With their salary cap coffers augmented by the retirement of Deion Sanders,
the Washington Redskins on Thursday afternoon reached contract agreement
with first-round draft pick Rod Gardner, a wide receiver from Clemson.
The 15th player selected overall, Gardner will sign a five-year contract
worth $7.78 million. The contract includes a $3.3 million signing bonus and an option payment of $1.8 million next spring. Including incentives and escalators, the deal could be worth as much as $11.4 million.
Agent Joel Segal traveled early Thursday morning to the team's Carlisle,
Pa., training camp for face-to-face talks after negotiations reached an
impasse over the Redskins' reluctance to include an incentives package in
its proposal.
"Rod wanted to get to camp," Segal said. "The Redskins wanted him there, and a
signed contract was a win-win."
Gardner, 23, should challenge for significant playing time as a rookie. He
is the kind of bigger and more physical wide receiver (6-feet-2¼, 216
pounds) whom coach Marty Schottenheimer and coordinator Jimmy Raye prefer in
a design built around high-percentage passes.
He can fight through the initial jam at the line of scrimmage, uses his
frame to gain position on defensive backs, and goes aggressively for the
ball in traffic. Gardner is adept at adding yardage after the catch, a
priority in the Washington offensive scheme.
Gardner played all four years at Clemson, appearing in 47 games and starting
26 of them. He had 166 catches for 2,498 yards and 13 touchdowns. He went
over the 1,000-yard mark in both his junior and senior seasons and was also
used sporadically on kickoff returns.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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