Redskins Won't Add To Front Office Until After Draft
- It looks as though the Redskins will go without a general manager for a while longer. Team president Bruce Allen indicated Sunday that they won’t make any front office additions until after the draft, and it’s not even a lock a new hire will take on the GM role, reports John Keim of ESPN.com. That seems to jibe with the notion that the Redskins have had difficulty finding a suitable replacement for the fired Scot McCloughan.
Redskins Could Extend Morgan Moses
- It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Redskins extended 25-year-old right tackle Morgan Moses prior to training camp, writes Rich Tandler of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Moses, who’s set to enter a contract year in 2017, is fresh off his second straight 16-start season. The three-year veteran also ranked a terrific 17th among Pro Football Focus’ 78 qualified offensive tackles in 2016. Left tackle Trent Williams finished first, giving the Redskins an elite bookend duo with him and Moses.
Pryor's Camp Miscalculated Market?
- Breer views that the five-year deals for Robert Woods and Stacy McGee authorized by the Rams and Redskins, respectively, are essentially one-year pacts. Woods saw $10MM of the $34MM deal fully guaranteed at signing, per OverTheCap. He has $5MM due on the third day of the 2018 league year. Nothing is guaranteed for the former Bills complementary target past Year 2. Breer sees McGee’s Washington accord as a one-year, $6.5MM deal.
- Speaking of one-year agreements, Terrelle Pryor explained his reasoning for taking the Redskins‘ one-season offer. “Maybe … our market wasn’t where it was supposed to be or we thought it would be,” Pryor said, via the Associated Press in a piece about the increased frequency of one-year commitments this month. “Some guys don’t want to take deals where they’re outplaying the deal. I just wanted to get a one-year deal and see how I fit with the program and move forward after that, and see if we get something done if everything works well.” Conflicting reports emerged about Pryor’s Browns exit, regarding whether or not he gave the team a chance to match his Redskins offer. The converted wideout joined the Redskins on a one-year deal worth up to $8MM and could be in position to cash in come 2018 if he proves his 1,000-yard season in Cleveland wasn’t a fluke.
Redskins To Sign WR Brian Quick
The Redskins have agreed to terms with wide receiver Brian Quick, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Heading into today, we had Quick ranked as the second-best wide receiver left on the board, behind only Victor Cruz. 
Quick quietly had 44 catches for 564 yards and three touchdowns with the Rams last year, no small feat given the team’s offensive struggles. He’s now the second free agent wide receiver to join up with the Redskins this month, following Terrelle Pryor. Quick will have to fight for his targets amidst a depth chart that also features Jamison Crowder and Josh Doctson.
The Quick deal gives the Redskins seven wide receivers under contract. Ryan Grant, Maurice Harris, and Reggie Diggs could find themselves on the bubble this summer.
Teams looking for wide receiver help can still find a handful of notable names left on the open market. Anquan Boldin, Vincent Jackson, Andrew Hawkins, Stevie Johnson, and Marquess Wilson are among those still looking for jobs.
Redskins, Tim Hightower Not Moving Toward Deal
- The Redskins and running back Tim Hightower had a meeting, but they aren’t moving toward an agreement, reports John Keim of ESPN.com. It doesn’t appear that will change anytime soon, with Keim noting that Washington could circle back to Hightower as an insurance option down the road.
Front Office Rumors: Bills, 49ers, Colts
Earlier today, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com brought us news on the Redskins’ GM search. Further down in his column, he presented more front office news from around the NFL. Here’s a look at the highlights:
- New Bills coach Sean McDermott could convince ownership to import front office guys with whom he has a relationship. JLC floats the name of Panthers director of player personnel Don Gregory and notes that there are “already rumblings that the marriage of McDermott and Bills GM Doug Whaley” will not last.
- The 49ers are also looking to add to the front office. This makes sense given that new GM John Lynch is a front office neophyte.
- New Colts GM Chris Ballard may want to shake up the scouting core, but league sources tell JLC that he may have to wait a year since the evaluators that are already there have more time to go on their contracts. Still, Ballard badly wants to poach Seahawks executive Ed Dodds. If Indy can land him, he’ll probably get a promotion over his current title. Jets director of college scouting Rex Hogan is also a Ballard target, but JLC hears that he still has a good amount of time left on his contract and might be harder to pry away.
- Bears exec Morocco Brown, who has history with Ballard, could be a possible candidate for the Colts and 49ers. JLC notes that Brown had a solid relationship with new SF coach Kyle Shanahan in D.C.
Latest On Redskins’ GM Search
The Redskins are casting a wide net in their search for a general manager, but they’re already finding that several top executives are not interested in working for them. Redskins officials are looking at some of the more successful teams in the league to find a highly qualified candidates, but several targets have already removed themselves from consideration, according to CBSSports.com’s Jason La Canfora. 
La Canfora doesn’t list specific names of execs who have been considered, but he hears that the search has included front office people with the Steelers, Seahawks, and Packers. I would speculate that the list of candidates could include Packers Director of Football Operations Eliot Wolf, Packers Director of Player Personnel Brian Gutekunst, and Seahawks co-Directors of Player Personnel Scott Fitterer and Trent Kirchner. However, based on what JLC is hearing, they might not have any interest in the job.
Front office guys from around the league have multiple concerns about the gig. It’s not clear who would really have the power in D.C. given the history of meddling from team president Bruce Allen and owner Dan Snyder. Furthermore, the team’s proposed GM salary is in the $1.5MM range, and that might not be enough money to make a top candidate overlook all of the red flags in Washington. There’s also concern about whether Snyder will be willing to pump the necessary resources into scouts and talent evaluators.
So far, former Bucs GM Mark Dominik and ex-Chargers GM A.J. Smith have been among the names linked to the opening, but JLC hears that neither guy is expected to land the job. Former Redskins quarterback Doug Williams and NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock have also been mentioned as possibilities. In the past, La Canfora has opined that Redskins executive Alex Santos would make a good internal candidate for the job and today he also put forth the name of Washington cap guru Eric Schaffer.
As we’ve heard previously, no hire will be made before the draft in late April, but JLC gets the sense that the Redskins also don’t want to let the process linger too far beyond the draft either.
Redskins Host RB Tim Hightower On Visit
The Redskins are hosting Tim Hightower on a free agent visit, a source tells Mike Jones of The Washington Post (on Twitter). This marks the second known trip for the Saints free agent this month. He previously met with the 49ers. 
[RELATED: Follow Pro Football Rumors On Instagram]
Hightower was with the Redskins in 2011 but played in only five games due to a torn ACL. After that, he was out of the NFL for several years until re-emerging with the Saints in 2015. Last year, he finished out with 548 yards off of 133 carries with four rushing touchdowns. He also added 22 catches for 200 yards.
The Redskins already have four running backs under contract in Robert Kelley, Keith Marshall, Matt Jones, and Mack Brown. Many also expect the Redskins to consider a running back with their No. 17 overall pick in this year’s draft.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/20/17
Here are today’s minor moves.
- The Patriots released running back Tyler Gaffney, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Gaffney has an extensive history with the Patriots but hasn’t played in a game. He spent the past three summers with the team, failing to make New England’s 53-man roster out of camp in each. He vacillated between the Pats’ active roster and practice squad last year, so if history is any indication, a reunion at could ensue at some point later this year.
- The Chargers re-signed previously non-tendered defensive end Tenny Palepoi, according to a team announcement. Palepoi missed the entire 2015 season with a foot injury but returned to action in 2016. He had 13 tackles in 13 games but wound up missing the last three contests due to a PED suspension. He still has to finish out that ban by sitting out one game in 2017.
- Another Bolts move: ERFA wide receiver Geremy Davis signed his tender.
- The Panthers announce they’ve re-signed cornerback Teddy Williams to a one-year extension. Mainly utilized in a special teams role, Williams played in only three games last year due to a knee injury. In 2015, he appeared in all 16 regular-season contests for the NFC champions.
- Long snapper Jon Condo re-signed with the Raiders. Condo’s been the Silver and Black’s long snapper since the 2007 season after breaking into the NFL with the 2005 Cowboys. Given that long snappers have a precise salary range — 14 of them earn between $1MM and $1.15MM per year — it’s fairly easy to project Condo’s next contract’s AAV. The 36-year-old is the Raiders’ second-longest-tenured player behind Sebastian Janikowski.
- Cody Parkey will have some competition with the Browns this summer. Cleveland added CFL kicker Brett Maher from the CFL. The 27-year-old hasn’t appeared in an NFL game yet. He’s kicked in Canada for the past three seasons, spending 2016 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Maher made 41 of 50 field goal tries for Hamilton. Parkey, 24, hit 20 of his 25 attempts and made 20 of 21 PATs.
- The Redskins announced the re-signing of left tackle Ty Nsekhe. Washington placed an ERFA tender on Nsekhe, who at 31 is much older than players normally involved in these transactions. Nsekhe spent the past two seasons with Washington, starting in six games in that span. Four of those starts came last season while Trent Williams was serving a substance-abuse suspension.
- After the Nick Folk signing created a stacked Buccaneers kicker depth chart, the team released John Lunsford, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Folk and Roberto Aguayo will battle for the Bucs’ kicker job, leaving Lunsford without a role.
Duke Ihenacho Likely Done In Washington
- Free agent safety Duke Ihenacho will apparently not return to the Redskins in 2017. As Peter Hailey of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes, Ihenacho fired off several cryptic tweets over the past couple of days indicating that his time with Washington is over. Given that the Redskins recently acquired D.J. Swearinger and plan to move Su’a Cravens back to safety, Ihenacho’s departure makes sense.