ESPN’s Michael Smith is reporting that the Redskins and Donovan McNabb have agreed to a new five-year, $78 million extension which includes $40 million in guaranteed money. The deal comes just two weeks after Redskins coach Mike Shanahan benched the QB in the final two minutes of the team's loss to Detroit.
The new extension immediately becomes the story of tonight’s matchup with the Eagles on Monday Night Football. So far this season McNabb has thrown for seven TDs and eight INTs with a QB rating of 76, the lowest since his rookie year. So clearly this extension can’t been seen as a reward for what he’s done so far… The Redskins are betting that McNabb’s play will improve and that he’ll be able to play at a high level through his mid-to-late 30s. McNabb will turn 34 in 10 days and would be pushing 40 if he were to play out this entire contract. It will be interesting to see the details of how the contract is structured.