Thomas Davis, Redskins Agree To Terms
Thomas Davis once announced he would retire after the 2018 season. But the Panthers’ all-time leading tackler will reunite with his longtime coach in Washington.
The 15-year veteran linebacker revealed (Twitter link) he has agreed to a deal with the now-Ron Rivera-led Redskins. Davis was cut by the Chargers late last week. Davis will turn 37 on Sunday, but he still impressively managed to start all 16 games for Los Angeles last year. A first-round pick out of Georgia all the way back in 2005, Davis spent his first 14 seasons with the Panthers. There was a stretch where it looked like his career was derailed, when he played in only nine games across three seasons from 2009-11 after tearing an ACL three times in less than two years.
Incredibly he bounced back from the poor injury luck, and started playing better than ever later in his career. He made the Pro Bowl three straight times from 2015-17, and was a large part of the reason that Carolina made the Super Bowl during the 2015 season.
Davis understandably didn’t look particularly spry during his brief time with the Chargers, and it’s highly possible that Washington doesn’t view him as a starter and wants him more for a leadership/mentorship type of role. It’ll be very interesting to see what the terms are here when they’re eventually released. The Redskins re-signed fellow linebacker Jon Bostic yesterday.
Washington Nabs LB Kevin Pierre-Louis
Washington has signed linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis to a one-year deal worth up $3.45MM, according to Ian Rapoport. The six-year veteran will be joining his fifth organization.
Pierre-Louis appeared in 57 games from 2014-2018, but made a career-high (3) starts last season with the Bears. In 2019, Pierre-Louis recorded 37 tackles, 3 passes defended, 2 tackles for loss, and an interception.
Washington does not have elite talent at the linebacker position, but Pierre-Louis likely only factors in as a depth piece barring an injury or an exceptional preseason.
Latest On Jets, Trent Williams
This hasn’t been a banner week for the Jets. After missing out on many of their top targets, many are wondering whether they’ll go for broke in order to land Redskins offensive tackle Trent Williams. For now, they’re holding their ground. 
The Redskins still want a second-round pick and the Jets are still unwilling to cough one up, Connor J. Hughes of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears. He adds that there’s no real sense of urgency on the Redskins’ side, either. From their perspective, they might be able to get the best haul possible after the draft in April, when there will be at least a few teams who walk away without any of their targeted protectors. The Redskins’ logic is (gulp) fairly sound on this one, though a current-year draft pick would hold more value for them than a 2021 choice.
The Jets wanted to sign guard Graham Glasgow – who would have been a big help on the interior – but he went with the Broncos instead. Their whiffs have not been limited to the offensive line, either. They’ve also lost out on cornerbacks James Bradberry and Byron Jones, plus outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy.
Redskins Sign Kendall Fuller
Kendall Fuller is headed back to D.C. The Redskins have reached agreement with the cornerback on a four-year deal worth $40MM, as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. 
The Redskins selected Fuller in the third round of the 2016 draft and shipped him to the Chiefs in 2018 in the Alex Smith deal. Now, he’s coming back to where it all started and he’ll help fill the gap after the club moved on from Josh Norman.
Fuller, 25, appeared in eleven games for KC last year and tallied 49 tackles. For his career, he’s appeared in 55 games for the Redskins and Chiefs. Fuller has usually garnered strong marks from Pro Football Focus, and he had the game-sealing interception of Jimmy Garoppolo to give the Chiefs their Super Bowl LIV victory.
Washington has clearly made upgrading the defense a priority under new head coach Ron Rivera, and they’ve already made several moves on that side of the ball. Fuller should be a building block in the secondary for years to come.
WR Amari Cooper To Re-Sign With Cowboys
Amari Cooper is about to get paid. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the star wideout intends to re-sign with the Cowboys on a five-year, $100MM deal. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the deal contains a whopping $60MM in guaranteed money.
While Cooper hasn’t necessarily established himself as one of the league’s top-tier receivers, it always seemed like he was heading towards a contract that would pay him $20MM per season. Wideouts of Cooper’s caliber or age rarely reach free agency, so it was clear that the Cowboys would have to come close to Julio Jones’ $22MM-per-year deal. Ultimately, Cooper’s $20MM average annual value will rank second at the position, bumping Michael Thomas‘ $19.25MM-AAV to the third spot.
A number of teams have been loosely connected to Cooper throughout the offseason, but Schefter tweets that one rival was pushing hard for the receiver’s services: the Washington Redskins. As Schefter notes, the Redskins pursued Cooper today and tried “to pry him away” from their divisional rival. The Broncos were also recently mentioned as a potential suitor.
Cooper earned his fourth career Pro Bowl nod following another productive season in 2019. In 16 games, the 25-year-old hauled in 79 catches for a career-high 1,189 receiving yards and a career-high eight receiving touchdowns. Cooper joined the Cowboys midway through the 2018 season following a trade with the Raiders.
Now, the Cowboys can focus on extending Dak Prescott to a new contract. Earlier today, we learned that the organization was placing the exclusive franchise tag on their Pro Bowl quarterback. At the same time, the organization watched as cornerback Byron Jones inked a lucrative deal with the Dolphins. Considering the cap constraints, it’s not surprising that ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that the front office restructured the deals of both running back Ezekiel Elliott and offensive tackle La’el Collins earlier today.
G Wes Schweitzer Heading To Washington
Free-agent offensive lineman Wes Schweitzer has agreed to a three-year deal with Washington worth up to $13.5MM, according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network. Schweitzer played with the Falcons for the first four years of his career before entering free agency.
With experience at all three spots along the interior offensive line in Atlanta, Schweitzer at the very least can serve as a useful swiss-army knife. After not appearing in a game as a rookie, Schweitzer started every game of the 2017 season at right guard for the Falcons, in 2018, he served as the teams primary starter at left guard, and last season, while primarily playing left guard, he still played over 20 percent of his snaps at right guard.
Washington placed the franchise tag on guard Brandon Scherff, but the size of Schweitzer’s role may very well be determined by the fallout of Scherff’s future in the nation’s capital.
Redskins Re-Sign LB Jon Bostic
As the free agency frenzy continues, the Redskins are re-upping one of their own. Washington is re-signing linebacker Jon Bostic on a two-year deal, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Yates reports the deal with have a base value of $5MM, and that Bostic will get $1.75MM guaranteed. The full details of the contract are base salaries of $960K and $1.69MM, a $500k first-day 2020 roster bonus, and $200K in per-game roster bonuses for 2020, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. There will then be $400K in 2021 per-game active roster bonuses, and $800K annually in playing-time incentives. Considering Bostic signed a one-year deal worth only $895K last offseason, this is a pretty nice pay bump for the Florida product. Bostic originally entered the league as a second-round pick of the Bears back in 2013.
He never lived up to his draft status in Chicago and although he started 17 games across his first two years, he was made a healthy scratch for the first few games of 2015. He was soon shipped off to the Patriots for a sixth-round pick, and barely played in New England. He missed the entire 2016 season with a foot injury, but then resurfaced with the Colts in 2017 and became a starter. He started 14 games with the Steelers in 2018, with middling results.
He landed with the Redskins last year and ended up starting all 16 games, playing reasonably well.The inside linebacker finished with 105 tackles, a sack, and an interception. He’s reached true journeyman status in recent years, but it sounds like he might’ve finally found a more permanent home in Washington.
Raiders, Redskins, Seahawks Interested In Damarious Randall
Damarious Randall views the Raiders, Redskins, and Seahawks as the most compelling suitors for his services, ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson (on Twitter) hears. The Browns safety is set to reach free agency on Wednesday and is currently in talks with teams as the “legal tampering” period gets underway.
Randall, 28 in August, was limited to just eleven games last year. Still, he notched 2.5 sacks – the first sacks of his pro career – while logging 61 total tackles and six passes defensed. Over the course of five years with the Packers and Browns, he’s appeared in 65 games with 56 starts and come away with 14 interceptions in that span.
For what it’s worth, Randall clashed with head coach Freddie Kitchens at times in 2019. However, he was far from the only player to butt heads with Kitchens, who has since been fired and replaced with Kevin Stefanski.
NFC East Notes: Cooper, Williams, Bryant, Jenkins
In good news for Cowboys fans and management, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports speculates that there may not be as robust a free-agent market for wide receiver Amari Cooper as expected. Cooper would be the biggest name free-agent receiver to hit the open market without a franchise tag in some time, but Robinson notes that the incredible depth of this year’s NFL Draft class at wide receiver might make teams more skittish about resetting the market to sign Cooper. Granted, Robinson also adds, “it only takes one suitor.”
Here are some more notes from around the NFC East:
- Washington’s negotiations with star left tackle Trent Williams have been well documented since last offseason. The ultimate fallout led Williams to sit out all of last season. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reports that negotiations disintegrated when Williams asked for quarterback money. Of course, it’s hard to know what that specifically means. Some lower-tier quarterbacks (like Mike Glennon and Case Keenum) have received deals with average values only slightly above the highest-paid tackles around the league.
- Cowboys wide receiver Ventell Bryant was arrested on a DUI charge in Tampa, Florida on Wednesday, per Greg Auman of The Athletic. In Bryant’s arrest report, the arresting officer notes that Bryant admitted to having a number of drinks before getting behind the wheel and tested at a blood-alcohol level of .102 and .099 on a breathalyzer (well above the legal limit of .08). Bryant made Dallas as an undrafted free agent out of Temple and emerged as a key contributor on special teams in his rookie season.
- The Eagles face a difficult decision surrounding the contract of veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins, according to ESPN staff writer Tim McManus. Philadelphia must decide whether to enact a club option in Jenkins’ contract before the start of the new league year on March 18th for $7.6MM. However, Jenkins has made clear that he will not play under those terms. He had wanted a new contract prior to last season but was willing to play under his contract in 2020. While Jenkins has remained an elite defensive back, the Eagles have been tentative to give the 32-year old a new contract that could pay him into his mid-30s.
Redskins To Franchise G Brandon Scherff
Two days before the twice-moved tag deadline, the Redskins will not take any chances with Brandon Scherff. As a result, the NFL will have its first franchise-tagged guard since 2011. This year’s O-line tag comes in at $14.8MM.
The Redskins will use their top tag on Scherff, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). This was the expectation, but it still marks a notable change of sorts for the guard position. This will take a three-time Pro Bowler off the market. Scherff joins Matt Judon, Yannick Ngakoue, Hunter Henry and Justin Simmons among this year’s franchise-tagged contingent.
Washington will use the exclusive franchise tag on Scherff, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). This is in dispute, however, with Rapoport and NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero indicating it’s the non-exclusive tag (Twitter links). The latter scenario would make more sense, given the implausibility of a team trading two first-round picks for a guard.
While Scherff has battled injuries in recent years, he would have been a strong candidate to become the NFL’s highest-paid guard had the Redskins let him hit the market. The sides’ negotiations did not produce a deal. They will have until July 15 to finalize an extension, or Scherff will play on the tag.
No team has franchised a guard since the Patriots kept Logan Mankins off the market nine years ago. The tag system groups all offensive linemen together. A guard tag being worth the same as a tackle tag has undoubtedly influenced teams’ thinking in recent years, thus allowing several high-end guards to hit free agency.
Washington drafted Scherff at No. 5 overall and immediately moved the Iowa tackle to guard. Scherff, 28, has started all 65 games in which he’s played. He only missed two games from 2015-17 but has been absent for 13 over the past two years. Shoulder and elbow injuries shut Scherff down in 2019; a torn pectoral muscle ended his 2018 season. When on the field, however, Scherff has been one of the NFL’s best offensive linemen.