Despite all Dan Snyder's maneuvering during the first week of free agency, the Washington Redskins owner had yet to address a need for outside speed on offense, failed to add a viable deep threat for Steve Spurrier's offense.

'A receiver's dream'

Laveranues Coles said Monday he hopes the Jets don't match the seven-year, $35 million offer sheet that he agreed to with the Redskins on Sunday, the Washington Post reported. "They've showed me how much they want me here," Coles told the newspaper during a brief stop at Redskins Park before heading to a dinner meeting with Redskins officials. "This is where I want to be, being that they stepped out on a limb for me. That's saying a lot, to make that statement toward me." Coles called it "a receiver's dream" to play for coach Steve Spurrier. Coles was recruited to play at the University of Florida by Spurrier as a running back at Ribault High School in Jacksonville, Fla., but chose Florida State. "You know you're going to get your opportunities in his offense," Coles said. "That's all a receiver wants, is a chance." The Jets also Monday signed Patrick Johnson to a one-year contract as un unrestricted free agent from Jacksonville. -- ESPN.com news services

That may have changed, however, late Sunday night.

ESPN.com has learned that, after two full days of frenetic but clandestine negotiations, the Redskins have agreed in principle to an offer sheet with New York Jets restricted free-agent wide receiver Laveranues Coles.

The deal is for seven years, ESPN.com has confirmed, and is worth $35 million. It includes a signing bonus of $13 million, which is the largest ever paid to a wide receiver in a first "rider," and a roster bonus of $2 million in July of 2006. The cap number for the 2003 season would be about $2.31 million.

In many elements, the contract is superior to the one that Peerless Price signed on Friday with the Atlanta Falcons after being traded by the Buffalo Bills for a first-round draft choice.

Coles will fly to Washington on Tuesday to sign the offer sheet, and it will then be submitted to the league office, barring any snags. The Jets will have one week to match it or lose their premier wide receiver to the Redskins. If The Jets decide to match, they will retain Coles, a three-year veteran, at the lucrative terms negotiated by the Redskins.

If the Jets decline to match the offer, Coles would to Washington, and New York would be awarded the Redskins' first-round draft choice this year, the 13th overall selection, as compensation. New York retained a right of first refusal, and established the first-round compensation level, by tendering to Coles a qualifying offer of $1.318 million last month.

It is the second time in less than a week that the Redskins signed a restricted free agent from the Jets to an offer sheet. Washington signed kick return specialist Chad Morton to a five-year, $7.945 million offer sheet last week and New York has until Thursday to either match that deal or accept at fifth-round draft pick as compensation.

Early indications from Jets sources are that the team will not match the offer sheet to Coles but will retain Morton.

Washington also signed former Jets star guard Randy Thomas, who was an unrestricted free agent, to a seven-year, $28 million contract on Feb. 28, the first day of the signing period.

Coles, 25, is an explosive playmaker with great speed and quickness, superb run-after-catch ability, and a tailback-type physique. Coles had a breakout season in 2002, with 89 receptions for 1,264 yards and five touchdowns. In his first two seasons the former Florida State standout, a third-round choice in the 2000 draft, totaled 81 catches, 1,238 yards and eight touchdowns.

His statistics last year were comparable to those of Price and the Redskins contend that Coles posted his numbers as the Jets "lead" receiver. Price, they emphasized privately as they worked feverishly on the Coles deal during the weekend, had the benefit of playing opposite Eric Moulds in Buffalo, and usually worked against single coverage.

The pursuit of Coles began late on Friday night when Snyder phoned agent Roosevelt Barnes and, after the two discussed the possibility of reaching an accord, spoke with the wide receiver via three-way hookup. On Saturday morning, Redskins personnel director Vinny Cerrato, who was in Chicago at the time, arranged for an assistant to pull three videotape clips of Coles from 2002 games and put them on Spurrier's desk for his review.

Once the head coach assessed that Coles was superior to any prospect the Redskins would land with their first-round selection next month -- and that it would be less expensive to sacrifice that choice than to attempt to trade up in the round to land either Charles Rogers of Michigan State or Andre Johnson of Miami -- Snyder and Barnes intensified their negotiations.

The negotiations finally wrapped up at about 11:30 p.m. after Barnes reviewed the major components details of the offer sheet with Coles and the wide receiver verbally approved it. Barnes then phoned Snyder to accept it.

Barnes had met with New York officials two weeks ago at the NFL combine workouts in Indianapolis in an attempt to strike a long-term contract for his client. But those discussions were unproductive and, shortly thereafter, the negotiations broke off.

It appeared, before Snyder entered the picture, that Coles would simply play for the one-year qualifying offer in 2003. He would then become eligible for unrestricted free agency next spring.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.