LANDOVER, Md. » Never mind whether Donovan McNabb can go for 2 minutes. The Washington Redskins have decided they’d like to have him around for another five years.

And never mind whether he was worth a pair of draft picks. The Redskins figure he’s worth $40 million in guaranteed money.

Two weeks after they caused an uproar by benching him in the final 1:50 of a loss to the Detroit Lions, the Redskins yesterday signed McNabb to a five-year contract extension worth $78 million — giving top-grade money to a quarterback who is about to turn 34 and is having his worst season since he was a rookie.

Stats aside, however, the Redskins have decided the six-time Pro Bowler will remain a centerpiece in coach Mike Shanahan’s rebuilding project, even as both endure growing pains with the Redskins’ new offense.

"Now he doesn’t have to focus or concentrate on what next year will bring," said Fletcher Smith, McNabb’s agent. "He knows he’s going to be a Redskin; now he can focus on playing football."

The deal came with impeccable timing. It was announced a few hours before McNabb and the Redskins lost 59-28 to the quarterback’s longtime team, the Philadelphia Eagles, in last night’s game. McNabb was 17-for-31 for 295 yards with two touchdown passes and three interceptions.

The deal also came before McNabb took his first snap following the bizarre Halloween events in Detroit.

With the Redskins trailing by six points, Shanahan yanked McNabb for Rex Grossman, only the second time McNabb has been benched during a game in his career. Grossman lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown, and Washington lost 37-25 to drop to 4-4.

Pulling McNabb was baffling enough, but Shanahan compounded the matter by offering varying explanations over multiple days.

First, Shanahan said he felt Grossman was more knowledgeable in the team’s 2-minute offense. Then the coach said McNabb lacked the "cardiovascular endurance" to run a fast-paced drill because of nagging hamstring injuries. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said McNabb had been tipped in advance that the team might go with Grossman; McNabb claimed he didn’t hear that.

The confusion put the Redskins in the spotlight during their bye week. It had always been assumed the Redskins would sign McNabb to an extension before his contract expired at the end of the season, but had Shanahan lost confidence in him? And would McNabb even want to stay?

The answers, apparently, are no and yes. Smith said the benching had no effect on the negotiations, which had been ongoing to some degree since McNabb was acquired from the Eagles for two draft picks in April.

"Once the regular season started, we really were aiming toward the bye week, and it came together," Redskins general manager Bruce Allen said. "I think Coach and myself said that Donovan’s going to be here from the beginning and Donovan has been real clear in his intent of being a Redskin. So I think it just puts an exclamation point on it."

Smith admitted he felt "a little bit of shock" when he was watching television and saw McNabb yanked.

"The last 2 minutes of the game, that’s really where you earn your money," Smith said. "It didn’t make sense to me."

EAGLES 59, REDSKINS 28

First Quarter
Phi–D.Jackson 88 pass from Vick (Akers kick), 14:42.
Phi–Vick 7 run (Akers kick), 10:17.
Phi–McCoy 11 pass from Vick (Akers kick), 5:02.
Phi–Harrison 50 run (Akers kick), 1:55.

Second Quarter
Phi–Maclin 48 pass from Vick (Akers kick), 14:51.
Was–Young 3 pass from McNabb (Gano kick), 14:15.
Was–K.Williams 6 pass from McNabb (Gano kick), 9:39.
Phi–Vick 6 run (Akers kick), 3:34.
Phi–FG Akers 48, :25.

Third Quarter
Was–K.Williams 4 run (Gano kick), 11:27.
Phi–Avant 3 pass from Vick (Akers kick), 6:15.
Phi–D.Patterson 40 interception return (Akers kick), 5:19.

Fourth Quarter
Was–K.Williams 32 run (Gano kick), 11:16.
A–84,912.

RUSHING–Philadelphia, Harrison 11-109, Vick 8-80, McCoy 11-43, Buckley 5-13, Maclin 1-11, D.Jackson 1-5, Kolb 1-(minus 1). Washington, K.Williams 16-89, Young 1-16, McNabb 1-0.
PASSING–Philadelphia, Vick 20-28-0-333. Washington, McNabb 17-31-3-295.
RECEIVING–Philadelphia, Avant 5-76, McCoy 5-51, Maclin 4-79, D.Jackson 2-98, Celek 2-8, Harrison 1-15, Schmitt 1-6. Washington, K.Williams 4-50, Armstrong 3-83, Moss 3-28, Cooley 3-23, Davis 1-71, Sellers 1-28, R.Williams 1-9, Young 1-3.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE

NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE

Week 11

Thursday
» Chicago at Miami, 3:20 p.m.

Sunday
» Detroit at Dallas, 8 a.m.
» Oakland at Pittsburgh, 8 a.m.
» Washington at Tennessee, 8 a.m.
» Houston at N.Y. Jets, 8 a.m.
» Buffalo at Cincinnati, 8 a.m.
» Arizona at Kansas City, 8 a.m.
» Cleveland at Jacksonville, 8 a.m.
» Baltimore at Carolina, 8 a.m.
» Green Bay at Minnesota, 8 a.m.
» Atlanta at St. Louis, 11:05 a.m.
» Seattle at New Orleans, 11:05 a.m.
» Tampa Bay at San Francisco, 11:05 a.m.
» Indianapolis at New England, 11:15 a.m.
» N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia, 3:20 p.m.

Monday
» Denver at San Diego, 3:30 p.m.

Week 12

Thursday, Nov. 25
» New England at Detroit, 7:30 a.m.
» New Orleans at Dallas, 11:15 a.m.
» Cincinnati at NY Jets, 3:20 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 28
» Green Bay at Atlanta, 8 a.m.
» Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 8 a.m.
» Philadelphia at Chicago, 8 a.m.
» Carolina at Cleveland, 8 a.m.
» Jacksonville at NY Giants, 8 a.m.
» Minnesota at Washington, 8 a.m.
» Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 8 a.m.
» Tennessee at Houston, 8 a.m.
» Kansas City at Seattle, 11:05 a.m.
» Miami at Oakland, 11:05 a.m.
» St. Louis at Denver, 11:15 a.m.
» San Diego at Indianapolis, 3:20 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 29
» San Francisco at Arizona, 3:30 p.m.