So much for Donovan McNabb harboring any ill feelings over getting benched.
The Washington Redskins signed the veteran quarterback to a five-year extension Monday with $40 million guaranteed. Both sides are now bound to each other for coach Mike Shanahan’s tenure.
What happened? The past 15 days were filled with talk of Shanahan and McNabb not getting along, of the playbook being downsized for McNabb, that the quarterback wasn’t in shape.
Ultimately, both sides knew this was the best deal for each.
McNabb’s free agency options seemed to dwindle. Minnesota might change coaches and not offer a safe haven. Arizona needs a quarterback, but the owners are notoriously cheap. With the labor deal uncertain, who knows when free agency will even begin. It may be a hurry-up situation to get the season going, and that will force everyone into quickie deals worth less money.
There surely wouldn’t have been $40 million guaranteed anywhere else. Not even close. No one would have risked so much on a 34-year-old probably coming off a so-so season.
This is where owner Dan Snyder always comes up big. Snyder has been awfully quiet since hiring general manager Bruce Allen and coach Mike Shanahan nearly a year ago. But it’s also awfully coincidental the deal was done just in time for the nationally televised Monday night game against Philadelphia (which obviously didn’t go so well). McNabb’s agent, Fletcher Smith, said after nine months of talks that much of the deal came together in the past couple weeks.
Conversely, maybe it simply was the Redskins realizing after all the overblown drama that they couldn’t get a better quarterback for next year. Not with a mid-round draft pick and Michael Vick being the only decent quarterback aside from McNabb on the 2011 free agent list.
McNabb will keep Washington a contender for the next couple years — three at the most before he begins fading into retirement. (That is, if he isn’t already.) McNabb’s numbers have been mediocre this season with a career low passer rating. Then again, he’s playing behind a terrible offensive line with limited offensive playmakers.
Will McNabb now improve knowing the rest of his career will be in Washington? It surely can’t hurt.
“Now he doesn’t have to focus or concentrate on what next year will bring,” Smith said. “He knows he’s going to be a Redskin.”
Meanwhile, the Redskins can now groom a young quarterback as McNabb’s successor. That’s something money can’t buy.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has ?covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
