Redskins flying under the radar today

The team that was supposed to be among the most active in free agency, the Redskins, have been very much out of the limelight today.

The NFL’s schedule of events dictated that today would be mostly about undrafted free agent players and the releases of some veteran players as salary cap casualties (although such moves can’t be made official until 4 p.m. on Thursday). And the Redskins have been very quiet on both fronts.

No announcements or reports of pending releases have come from either the Redskins or from other sources. A number of players showed up at Redskins Park today as the gates for them for the first time since March and none of them left soon after arrival. The Redskins are about $26 million under the salary cap so they do not have to make moves to lower their cap number as some other teams do.

So far, we have just three reported signings of undrafted college players—Indiana quarterback Ben Chappell, North Carolina running back Shaun Draughn, and East Carolina offensive tackle Willie Smith. The Redskins now have 63 players under contract and 12 draft picks. The roster limit for training camp is 90.

Some are reporting that many teams are using today to start to feel out the market and to take a little time to digest the new rules contained in the just-completed CBA. 

 

Comments

[culprit59]

1. Like I said last year during the free agency period, being aggressive doesn't necessarily mean going after the biggest names. But realizing what ypu need and aggressively going after those individuals.

2. I still feel like a lot of players that the Redskns are going to go after, Ryan Harris, Santana Moss, Jacoby Jones, Rex Grossman, Mike Brisiel, Chris Spencer, etc. are not first day top priority people so I figure them to be a lot more active on Thursday and on then right out of the gates.

3. I see the Redskins investing serious cash into 1 or 2 free agents like a Cullen Jenkins, Brandon Mebane, Marshal Yanda or Harvey Dahl because getting one of these guys for each side of the line immediately adds a toughness and reassurance they have been long for.

[Dave C.]

Strategically, the Skins are doing the right thing by laying low until the veteran "cap casualties" become official. Based on names we've seen included thus far--Nick Barnett, Gerald Hayes and Kelly Gregg as just a few examples (not saying those are necessarily guys the Skins might want)--they may take the approach of filling some roster holes "on the cheap", i.e., signing some recently released veterans of teams that had to get under the cap. After plugging some roster holes that way first, they can then commit more aggressively to their top tier free agent targets to address remaining roster needs.

I've got to believe most of our primary free agent targets would be OK with waiting for us to sort things out this way, because they know we have a reputation for delivering financially for players we really want.