Carriker, Redskins find middle ground in deal

The Redskins’ re-signing of Adam Carriker was sort of buried under the wide receiver signings but the move deserves some discussion on its own.

Carriker has been the Redskins’ starting left defensive end ever since the team got him from the Rams for a swap of draft picks. He has not done much that would be considered spectacular but a defensive end in a 3-4 scheme is not supposed to make highlight reel plays.

Although he was a bust with the Rams after they took him with the 13^th overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft, he proved to be a good fit in the Redskins’ scheme. But after the season ended and Carriker became a free agent there was no guarantee that he would be back.

Jarvis Jenkins, who was drafted in the second round a year ago and missed the whole season due to a torn ACL, is likely to be the starter at Carriker’s spot.

The quandary was, how should Carriker be compensated? Should he be paid as the starter he was the last two years or as the rotational player he is likely to be in 2012? Keep in mind that a rotational DE can get nearly as many snaps as the starter as they get moved in and out to stay fresh.

They reached a nice middle ground. It has been reported that Carriker signed for four years and $20 million with $7 million guaranteed. In terms of annual compensation and guarantees it is shy of Stephen Bowen’s five-year, $27.5 million deal with $12.5 million guaranteed. Bowen signed that deal as a free agent last year.

But Carriker’s deal is considerably better than what most reserves get, which is generally in not much more than the veteran minimum. The Redskins showed that if he does end up being a rotational player they expect he will play better than most in the role.

There is one unusual quirk to the contract. Usually teams can terminate player contracts but a player can do nothing to get out of one on his end. But according to John Keim of the Examiner, Carriker will be able to buy his way out of the deal after one year for a payment of $1 million.

So a year from now if Carriker thinks he can find a good situation and make at least $1 million more there than he does in Washington, he will be able to pursue that opportunity.