Here is what you need to know on this Wednesday, March 6, six days before the start of the new league year and free agency.
Restricted free agent gambles
My man John Keim of the Examiner took a look at the Redskins’ restricted free agents yesterday and he his article highlighted what a chess game it can be.
If a team has placed on restricted tender on a player it will have the right to match an offer sheet from another team. But the original team may or may not get compensation for the player depending on the level of the tender.
The minimum to get in the game is $1.323 million. That gets you the right to match the offer or, if the player was drafted and you decline to match the offer, the signing team’s pick in that round. A tender of $2.03 million will get you a second-round pick as compensation.
So you have to try to guess what the market might be. There has not been much movement in the RFA market in recent years but you never know if this might be the year it starts back up. So do the Redskins make linebacker Rob Jackson, who was a playmaker in Brian Orakpo’s absence last year, the minimum $1.323 million tender and take the chance that if someone makes him a front-loaded offer that they can’t match? The cost to the bidding team would only be a seventh-round pick, the round in which Jackson was drafted.
Or, do the Redskins need to figure out a way to tender him at $2.03 million and virtually assure that he will remain on the team as it is unlikely that another team would pay a second for him?
The ideal solution for Jackson and for the other RFA’s such as Darrel Young and Logan Paulsen is to get them to sign for two years and guarantee them some money, essentially buying one potential year of unrestricted free agency in exchange for some degree of security (the unrestricted tender is not guaranteed).
NFL teams have until Tuesday at 4 p.m., the start of free agency, to tender restricted free agents. Otherwise, the players will become unrestricted free agents. Like they have everything else in this lead up to free agency, look for the Redskins to take their decision down to the last minute.
Don’t expect compensatory picks for the Redskins
A few times a week I get asked about compensatory draft picks. Specifically, people want to know if the Redskins should expect to get a compensatory draft pick because they lost LaRon Landry as an unrestricted free agent.
The answer is no.
Although the NFL keeps the exact formula for determining comp picks a secret, the basic principal is that it is determined by the net number of free agents a team lost and the value of their contracts.
So you don’t have to dig very far to find out why the Redskins won’t get anything for Landry. They signed Pierre Garçon, also a UFA, to a contract for considerably more money and for considerably longer than the one Landry signed. So that one transaction cancels out whatever pick may have been due for losing Landry.
In case you missed it
- Will some Redskins veterans be asked to take a pay cut?
- Patrick Chung is a versatile hitter but can he stay healthy?
- The franchise tag stays in the drawer at Redskins Park
Days until: Start of free agency 7; NFL Draft 51; NFL Kickoff Sunday 187
Tandler’s tweet of the day
@skinslefty21 Morris had over 1000 yards after contact. Not that blocking by DY and OL weren't solid but there is your answer.
— Rich Tandler (@Rich_TandlerCSN) March 5, 2013
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