DATE: Tuesday, July 29, 1997                TAG: 9707290451

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: FROSTBURG, MD.                    LENGTH:   86 lines

REDSKINS SIGN TOP DRAFT PICK LANG FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT WORTH $5.775 MILLION ENDS HOLDOUT BY THE DEFENSIVE END; TURK ALSO NEARING DEAL.

Negotiations that broke down like an old DeSoto finally netted a compromise Monday that the Washington Redskins and holdout top draft pick Kenard Lang could stomach. Lang signed a five-year contract worth $5.775 million and reported to the team's training camp here 17 days later than anticipated.

``It was like working on an antique car,'' Lang said of his protracted negotiations. ``You inspect things and you keep working on them until everything is just right.''

Redskins coach Norv Turner said that Lang, a 6-foot-4, 277-pound right defensive end, will play Saturday night in the team's first exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

``Whether he starts or not, we need him to play well,'' Turner said. ``If he plays to his level of potential, we'll add responsibility as time goes on. But it's good to have it done and have him on the way.''

In addition, the five-year deal between the Redskins and Pro Bowl punter Matt Turk that appeared imminent Monday still wasn't finalized.

Turk's brother and agent, Washington center Dan Turk, met with general manager Charley Casserly after practice, then was excused from afternoon workouts and drove to Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia to meet his brother and review a five-year deal reportedly worth $2.7 million. Late Monday night, Casserly said he hadn't heard from either player.

``We drafted (Lang) with the idea that he could help us this year and I think for that to happen, it was imperative to get this done so that he could have the four preseason games and the week before the season-opener to get ready,'' Casserly said.

The agreement - in which Lang received a $2.5 million signing bonus and annual salaries of $435,500, $545,500, $655,500, $765,500 and $875,500 - wasn't reached until noon Monday. That culminated an intense night of negotiations between Redskins' director of player development Joe Mendes, Lang, Lang's father Calvin and agent Arthur Sims in Orlando. Lang, who from the start wanted a four-year deal, agreed to the additional year when the Redskins sweetened the pot with incentives.

``My father played a significant role,'' Lang admitted. His father played briefly for the Cleveland Browns and sources inside the Redskins said that little progress was made in the last week until Calvin Lang became involved on Sunday.

Casserly wouldn't elaborate on the specifics of the incentives, but sources said that Lang's fifth-year salary could be as much as $900,000 more than the contract stipulates should he and the team reach certain objectives in his fourth contract year.

``We were up until the wee hours of the morning,'' Sims said. ``There was a little give and take on both sides to get the kid into camp.''

Lang will compete for the starting right defensive end's spot with veteran Dexter Nottage and second-year pro Kelvin Kinney, and would appear to be a virtual lock to open the season among the top 11. Nottage is suffering from back spasms and Kinney is coming off a first pro season spent recovering from two foot surgeries.

The troops are so thin on the line that the Redskins moved free-agent linebacker R-Kal Trueluck to defensive end on Saturday. Trueluck is a muscular 6-4, 240-pounder from tiny Cortland State in New York who has pass-rush experience in college.

Lang started every game for the Hurricanes at right defensive end last season and led them with 11 1/2 sacks, fourth-most in school history. He also led the team with seven tackles for losses. He was 1994 Big East rookie of the year.

``He plays tough,'' defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said. ``He plays into people. A lot of college people play around the edges because they're afraid they'll get beat around the end. A rookie like that usually makes you better at a position because they either beat out a veteran or because they push the veteran to a higher level.''

Meanwhile, no progress was reported in the holdout of defensive tackle Sean Gilbert, one which now shows signs of lasting through training camp and deep into the exhibition season.

NOTES: Receiver Michael Westbrook returns to practice today after being held out of workouts since last Wednesday with cellulitis with lymphangitis of the left leg. ``It's like flu to the 10th power,'' said Westbrook. . . . Another wideout, rookie Albert Connell, was held out of most of Monday's two workouts. He suffered a mild achilles injury when he stepped in a hole, then aggravated it when Darrell Green stepped on the back of his leg during a drill. . . . Former Virginia defensive lineman Don Reynolds's MRI showed enough cartilage damage in his right knee to sideline him for four weeks. . . camp late last Friday. ILLUSTRATION: Kenard Lang missed 17 days of Redskins training camp,

but will play in Saturday's exhibition against Tampa Bay.

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