Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Need to Know: What's taking so long?

Here is what you need to know on this Saturday, March 16, 40 days before the NFL draft.

What’s taking so long?

If my Twitter timeline is any indication, many Redskins fans are wondering what is taking so long to complete deals for cornerback Aqib Talib and tight end Fred Davis. Here are a few reasons why the negotiations might be dragging.

For one thing, the Redskins, who appear to be the only active players for Davis, and the Patriots, the other team in competition for Talib’s services according to reports, generally play a very patient game when it comes to free agency. They have in mind what they are willing to pay and they won’t get caught feverishly bidding for a player’s services. Unlike the common practice prior to 2010, the Redskins now avoid the trap of wanting a player so badly that they will bid against themselves in order to sign him. The Patriots have been similarly restrained for a long time.

Another factor is that circumstances could be making both deals, well, complicated. Davis is coming off an Achilles injury and is in a situation where another positive drug test for marijuana could result in a one-year suspension. Talib is also in the drug programs for PED’s and he has had some off-field legal issues. Two years ago he was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in a Dallas suburb. It was only the most recent of a few brushes with the law for Talib and even thought the charges were ultimately dropped due to lack of evidence there are concerns that he may run afoul of Roger Goodell’s personal conduct policy at some point.

Because of these issues with the players involved, the negotiating teams likely want to build some language into the contract that protects them if past issues become future issues. When you get beyond talking about the usual contract terms like years, salary, and guaranteed money you can get into a very time consuming process.

The other complicating factor is that the Redskins currently don’t have the cap space to get a deal done. Although they could get it done with a simple restructure, usually a relatively quick process, maybe they are looking at clearing space by doing something more complex, like negotiating a contract extension with a player to lower his cap money that way. That could take longer than working the deals with Davis and/or Talib. There is no word that this is actually happening but it could be a factor.

The impatient among us should realize that as of this posting we are a little over three and a half days into free agency. In the real world, contracts that involve millions of dollars and multiple years take weeks, if not months, to negotiate. The Redskins will get deals done when they are done.

Cap penalty has Redskins in a tough spot

In case you missed it

• Point-Counterpoint: Did the Redskins make the right call on Hall?
• Lorenzo Alexander can’t be replaced but Redskins will move on
• NFL will “vigorously” police field conditions

Days until: NFL draft 40; OTA’s start 60; Minicamp 86

Tandler on Twitter

I'm alway happy to answer your questions.

@deanmo80 They could take a step back. But let's see who they have lining up in OTA's in May. Think they'll pull something together.

— Rich Tandler (@Rich_TandlerCSN) March 15, 2013

Point-Counterpoint: The right call on Hall?

The biggest move the Redskins have made so far in free agency has not been an addition but a subtraction. To save $8 million in salary cap they released DeAngelo Hall, who took almost every snap at cornerback for the four and a half years he was with the Redskins.

Everyone knew that the Redskins weren’t going to keep Hall and pay him $8 million. His level of play didn’t warrant such a salary. But Mike Shanahan indicated that the Redskins did not offer him an opportunity to stay at reduced pay, an option they gave Santana Moss and other veterans. The move leaves the Redskins with one cornerback on the roster, Josh Wilson, who has stared an NFL game.

Was releasing Hall and starting fresh at the position the way to go? Or should the Redskins have negotiated with Hall to figure out a way he could have stayed at a price that both sides cold have lived with? Rich Tandler and Tarik El-Bashir debate the question in this week’s edition of Point-Counterpoint.

Go here to read Point-Counterpoint on CSNwashington.com

Trueblood takes a shot at some Bucs fans on the way out

New Redskins tackle Jeremy Trueblood evidently had some fans of his former team, the Bucs, taking shots at him on Twitter after he signed his contract. This morning he fired a parting shot down to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area:

Amazed by the Buc "fans" that talk smack, must be the 1s that sell their tickets 4 the big games to the opposing teams FANS #SAYit2myFACE

— Jeremy Trueblood (@jeremyTRUEblood) March 15, 2013

Need to know: Fitting a big deal in a tight cap

Here is what you need to know on this Friday, March 15, 41 days before the NFL draft.

Fitting a big deal in a tight cap

A lot of fans are wondering how the Redskins (since they can’t rely on getting immediate help in the draft) will be able to afford to sign a cornerback, a safety, and Fred Davis or another tight end if he goes elsewhere.

And even though the numbers at this moment show them with less than $1 million of cap space they Redskins can do it.

The first thing they would have to do is create some cap space, probably by restructuring a contract or two. A simple restructure is a fairly routine procedure as the player usually doesn’t give up any money and gets a chunk of his annual salary up front and guaranteed.

Then the team and the agent for the player they are going to sign have to negotiate a contract that is cap friendly in the first year. ESPN.com blogger Kevin Seifert broke down the contract the Lions gave to Reggie Bush.

He received a four-year, $16 million contract that included a $4 million signing bonus and a $1 million base salary in 2013. So Bush will be paid $5 million in cash in 2013 but will count $2 million against the cap (a $1 million base salary plus $1 million prorated). With higher base salaries in future years, his cap number will rise to $4.5 million in 2014 and 2015, and $5 million in 2016.

The Redskins could give a similar contract to, say, Fred Davis. They might want to build in some protection for the team should Davis again run afoul of the NFL’s drug policy but the idea would be similar—small first-year salary with a big signing bonus with the cap charge for that spread out over the length of the deal.

This contract method is common around the NFL and it would not be considered to be exceptionally risky as long as you have a reasonable expectation that the player will finish out his contract. If the contract is terminated early the rest of the signing bonus that was prorated will hit in that season.

And you don’t want to do too many of them. A few are manageable. If you do a half a dozen or more, the rising cap numbers the next year will start to eat up your cap in a hurry.

Alexander leaves for Arizona

In case you missed it

• The Redskins have options at cornerback
• Reskins sign OT Trueblood, bring back LB Kehl
• Davis narrowing down his choices
• Holes need to be filled prior to the draft

Days until: NFL draft 41; Training camp 132; NFL Kickoff Sunday 177

Tandler on Twitter

@mcloving76 RG3 had one of the best rookie QB seasons ever, WAS led NFL in rushing with Polumbus at RT. It's not a premium posit. in system

— Rich Tandler (@Rich_TandlerCSN) March 15, 2013

Corners are disappearing from the market. So are teams that need corners. Supply and demand seems to work in the #Redskins' favor.

— Rich Tandler (@Rich_TandlerCSN) March 14, 2013

Report: Davis choosing between Redskins, Browns

It looks like the Redskins are down to one competitor in their pursuit of Fred Davis.

Adam Schefter of ESPN tweeted that it looks like the Redskins and Browns are the two teams left standing. 

One league source familiar with thinking of Washington free-agent TE Fred Davis said Redskins and Browns "are serious about signing him."

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2013

The five-year veteran, a 2008 draft pick of the Redskins, joined the free agent pool on Tuesday. After Davis played out his rookie contract, the Redskins put the franchise tag on him a year ago. He suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Week 7 and that and the Redskins’ tight salary cap situation were factors in the team deciding not to franchise him again.

Although Davis is among the most talented tight ends in free agency, the injury and his four-game drug-related suspension in 2011 have combined to make the market for him quite soft. Free agent tight ends Jared Cook (5 years/$35.11 million) and Martellus Bennett (4 years/$20.4 million) cashed in with multi-year deals for good money but it doesn’t look like such a deal is coming Davis’ way.

That, of course, is working to the Redskins’ advantage. It seems likely that if anyone was going to sign him to a deal that would blow them out of the water the would have done so by now. They can’t get into a bidding war with the Browns but they may be able to get close enough to convince Davis to stick in the familiar system and catch passes from RG3 rather than making the change to Cleveland and seeing what Brandon Weeden has to offer. 

They can't look for a large hometown discount since this could be the one big contract that Davis will sign in his career. But if they can stay competitive, they have a shot

Need to Know: Holes need to be filled prior to draft

Here is what you need to know on this Thursday, March 14, 42 days before the NFL draft.

Can’t find starters late in draft

The Redskins are looking to fill holes at safety, cornerback and, pending what Fred Davis ends up doing, tight end with very limited cap space. Some have suggested that the team may want to fill the positions in the draft.

Sounds great, getting cheap talent to step right into the lineup. Only problem is, it’s a pipe dream.

The simple fact is that once you get out of the first round and the early part of the second it is very unusual to find players who can come in and start immediately. I wrote a long “mythbuster” post about it a few weeks ago but since the subject keeps coming up let’s revisit it.

The Redskins have their first pick in the second round. In the 2012 draft, 12 of the 32 players picked started 10 games or more for their teams as rookies. If you go back into the latter stages of the second (the Redskins have the 21^st pick of the round) it gets even harder to find a starter. Just three of the last 15 players picked in the second round last year were 10-game starters.

Finding an immediate starter in round three, as you might suspect, is even more difficult. Just three players picked in the third last year were starters as rookies. In all, from the middle of the second round on, which is where all seven of the Redskins’ picks fall, just 15 of the 206 players picked started 10 or more games. That comes to 7.2 percent.

As any NFL coach or personnel man will tell you, the draft isn’t about the coming season, it’s about two or three seasons down the road so that doesn’t mean that the other 93 percent of the players picked later in the draft were busts. Some were useful role players as rookies and many could blossom into starters later in their careers.

But the Redskins can’t—and won’t—go through this offseason thinking that they will be able to pluck a few 2013 starters at particular positions in the draft. That would be foolish at best and a disaster at worst.

Tandler talks free agency on Redskins Nation

In case you missed it

• Zo is headed to ‘Zona
• Hall’s departure leaves a hole
• Meriweather takes one for the team
• Stability has come to Redskins Park
• Playing the waiting game

Days until: NFL draft 42; OTA’s 62; NFL Kickoff Sunday 178

Tandler on Twitter

The #Redskins can create a lot of cap & sign FA's with small '13 cap numbers. Just a matter of how much cap they want to push to '14-'17

— Rich Tandler (@Rich_TandlerCSN) March 13, 2013

Hall leaves a hole

The Redskins’ release of DeAngelo Hall was not a surprise.

What happens next at cornerback is a mystery.

Since the end of last season, it has been pretty well known that Hall would not play for the Redskins for his contracted pay of $8 million ($7.5 million salary and $500,000 workout bonus). Even Hall knew it as he said at in front of his locker the day after the playoff loss to the Seahawks that he might need to rework his deal to come back.

But nobody was sure if Hall would be playing for the Redskins at a reduced rate of pay or if he would not be playing for them at all.

Today, we got the news that Hall is now an ex-Redskin.

“He was quite graceful,” said Shanahan of Hall when he broke the news to him. “He understood exactly the position we were in.”

At the end of last season Hall indicated that he might be willing to play ad a reduced rate for the Redskins in 2013. But Shanahan said that they did not offer him that opportunity.

“There are always those possibilities, but what I don’t want to do is take away from a guy that’s got a chance to make more money than we’re able to offer him,” said Shanahan

Hall has been a starting cornerback for the Redskins since shortly after coming to the team in midseason in 2008. He has played almost every snap of almost every game since then. Hall had his faults, to be sure, most of them caused by being aggressive in attempts to make big plays. Usually, he made some but gave up just as many if not more.

Regardless, Hall’s absence leaves a big hole in the Redskins’ secondary. Josh Wilson has a year left on his contract and he will remain the starter on one side. Richard Crawford, a 2012 sixth-round draft pick improved in a limited role as the year went on but it would be a stretch to rely on him as a starter this year. Cedric Griffin was the nickel back last year but his contract is up and his future remains uncertain.

Shanahan would not specify if he thought the replacement for Hall was on the current roster.

There are a few free agent cornerbacks who might suit the Redskins’ needs and, just as importantly, fit under the cap. E. J. Biggers of the Bucs and Derek Cox of the Jaguars are two corners who have been linked to the Redskins.

Shanahan also mentioned the draft as a possible way for the team to find a cornerback. But the Redskins do not have a first-round pick and finding a starting corner in the later rounds of the draft is a dicey proposition. 

Need to Know: For the Redskins, patience is required

Here is what you need to know on this Wednesday, March 13, 43 days before the NFL draft.

Patience is required

Sometimes, patience is a virtue. When you’re looking for NFL free agents on a tight budget, patience is required.

The Redskins are just under the NFL salary cap. After releasing DeAngelo Hall on Monday they have one cornerback under contract who has an NFL start on his resume, Josh Wilson. Going into the season with Richard Crawford and a draft pick at corner opposite Wilson would be the equivalent of going on a wing and a prayer.

Naturally, it didn’t take long after the 4 p.m. start to the signing period for fans to start panicking over the fact that the Redskins had not signed a cornerback. As the night wore on, many became more and more concerned.

And the anxiety is likely to pick up this morning because, as of this writing, the Redskins still had not signed a corner.

But the Redskins are playing the waiting game. The highest prices go to the early shoppers. As the hours and days after the initial frenzy pass, prices inevitably drop.

Sometimes by waiting you run the risk of having to pick through leftovers as all of the better players are off the market. That is not the case in the market for cornerbacks in 2013. Our friends at Rotoworld ranked every free agent by position. Every one of the top 12 cornerbacks and 17 of the top 20 remains unsigned. In all they have 56 free agent cornerbacks on their list and eight have found new homes.

There is plenty of quality and quantity left for the Redskins. All they need to do is wait for the right time.

RG3 speaks to the Texas legislature

In case you missed it

• Golston’s back
• So is Rocca
• Is Zo headed for ‘Zona?
• Fletcher is not taking a pay cut
• Redskins free agent one liners
• Moss restructures, will stay with Redskins
• Another “interesting” offseason for the Redskins
• The news was that there was no news

Days until: NFL draft 43; Training camp 134; NFL Kickoff Sunday 179

Tandler on Twitter

Of the 44 players who played for #Redskins in Week 16, all but 6 are now under contract.

— Rich Tandler (@Rich_TandlerCSN) March 13, 2013

Kruger 5 years, $41 million, $20 million guaranteed. What the #Redskins are looking at for Orakpo in 2014 if he bounces back in contract yr.

— Rich Tandler (@Rich_TandlerCSN) March 12, 2013

Redskins free agent one liners

Here are quick thoughts on each of the Redskins’ unrestricted free agents:

TE Fred Davis—Probably their top target among all free agents, there’s a decent chance he winds up back in Washington.

LB Lorenzo Alexander—The Redskins made an offer to Alexander last week but it was turned down, he’ll shop around but should be back.

KR Brandon Banks—The Redskins have moved on.

OT Jordan Black—Probably goes back into retirement, which is where he was before injuries forced the Redskins to give him a call due to injuries last fall.

OT Jammal Brown—The restructured his contract last year so that they could part ways with him this year.

TE Chris Cooley—Worked hard when he came back after Davis was injured but an encore in 2013 seems unlikely.

RB James Davis—He’s still on the team?

DL Kedric Golston—The returns of Adam Carriker and Chris Baker (who can play both end and NT) make Golston’s return an iffy proposition.

CB Cedric Griffin—He made $2 million as the team’s nickel back last year; he may be back but not at that price.

QB Rex Grossman—RG3’s knee could keep him employed this year as the team will need a third quarterback.

LB Bryan Kehl—Could be an alternative if Alexander goes elsewhere.

OT Tyler Polumbus—Started 15 games last year but general feeling is that the team can upgrade, perhaps significantly.

P Sav Rocca—The Aussie made $1.3 million last year and the cap may force the Redskins to hire a punter at something closer to minimum wage.

S Madieu Williams—He started every game but, like Polumbus, the organization is probably looking for an upgrade.

LB Chris Wilson—He made the team because he was supposed to be able to get to the quarterback but he had just half a sack all year.

 

Need to Know: The news was that there was no news

Here is what you need to know on this Tuesday, March 12, the day that the new league year and free agency start.

No cap back, at least not now

There was no news broken at the Redskins’ hastily-called press conference on Monday but that, in reality, was the news.

Some thought that there might be an announcement that the Redskins had had some of their penalized cap space restored. Others thought that Bruce Allen would announce that the nuclear option would be employed and the team was going to take the league to court.

But Allen lamented the penalty, complained about it, said that it was “a travesty of fairness” and said that the team was still looking at possible ways to have some cap space restored.

But he came to the bottom line when he said that the organization was bound by the decision.

“I don’t know if there’s anything to overturn,” he said. “This is an agreement made between the NFL and NFL Players Association. They’ve agreed to this and as with any rule that is an agreement between the two, all teams have to abide by it.”

“We’re using $36 million less than everybody else,” he said later.

So the news was that while the Redskins aren’t completely moving on, they will deal with the penalty and operate as best they can. They don’t like it, they think the penalty and the whole way it went down was unfair, but they aren’t about to sue the league over it and their other attempts to overturn it have run into dead ends.

RG3 rehabbing 6-7 hours/day

In case you missed it

• Redskins release Hall
• Allen says lawsuit “never contemplated” in cap case
• OT Pashos signed
• Shanahan pleased with RG3’s progress
• Carriker and Baker will stay, Banks will not
• Eric Winston may be a good fit for the Redskins but money likely not there

Days until: NFL draft 44; OTA’s start 64; Training camp 135

Tandler on Twitter

This was posted prior to the news that Adam Carriker had restructured his contract in order to stay on the team but it still holds after that. 

Even IF Carriker/Moss are released #Redskins will still not have enough cap $ to sign draft picks and keep practice squad/IR reserve.

— Rich Tandler (@Rich_TandlerCSN) March 11, 2013