The Sports Xchange

The Washington Redskins signed linebacker Ryan Kerrigan to a multi-year contract extension Wednesday.

Terms were not disclosed, but NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Kerrigan received a five-year extension that pays him $11.5 million per year, $57.5 million total, with a $16 million signing bonus. Kerrigan is scheduled to earn $7.03 million this season in the fifth-year option the Redskins picked up.

Kerrigan’s deal now makes him the NFL’s third-high paid linebacker, behind Kansas City’s Justin Houston and Clay Matthews of Green Bay.

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Kerrigan has started every game since the Redskins made him a first-round pick (16th overall) in 2011 and he set a career-high with 13.5 sacks last season.

Kerrigan started all 64 of the team’s regular-season games from 2011-14 as well as starting in the NFC wild-card game during the 2012 season. He was selected to the 2013 Pro Bowl following the 2012 season.

“To get to a moment like this where you get a chance to play out the rest of your NFL career with the team that drafted you, the team that you love, the city that you love, it hasn’t really hit me yet, but it’s an awesome feeling,” Kerrigan said in a statement. “Now it’s my job to go reward the Redskins for the faith they put in me by playing well this year and for the rest of my career.”

For his career, Kerrigan has compiled 248 tackles (52 for loss), 38 sacks, 16 passes defensed, 15 forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions (both returned for touchdowns). His 15 forced fumbles since entering the league in 2011 rank second in the NFL in that time frame.

Last season, the 26-year-old Kerrigan tied for the league lead in forced fumbles (five) and ranked second in the NFC with a career-high 13.5 sacks.