Free agency opened Tuesday afternoon
and so far, the Redskins have stayed relatively quiet choosing instead to focus
on re-signing and re-structuring the contracts of players already on the roster
rather than signing big name free agents with high price tags.
While the Redskins have largely been
forced to stand pat due to the $18 million cap penalty imposed by the NFL,
their patience may be the clearest sign yet that this organization has turned a
corner.
The Redskins’ have thus far signed
only two free agents: offensive tackles Tony Pashos and Jeremy Trueblood. They
have also re-signed Logan Paulsen, Darrel Young, Rob Jackson, Kory
Lichtensteiger, Nick Sundberg, Sav Rocca, and Kedric Golston. None of these are
real earth-shattering moves, but they are very low-risk and, most importantly,
fairly cheap.
The Redskins were forced to
restructure several contracts in order to keep many of their key players and
still get below the cap. They did not, however, follow the Vinny Cerrato model
of restructuring. Previously, the team would push the total amount owed to a
player back, meaning the player would still earn the full amount of their
contracts but the bulk would be earned in the latter years. Essentially, it was
the Redskins way of kicking the can down the road. Since the team could not
afford said players, pushing the money back year after year only exacerbated
the situation. The Redskins found themselves with a terrible team they could
not afford to pay.
This year, the team had a very
different philosophy. Instead of pushing the money back, they have instead
convinced players to accept pay cuts.
As of now, Adam Carriker, Santana
Moss, and Brandon Meriweather have all agreed to restructure their contracts
and take pay cuts. It is amazing what players are willing to do to play on a
good team. This would have been a much tougher sell had the Redskins gone 6-10
last season.
The Redskins also had to make a very
frank assessment of their roster to see who will be part of the team’s future
and move on from players who will not. The team will not re-sign Brandon Banks
or Jammal Brown whose contracts just expired. They also cut DeAngelo Hall whose
contract was set to count $8 million against the cap.
While these moves all appear to be
smart and necessary that is not to say the Redskins are not feeling the sting
of their suddenly tight purse strings.
Team leader and Pro Bowler Lorenzo
Alexander will not be returning next season. The Redskins were forced to
low-ball their offer to him and he instead chose to sign in Arizona. The
departure of Hall also leaves the team with a single starting cornerback on the
roster, Josh Wilson, and no money to sign a replacement. The draft pool for
defensive backs appears to be fairly deep, but as the team is equally as thin
at safety and without a first round pick, you cannot reasonably believe the
Redskins will be able to revamp the backfield through the draft alone.
With several holes left to fill and
few draft picks, I believe the Redskins are not done with restructuring
contracts. Trent Williams seems the most likely candidate as he has been with
the team since 2010 and, according to Fox Sports, is the highest paid player on
the team.
There is also the question of Fred
Davis. As of today (Thursday), he remains unsigned. That is good for the
Redskins because if he had been given a blockbuster deal, he would have taken
it. Teams will be spooked by his drug suspension and injury concerns, but he
will still seek a large deal and that could put him out of reach. Adam Schefter
reported today that Davis was choosing between Washington and Cleveland. If the
Redskins get into a bidding war with the Browns, they will lose. Even so, it
might not be a bad thing at this point. A starting cornerback may be more
important than another starting tight end.
Despite the turmoil and the lack of
cap room this season, the Redskins seem to have handled the situation well (now
that they have begun dealing with the penalty rather than threatening fruitless
appeals). With several holes left to fill and with the draft coming up, the
Redskins will still seek whatever cap room they can find to try and patch
together their roster for next season.
While I understand and applaud most
of the moves the team has made thus far, I do not have high hopes for the 2013
season. As the cap penalty and free agency began to play out, we really began
to understand just how deep the penalty cut. The defense had some glaring holes
last season and chances are it is probably going to look worse in 2013. I do
not see how the secondary can be better with late-round draft picks and bargain-basement
players. The return of Meriweather will help, but you cannot rely on him to
remain healthy and you still need another starting safety and a cornerback.
The Redskins may again have to rely
very heavily on their offense and, with Robert Griffin III still recovering, I
am not sure how well the offense will be able to shoulder the load.
Don’t despair though fans, if you
take a long-term perspective, things are looking up. The Redskins will have
that $18 million back for 2014 and will be able to make a splash then. The core
that Mike Shanahan has built through the draft will still be largely intact,
there hopefully will be no doubts surrounding Griffin’s health headed into the
season, and the Redskins will have approximately $18 million extra in cap space
to work with.
I’m not declaring 2013 a throw-away
season because it is not; they have potential to compete as they did last year.
If you are talking championship though, the Redskins can stay the course and
really be in good shape for 2014.
All it will take is a little patience.
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