NFL: Washington Football Team re-signs Taylor Heinicke

Taylor Heinicke is sticking around with the Washington Football Team.

The franchise announced on Wednesday that it had re-signed Heinicke with a two-year contract extension, keeping the 27-year-old quarterback on the roster for the foreseeable future.

Officially official ✍️ pic.twitter.com/9cF8Qg66xQ

— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) February 10, 2021

Both the NFL Network/NFL.com's Ian Rapoport and ESPN's John Keim reported, citing sources, that the deal is worth $8.75 million. If he hadn't agreed to terms with Washington, Heinicke would have been a restricted free agent.

Washington will likely still be in the QB market this offseason. But this is an important domino and a very cool story. This deal was negotiated by @chriscabott of @SteinbergSports, who also recently negotiated extensions for Patrick Mahomes and Jeff Wilson. Now, Heinicke. https://t.co/epW8F272aO

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 10, 2021

"It's a good feeling," Heinicke said, according to an article posted on the WFT official site. "Everyone knows I was at home taking math classes ... so for this contact to come, it's a big sigh of relief. I'm really excited.

"This is the place I wanted to be, so everything came together pretty smoothly, and I'm really excited to be back."

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Heinicke went from taking classes to back in NFL

Wild Card Round - Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Washington Football Team

Washington on Dec. 8 signed Heinicke to its practice squad, but his rise with the team was quick. He was taking classes at Old Dominion, where he played college football, when he received the call.

Shortly after, Heinicke was added to the active roster, replacing Dwayne Haskins in Week 16. He started in a playoff game against the league-champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, throwing for 306 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

He also ran for an eight-yard score in the loss.

After starting four seasons at Old Dominion, Heinicke went undrafted and signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

After being waived by the Vikings, Heinicke had stints with the New England Patriots, Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers and the XFL's St. Louis BattleHawks. With the Panthers, Heinicke appeared in six games, starting one.

Heinicke was without a team from April to December after the XFL was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There's a few times when you look back at your NFL career and you wonder, 'Could I have worked harder, could I have prepared better?'" Heinicke said, per the WFT article. "And when I came to Washington, that wasn't going to be a thought I was going to have after this season.

"Every second that I was there, even when I got home, was dedicated to if I got this shot, I want to get back in. It's a dream of mine. You learn some things throughout the years, and you take it and leave it, and I feel like I'm a better person because of that.," Heinicke said.