Here is what you need to know on this Monday, March 4, eight days before the start of the new league year and free agency.
Sundberg needs to get deal done
One of the least talked-about Redskins free agents is Nick Sundberg. The long snapper is a restricted free agent and with eight days to go before free agency starts he does not yet have a contract.
Sundberg became a folk hero of sorts last year when the broke his arm in the first half of the season opener in New Orleans but continued to snap anyway. The team thought he was valuable enough to warrant spending its only injured reserve with designation to return tag on him.
Although the Redskins could assure that they would at least have a chance to match any offer Sundberg might get from another team, they would have to offer him a one-year tender for about $1.3 million. That is considerably above the market value for a long snapper.
He’ll probably end up signing a three-year deal at minimum salary, which is $710,000 this year for a player in his fourth season. For signing for three years, look for him to get a signing bonus in the neighborhood of five to seven hundred thousand dollars. The bonus may be split up to lower the 2013 cap number.
It’s good bet that deal will be with the Redskins but nothing is done until it’s signed.
Weak QB crop
Although most Redskins fans are very happy with Robert Griffin III as their team’s quarterback, some will occasionally express reservations about the price the team paid to obtain him. Perhaps this feeling will be magnified on the first night of the draft when the Redskins are sitting and watching the party, having traded away their first-round pick. They will be doing the same in 2014.
But any fans who get buyer’s remorse should just look at this list. According to our friends at Rotoworld, these are the top six quarterbacks who will be available as free agents when the market opens a week from tomorrow:
- Matt Moore
- Jason Campbell
- David Garrard
- Chase Daniel
- Drew Stanton
- Josh Johnson
Combine that with the fact that there is a good chance that any of the signal callers available in this year’s draft, from Geno Smith to Matt Barkley to Landry Jones, could fit in to a list like this in five years or so and it become glaringly obvious that 2012 was the year to get a quarterback. Had Mike Shanahan and the Redskins not bee so bold in their proposal to move up last year, the chances are they still would be looking to solve the long-term problem at quarterback in 2014.
Update: After posting this, I ran across this post from Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports further detailing the woes that teams are having finding a QB with the two second-rounders given up for Alex Smith noted as prime evidence.
In case you missed it
- The Redskins need to cut at least $13 million of cap
- Could safety Johnathan Cyrpien be an immediate starter?
- That was the week that was: Cap talk and Fletcher big stories
Days until: Start of free agency 8; NFL Draft 52; NFL Kickoff Sunday 188
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