Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Some roster changes still possible

The Washington Redskins' roster is about 96% complete.

Of the 53 players who will be on the team's opening-day roster, all but one or two of them currently are with the team.

Don't look for post-June 1 cuts to add that depth at cornerback or along the lines.

This just in—nearly all of the June 1 cuts already have take place.

How is that possible? It's only mid-May.

Don't worry, even a lot of guys who make a living writing about football aren't up to speed on this.

Under the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, each team can release two players in the spring and designate them as June 1 cuts. While the cap number for that player stays on the team's book until June 2, the player is free to pursue employment with other teams.

The team gets the benefit of having the accelerated cap hit for the release moved to the next season. In addition, they don't have to include a player who is essentially a dead man walking as far as that team is concerned still participating in minicamps and OTA's.

Brandon Lloyd, who was gone in early March, carried such a designation. The Redskins will eat the bulk of the guaranteed money that they foolishly doled out to Lloyd in 2009.

So, there may be a trickle of activity early next month, but it's highly unlikely that a potential starter or even someone who represents quality depth will be coming available on June 2.

That doesn't mean that there is no way for the Skins to bolster their roster. There still are a few of veteran free agents who have yet to find a home.

Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack is a 29-year-old guard who was a part-time starter for Jim Zorn's old team, the Seahawks. Of course, the fact that there has been no apparent move to get Womack might tell you all you need to know about him.

Defensive tackle Rod Coleman could provide some situational pass rush push up the middle. He posted double-digit sacks as recently as 2005, but he missed all but five games of the 2007 season.

Womack and Coleman, along with the other veterans still waiting for the phone to ring, are out of work for a reason. Usually that reason is that they want more money to play than anyone is willing to pay them. Their asking prices usually drop as training camp approaches.

The Redskins plucked linebacker Randall Godfrey from the ranks of the unemployed in July of last year and he proved to be a valuable contributor, starting when both Marcus Washington and Rocky McIntosh were out with injuries.

Another 2007 starter who wasn't on the roster at this time last year was guard Pete Kendall. In May of '07 he was a very unhappy New York Jet. The Redskins traded a 2009 draft pick for him when it became apparent that Todd Wade couldn't make the move from tackle to guard.

While there are plenty of disgruntled players out there, it doesn't appear that any of them are both on the trading block and in a position of need for the Redskins. That could change, though, so keep an eye out.

Jerome Mathis

The Washington Redskins' signing of kick returner and wide receiver Jerome Mathis made a bit of a ripple over the weekend. The former Houston Texan has a Pro Bowl, multiple appearances on injured reserve and a rap sheet on his resume.

The invitation to Hawaii came after the 2005 season when he averaged 28.6 yards per kickoff return and scored two touchdowns. He spent most of the 2006 and 2007 seasons on injured reserve with various foot and leg injuries.

The Texans had the right to retain Mathis but they chose not to offer him a restricted free agent tender. This was due to a pair of arrests in addition to the IR stints. Last December he was charged with neglect when he allowed some pit bulls to escape his property in Houston. That may have been overlooked but in February he was jailed for assault after being accused of attacking his pregnant girlfriend.

She later dropped the charges but, as we know, that doesn't mean that nothing happened.

One area reporter told ProFootballTalk.com that someone like Mathis never would have been allowed in the building, much less signed, if Joe Gibbs was still around.

That's all well and good, but taking the occasional chance on a guy who had a rocky couple of months in his 25-year life isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm all for high character guys, but Gibbs was 30-34 in his second stint back so maybe a hard and fast policy against giving guys a second chance—like he did occasionally in his first, more successful run—isn't such a good idea.

Mathis got a minimum contract with no guaranteed money, so there is little risk involved. Rock Cartwright is a good kickoff returner, but he's not exactly a threat to go all the way every time he touches the ball. Mathis is, or at least he is when he can stay on the field.

At 5-11, he certainly isn't the big wide receiver that the team is looking for. In fact, he hasn't played much receiver at all, with only six career catches.

At this point, Mathis appears to be a moderately long shot to make the roster. His best shot will come if Jim Zorn decides to designate a roster spot for a kick returner. That could cost someone who plays a lot of special teams but not much at a regular position a job, someone like Khary Campbell.

Caldwell signs with the Rams

Receiver Reche Caldwell, who spent last season as a reserve with the Washington Redskins, has signed a contract with the St. Louis Rams.

Caldwell, who will turn 29 on Friday, was picked up by the Redskins early in the season. After being inactive for most of the first 10 weeks of the season, he started to see some action in the latter part of the year. He caught 15 passes for an average of 9.4 yards per catch, a paltry average for a wide receiver.

The Redskins have had a one-year, veteran minimum contract offer sitting on the table for Caldwell since the start of free agency. They also extended a minimum-salary offer to former Seattle receiver D. J. Hackett.

It doesn't take a very sophisticated reading of the tea leaves to figure out that the Redskins have a salary slot set aside for a veteran wide receiver who is willing to play for the minimum salary.

Given Caldwell's rejection, it could be a while before the Skins are able to find someone to fill that spot. The remaining veteran free agents on the market right now consist of the likes of Samie Parker, Tim Dwight, and Aaron Moorehead. They could opt, I suppose, to party like it was Buffalo in 1999 and reunite Eric Moulds and Peerless Price.

Indeed, Caldwell, with his 140 yards of productivity in 2007, was the cream of the remaining free agent receiver crop.

Caldwell's departure leaves the Redskins with seven receivers on the roster—Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle El, James Thrash, Anthony Mix, Billy McMullen, Burl Toler, and Maurice Mann. The team probably will keep five on the 53-man roster.

As of right now, only Moss and Randle El are assured of having roster one of those 53 spots.

I think that Mix will be given a shot at beating out Thrash, who is about to turn 33. Mix could be a younger, cheaper version of Thrash, a special teams standout who also can be productive at receiver when necessary.

It seems almost certain that one of the Redskins draft picks in the first three rounds will be a receiver; that leaves one WR roster spot. If the team finds that vet-minimum guy, he's number five. This hypothetical wideout may not become available until someone is cut in training camp.

That's the scenario that McMullen is hoping for, anyway. The longer it takes the Redskins to find that veteran, the longer he has to convince the Redskins that he could be that guy. If anyone was glad to see Caldwell head West, it was McMullen, a former Virginia standout and a third-round pick by the Eagles who has the size (6' 4") but never has been productive enough to earn a regular spot.

Skins ’ shunning of free agents goes against their nature

The Washington Redskins have slammed the "Closed" sign down in front of the bank teller window. They've shut down the ATM. The capologists and other bean counters in Ashburn can take the rest of the week off.

The Redskins are done looking for free agents.

From Redskins.com:

"If something comes up [in free agency], we'll run it down," head coach Jim Zorn said on Tuesday. "There isn't anyone that I'm hot after. There's nothing on the hot list."

No hot list? After zero signings of any other team's free agents? After having only one visit, that from wide receiver D. J. Hackett, and offering him a lowball deal?

That seems to go against nature. It's like a dog is standing by the side of the road as car after car drives by. The dog only chases one of them and even then it makes only a few, halfhearted steps in the direction of a slightly damaged sedan. The gleaming sports cars and loaded Hummers that used to set off furious chases pass by without so much as a bark.

The Redskins' active stance in free agency didn't start when Joe Gibbs came to town. In fact, it didn't start when Daniel Snyder bought the team. In the beginning of modern free agency in 1993, the class included wide receiver Tim McGee, linebacker Rick Graf, and defensive tackle Al Noga.

In fact, it goes back even further than that. The Redskins were one of the few teams that signed free agents before '93.

In Plan B free agency, a system that allowed teams to protect most of their rosters but let a few free when their contracts expired, Washington acquired Super Bowl XXVI starting safeties Danny Copeland and Brad Edwards, among others.

Before that system started they gave up two first-round picks to sign linebacker Wilbur Marshall away from the Bears in 1988.

Going back further, they gave up multiple high draft picks as compensation for signing Dave Butz away from the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975.

And, in 1976, there was a loophole in the rules that made it legal from free agents to sign with other teams with no compensation. There was a gentleman's agreement among the owners and general manager—something that would be called collusion today—to stay away from each other's free agents.

George Allen would have none of this gentleman's agreement stuff. He went out and signed Dallas tight end Jean Fugett, Cowboys running back Calvin Hill, and a running back from the Jets named John Riggins.

Although it took six years for the Redskins to figure out that Riggins was best utilized as a battering ram and not a blocking back or outside runner, he eventually was the difference in a Super Bowl winning team.

The Redskins have been trying to buy championships ever since, with results that never have been as successful.

WR Hackett to pay a visit

Put out the nice towels in the bathroom.

Clean the dead twigs and leaves out of the shrubbery.

Vacuum and mop and get some fresh flowers for the vase.

Company's coming.

The Redskins will receive their first free agent visitor of the signing period. And maybe Jim Zorn doesn't have to get the place all that gussied up on Wednesday night. It's an old friend that coming to see him.

Wide receiver D. J. Hackett will come calling this week. His three previous NFL seasons were spent with Zorn's former employer, the Seattle Seahawks. It's been thought for a while that Washington was a logical landing spot for Hackett. At 6-2, he fills the bill for the Redskins' need for a WR with some height.

That height can only come into play if Hackett's on the field. He missed all but six regular season games last year after he sprained his ankle in Week 1.

Because of that, he's being called fragile or injury prone. There may be some truth to that as he missed three and two games in his first and second seasons, respectively in addition to the 10 missed in 2007.

But it's not as though he has a bum knee or a shoulder that might pop out or any other sort of chronic injury. The Redskins need to keep the injury issues in mind should they get down to contract negotiations, but they should not exclude him from consideration.

Hackett, 26, was a major factor in the Seahawks' win over the Redskins in the Wild Card game last January. He caught six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown in that game.