Even with one game still left on the season, the Washington Football Team has taken care of one of its bigger items on the club's offseason to-do list. On Friday, the team announced that they had signed left tackle Charles Leno to a three-year extension. According to the NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport, it's a $37.5 million extension. The 30-year-old was set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Throughout the 2021 season, Leno proved to be a sturdy addition along the offensive line, particularly in pass-blocking sets. He's started in all 16 of Washington's games entering Week 18 and is currently the third-highest-graded pass-blocking tackle in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. In 655 pass-blocking snaps, Leno has allowed just six sacks and seven quarterback hits along with 23 hurries.
The Boise State product originally entered the league as a seventh-round draft choice of the Bears and had developed into a solid tackle along the O-line and was a Pro Bowler in 2018. He was released by the Bears in early May of last year and only lasted a few weeks on the market before Washington inked him to a one-year deal, which has proven to be one of the better additions of the offseason for the club.
This also isn't the first time that Leno has cashed in on a big-money deal as he previously inked a $38 million deal with Chicago in 2017.
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