Mar 5 | REDSKINS SIGN ALEXANDER, DANIELS, WILLIAMS

  LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA – The Washington Redskins announced today that they have signed restricted free agent linebacker Lorenzo Alexander to a contract extension and signed defensive end Phillip Daniels and offensive lineman Mike Williams.  Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

 

Alexander, 26, has played in 44 games with Washington over the last three seasons, playing mostly on the defensive line, while also seeing action on the offensive line and being a core special teams player. He originally joined the Redskins practice squad in 2006 from Carolina, where he entered the NFL as a college free agent in 2005.

“Lorenzo is a versatile athlete who will contribute on our defense and on special teams,” Redskins Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. “We are excited to have him as part of our program and look forward to working with him this offseason.”

 

In 2009, Alexander played in all 16 games as a defensive tackle and defensive end, totaling 22 tackles, two sacks, one pass defensed, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.  He also finished seventh on the team with 12 special teams tackles and forced one fumble.

 

Alexander, a Berkeley, Calif., native and University of California graduate, was born May 31, 1983.

 

Daniels joined the Redskins in 2004 and has started all 68 games in which he played over the next five seasons.  He started in all 16 regular season games in 2009 and totaled 46 tackles, one sack and three passes defensed.  Daniels helped Washington finish ranked 10^th in the NFL in overall defense last season.  Washington has finished among the top 10 in overall defense in six of the seven seasons since Daniels has joined the team. His best season in Washington came in 2005 when he totaled 72 tackles and a team-best eight sacks.

 

“We are excited to have Phillip onboard as we prepare for our offseason conditioning program,” Shanahan said.

 

The 37-year-old Daniels will be playing in his 15^th NFL season after originally entering the league as a fourth-round selection (99^th overall) of Seattle in the 1996 draft out of the University of Georgia. He spent his first four seasons with the Seahawks before joining Chicago in 2000, where he would play four more years.

 

For his career, the 6-foot-6, 305-pound Daniels has played in 187 games, starting 167, and registered 615 tackles, 60 sacks, 16 forced fumbles and 12 fumble recoveries. His 60 career sacks rank 20th among players who were active in 2009.  He is the 87^th player in NFL history to record at least 60 career sacks.

Daniels was born March 4, 1973, and attended Seminole County High School in Donalsonville, Ga.

 

Williams, who originally signed with Washington on April 24, 2009, played in nine games with eights starts for the Redskins last season.  He started at both the right guard (five games) and right tackle (three games) positions.  Williams made his first start at Carolina on Oct. 11, 2009, marking his first start since the 2005 season.  He was active but did not play in the Redskins’ first four regular season games prior to starting at right guard against the Panthers.  Williams missed the regular season finale at San Diego after being placed on Injured Reserve with a toe injury on Dec. 30, 2009.

 

“Mike showed a tremendous work ethic and willingness to do whatever the team asked of him, and those are two of the traits we're looking for in Redskins players,” Shanahan said. “We believe that he's only scratched the surface of his abilities so far, and look forward to seeing what he can do after a full offseason in our program.”

 

Entering his seventh NFL season, Williams, 30, has played in 60 career games with 58 starts for the Buffalo Bills (2002-05) and the Redskins (2009).  He spent the 2006 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Injured Reserve and was out of football during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

 

Williams was selected in the first round (fourth overall pick) by the Bills in the 2002 NFL Draft after a decorated career at the University of Texas. He earned first-team All-America honors as a senior from the Walter Camp Foundation and Football News, and second-team honors from the Associated Press and the Sporting News.

Williams was born Jan. 11, 1980, in Dallas.