Cooley signs $30 million extension with Commanders
ESPN.com news services
Updated: September 2, 2007, 11:58 AM ET
Cooley
Funny that a player nicknamed "Captain Chaos" would be seeking stability. Tight end
Chris Cooley got just that Saturday, signing a six-year,
$30 million contract extension with the
Washington Commanders.
Cooley, 6-foot-3, 265 pounds, was scheduled to earn a base salary of $850,000 for 2007.
The contract includes $14 million in guaranteed money for the player whose colorful outfits and antics are matched only by his reliability and strength as one of the Commanders' best offensive weapons. Cooley caught 57 passes for 734 yards and six touchdowns last season and led all NFL tight ends in yards after the catch (7.35) and yards after contact (4.1).
"It feels so good," Cooley said. "My biggest worry was that I just wanted to be here. I can play my whole career with the Commanders; that's an unbelievable thing."
A third-round draft pick from Utah State in 2004, Cooley has 165 catches for 1,822 yards over three seasons and has yet to miss a game. His rookie contract was due to expire at the end of this season. He and the Commanders have been talking about an extension for months without much progress -- until Cooley pressed for a resolution over the last four days.
"I'm very happy that it's not a worry once the season starts," Cooley said. "Even last season, I thought about it a lot. You're thinking about your whole future and your life. Now I can focus on playing football, making the Pro Bowl."
Cooley's production dropped last season as he and the rest of the offense adjusted to the schemes of new assistant coach Al Saunders. He looked more comfortable in training camp and has developed into the second option in the passing game behind wideout
Santana Moss.
Saunders, a former offensive coordinator with Kansas City, said he plans to use Cooley the same way he used
Tony Gonzalez with the Chiefs.
"It's great to get this done and get this out of the way," coach Joe Gibbs said. "He's earned it. He's always been one of our hardest workers."
Cooley took the backdoor route to get his contract talks resolved. He said he started discussing the matter with assistant coaches earlier this week, and they sent the word along the pipeline, through the Commanders hierarchy and all the way up to owner Dan Snyder.
"I really tried to push it from my end to have it over with," Cooley said. "The Commanders made it easy. I think it was understood that I had outplayed my rookie contract."
The Associated Press and ESPN.com senior writers John Clayton and Len Pasquarelli contributed to this report.
