Washington re-signs Taylor Heinicke
February 11, 2021
by Steve Thomas
Washington announced yesterday that the team has re-signed quarterback Taylor Heinicke to a two year contract reportedly worth a total of $8.75M.
Heinicke, who stands 6’1” and weighs 210 pounds and played his college ball at Old Dominion University, bounced around the NFL before finding a home in Washington. He went undrafted in the 2015 NFL draft, but was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Minnesota Vikings, where he first encountered current Washington offensive coordinator Scott Turner, who was then the Vikings’ quarterbacks coach. He was released by the Vikings after two injury-marred seasons. Heinicke then spent a brief period with the New England Patriots before being released again in October. He was picked up by the Houston Texans for the 2017 season, then reunited with Turner in Carolina in 2018. The injury bug struck Heinicke again, however, as he suffered an elbow injury in week 16 that season and was again placed on injured reserve for the final week of Carolina’s 2018 season. The Panthers re-signed Heinicke for the 2019 season, but subsequently cut him at the end of training camp. He was out of the NFL until Washington signed him to be the emergency quarterback late last season.
Heinicke improbably produced when given an opportunity in week 16 in relief of the injured Alex Smith, going 12 for 19 for 137 yards and 1 touchdown in less than two quarters of action. He then played at a level far above expectations in the Redskins’ Washington’s Wild Card game against the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Tom Bradys, completing 26 passes in 44 attempts for 306 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception (caused by a tipped ball). Incredibly, Heinicke was the first undrafted quarterback to start a playoff game for Washington since 1932.
In total, Heinicke’s NFL regular season stats include regular season 8 games played with 1 start, 48 completions in 77 attempts, 467 yards a 62.3% completion percentage, 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and a 71.7 quarterback rating. Those stats do not include last season’s playoff game.
With the 36 year old Smith as the only quarterback on the roster, Washington was desperate for help at the position. The details about the structure of and the guarantees in Heinicke’s new contract haven’t been released, but $8.75M is a pretty big number for a guy expected to just be a third string / emergency quarterback. This contract should tell you that Heinicke is at a minimum being given a shot to be the principal backup to the to-be-determined starter, or maybe even a chance to compete to start while the team grooms a highly drafted rookie. This will not be the only move the team makes, and a significant part of the team’s plan resides with what decision Smith makes about his future. Regardless, though, Heinicke clearly showed the coaching staff enough to prove that he belongs in the mix for next season regardless of whoever else ends up in the quarterback room. The next step for him is to stay healthy, because that’s what has really held back his career so far. How far can he go now? It looks like we’ll find out.
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UPDATE:
Ben Standig with the Athletic and Sam Fortier of the Washington Post reported that Heinicke’s contract includes a $1M signing bonus, base salaries of $1M in 2021, with $500K guaranteed, and $1.5M in 2022, plus roster bonuses, bonuses for regular season and playoff wins, and play time percentage incentives that raise the value of the contract up to the reported $8.75M. This means that Heinicke’s salary cap figure for 2021 should be $1.5M and $2M in 2022 unless those figures increase by the existence “expected to be earned” incentives which would count against the cap.
If this information is accurate, then this contract is a reasonable deal for a player who will be given a chance to compete for playing time.