for a starting job at free safety.

He will join the team for practices this week. The first standard training camp practices--in full pads with mandatory attendance for all players under contract--begins Saturday.

Taylor, 6-2 and 231 pounds, finished his collegiate career at the University of Miami (Fla.) with 188 tackles, 14 interceptions, one sack and two blocked punts in 34 games. His 14 interceptions rank fourth on the Hurricanes all-time list behind only Fred Marion, Bennie Blades, and Ed Reed. Only Reed's 389 yards on interceptions are more than Taylor's (306) in school history.

Taylor didn't decide on an agent until last week, but both sides worked through the circumstances to get the deal done.

Redskins vice president for football operation Vinny Cerrato flew to California for two days of talks last week, and Moorad made a surprise return trip to Redskins Park on Monday, showing up unannounced at the front door.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.