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

Two weeks after they caused an uproar by benching him in the final 1:50 of a loss to the Detroit Lions, the Redskins on Monday signed McNabb to a five-year contract extension worth $78 million, with about $40 million guaranteed, according to his agent, Fletcher Smith.

A source told ESPN NFL Insider Michael Smith, who first reported the agreement, that McNabb's contract could be worth $88 million if incentives in the contract are reached.

The extension gives top-grade money to a quarterback who is about to turn 34 and is having his worst season since he was a rookie. But the Redskins have decided the six-time Pro Bowler is 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. "He knows he's going to be a Redskin; now he can focus on playing football."

"I've always said I wanted to be here," McNabb said after Washington's 59-28 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, a game that began a few hours after the contract was announced.

McNabb was 17-for-31 for 295 yards with two touchdown passes and three interceptions, including one returned for a score, and he did not want to discuss the contract after the lopsided loss.

Others were happy to weigh in, however.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Terrell Owens, who has been critical of McNabb since the two were teammates in Philadelphia, called out his former quarterback and the Redskins for the deal.

"How do u justify a 78 million dollar contract w/this type of performance?," Owens said on his Twitter account late Monday night.

Sources familiar with the situation told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that the contract had been on the table for weeks and the two sides nearly finalized the deal before the Redskins played the Eagles in Philadelphia in Week 4.

Asked prior to Monday night's kickoff whether he thought his client's benching gave him and McNabb more leverage in talks, Smith said, "I think [a deal] would have happened whether he'd been benched or not."