Skins give Samuels $15.75M bonus

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ASHBURN, Va. -- This year's big signing for the Washington Redskins at the start of free agency is one of their own: tackle Chris Samuels, who received the largest signing bonus in team history.
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Samuels and the team reached agreement Tuesday night for a multiyear deal that includes a signing bonus of $15.75 million, according to an official in the league who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Further details were not immediately available, but the deal solves a pressing need just before the start of free agency at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Samuels' contract was scheduled to count a whopping $9.5 million against the salary cap this year, constraining the team's ability to re-sign players and acquire new ones.

Samuels' bonus exceeds the club-record $15.5 million linebacker LaVar Arrington received in his nine-year, $68 million contract signed in December 2003.

The No. 3 overall pick in the 2000 draft, Samuels rebounded with a solid season last year after a tentative 2003 in which he was hobbled with a knee injury. He made the Pro Bowl in 2001 and 2002.

Samuels' signing reflects a different attitude for the Redskins entering free agency than in past years, when owner Dan Snyder was jetting parades of players across the country to make big-splash signings. This year, the team is focused more on re-signing its own players while dealing with disenchantment from a couple of others.

The top free agent priorities are receiver and center, with Baltimore center Casey Rabach expected to be the only courted visitor at Redskins Park on Wednesday. The shorter shopping list that gives Coach Joe Gibbs time to deal with a series of unresolved developments.

Receiver Laveranues Coles wants to leave, but his contract demands are a stumbling block to a trade and the Redskins don't want to cut him. Receiver Rod Gardner also wants out, and he's been given permission to seek a trade. Middle linebacker Antonio Pierce and cornerback Fred Smoot are "real Redskins" that Gibbs wants as part of his core group, but both want to test the open market before re-signing.

Now comes free agency, when the Redskins usually steal the show. Marcus Washington, Shawn Springs, Cornelius Griffin and Phillip Daniels were signed quickly last year, while trades were completed for Mark Brunell and Clinton Portis in a pace so furious that multiple pilots were needed to fly Snyder's hired jet.

This year, the top need is a receiver to replace Gardner -- perhaps Cincinnati's T.J. Houshmandzadeh -- and a center to upgrade a position held by Cory Raymer and Lennie Friedman last season. A second receiver could be needed, depending on the resolution of Coles' situation. Cornerback becomes a major priority if Smoot doesn't re-sign, although reports touting an interest in Samari Rolle, recently released by Tennessee, were premature at best.

Smoot has said he wants to return, but he balked at the Redskins' offer of a $10.3 million signing bonus -- even though it would top the $10.25 million Springs received last year. Pierce, who emerged from obscurity to become one of the leaders of the third-ranked defense in the league, wants to wade into the free agent waters but has said he will give the Redskins a chance to counter any offer he gets.

"Hopefully we can get all those guys taken care of," Gibbs said. "The only time I think we'll lose somebody is if it's totally unworkable. Everybody knows who we value as real Redskins."

Coles probably no longer counts as a "real Redskin" after expressing his desire to leave because his frustration over Gibbs' conservative offense. However, the Redskins don't want to release a player who caught 90 passes last year and get nothing in return - especially since cutting him would cause his contract to count $9.3 million against the salary cap this year.

The Redskins would be amenable to a trade -- Coles for Santana Moss in a swap with the New York Jets is a possibility -- but the Jets and other teams aren't enthusiastic about Coles' desire for a new contract if he switches teams. Complicating matters is a $5 million bonus due to Coles on April 1, which could be paid by either the Redskins or a new team.

"Laveranues Coles is a very valuable guy," Gibbs said. "If we can work something out with somebody, that would be fine."
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service