Opinion: Shorter Deal Could Work For Cousins
There’s lots of talk about the Redskins and Kirk Cousins working out a deal in the mold of Derek Carr‘s record-breaking pact, but JP Finlay of CSNMidAtlantic.com wonders aloud if the two sides could instead do a shorter-term deal with full guarantees instead. The Redskins claim they are comfortable with going year-to-year with Cousins and controlling him for at least two more seasons via tags. However, that would mean paying out $24MM in 2017 and $34MM in 2018 with no certainty for 2019 and beyond. Instead, Finlay proposes a three-year deal worth $24MM per season with full guarantees. Given Cousins’ willingness to bet on himself, I have a hard time seeing the QB accepting such an offer, but it’s certainly a creative proposal.
Redskins Notes: Cousins, Hall
Redskins safety DeAngelo Hall wants to be a coach or a GM when his playing days are done.
- Talk of an extension for the Redskins and Kirk Cousins doesn’t mean a whole lot in June, one source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “So much noise,” said a source with knowledge of the situation. When asked whether progress has been made, the source added, “Nothing to report. Will be interesting to see what happens mid-July.” Recently, the NFL pushed back the deadline for teams to sign franchise players to long term deals – from July 15 to July 17 – and it’s likely that talks won’t really progress until the hourglass is almost out of sand. Cousins’ agent, Mike McCartney, may be seeking upwards of $52MM guaranteed at signing, representing the total of this year’s salary ($23.94MM) and next year’s transition tender ($28.7MM). The Redskins, presumably, are hoping to chip away at that number.
NFL Pushes Back Deadline To Sign Franchise Players
The NFL has pushed back the deadline to sign franchise players to multiyear contracts, relays ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Teams that haven’t yet extended their tag recipients will have until July 17 to do so. The deadline was previously set for July 15.
The change could affect the Redskins, Rams and Steelers – the only teams that have players currently slated to play the season under the tag. The Redskins have the most expensive member of the trio, quarterback Kirk Cousins ($24MM), who could go through his second straight year as their franchise player. The same holds true for Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who’s in line to make $16.42MM. The cheapest of the three, Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, comes in at $12.1MM.
Placing the franchise tag on Cousins again next year would cost the Redskins upward of $34MM, an unpalatable amount, and finding quality quarterbacks isn’t exactly easy. As such, Washington has been working to extend the 28-year-old Cousins prior to the deadline. Unlike last year, when the two sides made little to no headway toward an agreement, there has been progress this spring.
Meanwhile, there’s no indication that the Rams and Johnson have engaged in discussions, in part because they wanted to see how he’d fit in new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ scheme. Los Angeles’ coaching staff got a look at Johnson, 27, in Phillips’ defense during the club’s offseason program, and head coach Sean McVay subsequently praised the corner. It’s possible, then, that a deal will come together in the next month.
While Cousins and Johnson each signed their franchise tenders awhile back, Bell still hasn’t put pen to paper on his. He and the Steelers have been discussing an extension throughout the offseason, though, and despite his past suspensions and injury issues, the 25-year-old wants to become the league’s highest-paid back on his next deal. There’s a good chance that will happen, writes ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler, who notes that the per-year value of Bell’s contract won’t match the tag.
“Even if he gets $10 million a year, that’s 25 percent more than any other running back is making right now,” one front office executive told Fowler. “You’d have to call that a market-moving deal.”
In the end, Fowler expects the Steelers to offer Bell a four-year accord in the $40MM to $45MM range, including $20MM in guarantees.
Redskins High On QB Nate Sudfeld
- It sounds like third-string quarterback Nate Sudfeld has a good chance of making the Redskins‘ final cut. When asked about the 2016 sixth-round pick, senior vice president of player personnel Doug Williams was effusive in his praise. “Sudfeld’s one of my favorites,” Williams said (via Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post). “You know, he was one of the guys, when we drafted him, when we sat in the room [and] we talked about drafting a quarterback, I was a Sudfeld guy. You know, none of [the prospects] took snaps up under the center; they all stood back in the shotgun. He was at Indiana, but when you watched him and the guys at a couple more schools, there was something about him that you liked. And I think he’s learned how to take the snap from under center; he gets the ball out of his hands.” Sudfeld did not see the field last season.
Doug Williams Wants Redskins To Extend Kirk Cousins
- Newly named Redskins senior vice president of of player personnel Doug Williams told NFL Network on Friday that he wants the team to extend contract-year quarterback Kirk Cousins “in the worst way” (via Conor Orr of NFL.com). Williams isn’t involved in talks with Cousins’ camp, though, as president Bruce Allen and VP of football administration Eric Schaffer “have been on this negotiation for a long time.” In the event the Redskins are unable to prevent Cousins from hitting free agency next winter, they’ll have to “search long and hard to find” a capable successor, Williams noted. “But at the same time, we got a capable backup here in Colt McCoy, who can hold the fort down for a while or even take it the long distance.”
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/14/17
Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Cameron Posey
- Waived: S Brian Blechen
Denver Broncos
- Signed: CB Chris Lewis-Harris (Twitter link via Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post)
- Waived: CB Taurean Nixon
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: T Robert Leff
- Waived: C Jacob Flores
- Waived off IR with injury settlement: CB David Rivers (Twitter link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived off IR with injury settlement: DE Deondre Barnett (Twitter link via Howard Balzer)
Washington Redskins
- Waived: DB Shakiel Randolph
Redskins’ DeAngelo Hall Takes Pay Cut
Redskins safety DeAngelo Hall told reporters today that he is accepting a pay cut for the 2017 season. The move was pretty much expected in order for Hall to remain with the team. 
Initially, Hall was set to earn a base salary of $4.25MM with a cap number above $5MM. Now, Hall will bring in a $2.3MM base salary, according to Mike Jones of the Washington Post (Twitter link), who adds Hall can earn back another $250K if he earns a Pro Bowl nod.
Hall appeared in just 17 of 48 possible regular season games over the past three seasons. Thanks to the torn ACL he suffered last year, it’s possible that he could begin the 2017 season on the physically unable to perform list. All things considered, the 33-year-old didn’t have a ton of leverage on his side when the Redskins pushed for a hair cut.
If Hall is unable to stay healthy this year, they do have safety nets in place. Utility man Su’a Cravens is expected to play at safety more than at linebacker and the team also added free agent D.J. Swearinger as a free agent. Fourth round pick Montae Nicholson will also be competing for time and could see significant reps if he is not overly green. Our friends at Roster Resource have Swearinger and Cravens as the projected starting safeties.
Matt Jones’ Agent Asks Redskins To Cut Him
Matt Jones is not a key part of the Redskins’ plans for 2017, so he is (understandably) looking to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Jones’ agent asked the team to release his client, as Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press writes. 
“Let’s move on,” agent Hadley Engelhard said. “We’re hoping [team president Bruce Allen] sees the light and does the gentleman thing and release Matt.”
Reading between the lines, Engelhard’s decision to go on record with the media on this matter might not be a good sign for his effort to get Jones on the open market. Odds are, Engelhard has been pushing Allen behind the scenes for several weeks to cut the running back but has so far been unsuccessful. Eventually, however, something has to give. The Redskins tried to find a suitable trade for Jones in the spring but did not find much of a market.
Jones was once the Redskins’ starting back but he has been bypassed by Robert Kelley. This year, Oklahoma product Samaje Perine figures to see a good percentage of the carries and Chris Thompson will return as the team’s pass-catching specialist out of the backfield. That leaves little-to-zero room for the talented but fumble-prone Jones.
Matt Jones Present At Mandatory Minicamp
- Redskins running back Matt Jones was absent during OTAs, but NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the veteran was present for mandatory minicamp. Recent reports indicated that Jones wasn’t “a part of the team’s plans for 2017,” which echoed previous rumors that the team was shopping the 24-year-old. Jones appeared in seven games last season, running for 460 yards and three touchdowns on 99 carries.
[SOURCE LINK]
Redskins Announce Front Office Changes
The Redskins are reshuffling things in the front office. On Tuesday morning, the team announced a number of moves, including the promotion of Doug Williams to the title of senior vice president of player personnel. 
In related news, Eric Schaffer has been named vice president of football operations and Scott Campbell will become senior personnel executive. The most notable element here, however, is perhaps the move that wasn’t made by Washington. The team did not announce a new general manager, giving the impression that team president Bruce Allen will once again call the shots and have final say over the roster.
Williams, of course, is a Redskins legend for his Super Bowl XXII MVP performance following the 1987 season. In that game, the former first round pick helped the Redskins put up 42 points as they downed John Elway and the Broncos. Williams, who has spent eleven years in various scouting and personnel roles with the Buccaneers and Redskins, says that he is excited for the new challenge.
“You want this day to come. You hope it comes. It’s here today,” Williams said at a presser on Tuesday morning. “I’m blessed and I’m going to embrace it.”
At least for this year, the expectation is that Williams & Co. will report to Allen, Tom Pelissero of USA Today tweets. More tweaks could be on the way, however. Redskins’ Director of Pro Personnel director Alex Santos is one of the execs that could be primed for a bigger role, per Pelissero.