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
I should think Fred would want to sign a one year deal. A good year and he can have a nice long-term contract. And he's more likely to have a good year with RG3 throwing it his way.
Posted by: Bowlregard | Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 05:54 PM