Redskins' Chris Baker Wants Extension
- Redskins defensive end Chris Baker is entering the final year of his contract and he hopes to work out an extension before the start of the season, Master Tesfatsion of The Washington Post writes. “It’s pretty important,” Baker said. “I’d love to get some financial security and be here for years to come, but I’ve just got to let that take care of itself and just continue to do what I’ve always done – work hard and just let the business take care of business.” Baker probably stands as the Redskins’ top defensive lineman and he’ll be their top in-house priority once Kirk Cousins‘ situation is settled.
Redskins Made Offer to Brandon BrownerS
- Brandon Browner told Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter) that returning to the Seahawks was a “no-brainer.” The veteran also acknowledged that he had received an offer from the Redskins.
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Where Will Su'a Cravens Fit In Redskins' Defense?
- Master Tesfatsion of The Washington Post wonders where rookie inside linebacker Su’a Cravens will fit in the Redskins‘ defense. Listed as a safety coming out of USC, the Redskins used Cravens at inside linebacker during rookie minicamp. Going forward, it’s possible that Cravens can be used at linebacker, safety, or even nickel cornerback if necessary. Cravens’ label of “moneybacker” helped him vault up the boards in April, leading to his second-round selection in the draft.
Redskins Could Look For RB Help
- The Redskins are likely to add a running back to their roster at some point, according to Rich Tandler and Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com. Asking second-year back Matt Jones to handle the load by himself seems like a big ask, write the CSN scribes, who toss out Pierre Thomas, who played in four games for Washington last season, as a possible free agent worth targeting. Arian Foster, Joique Bell, and Bryce Brown are among the other running back options still left on the board.
Redskins Notes: DJax, Garcon, Galette
Here’s a quick look at the Redskins:
- In today’s mailbag, a reader asks Mike Jones of The Washington Post to handicap the odds of both DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon both coming back after 2016 on new deals. It’s unlikely that both are back in Washington, but Jones believes that it is possible that one of the two veterans are retained. Still, despite their age and their cap hits (Garcon counts for $10.2MM, Jackson at $9.25MM), team brass values both of them for the here and now. Unsurprisingly, the team has yet to have contract talks with either wide receiver.
- Have the Redskins done enough to improve their defense this offseason? Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com is concerned about the team’s defensive line, citing lower-level free agent Kendell Reyes and fifth-round pick Matt Ioannidis as uninspiring additions. While the D-Line, which was 26th vs. the run last year, might not be much improved, Tandler is hopeful about the rest of the D. Junior Galette is coming back from injury and rookie Su’a Cravens should give the team a boost at multiple positions. Of course, Washington’s biggest upgrade is at cornerback where they added ex-Panthers star Josh Norman late in the offseason.
- Last week, the Redskins saved $3MM in cap room by releasing veteran wide receiver Andre Roberts. Recently, PFR’s Dallas Robinson looked at potential landing spots for the 28-year-old, including the Bills, Falcons, Bengals, and 49ers.
- Former Redskins coach Mike Shanahan made waves recently when he said that he was not in favor of the trade that brought Robert Griffin III to D.C.
Tandler: Josh Norman Could Be A Free Agent Bust
- The Redskins have a history of free agent flops, and Rich Tandler of CSNMidAtlantic.com fears that high-priced newcomer Josh Norman will be the next in that long line. Norman isn’t a true shutdown corner who can take the opposing team’s receiver out of the game, says Tandler, adding that Norman hasn’t posted a ton of interceptions in the past. Even though Norman can contribute, Tandler doesn’t see him putting up the kind of production that some fans are expecting.
Florio: Mike Shanahan Has “Given Up” On Coaching
Several days ago, Jason Reid of TheUndefeated.com shed some light on the beginning of the end of Mike Shanahan‘s tenure as head coach of the Redskins. In 2012, Robert Griffin III‘s rookie campaign, Washington grabbed the NFC East title behind it’s dynamic young quarterback before succumbing to the Seahawks on Wild Card Weekend.
Despite the loss, and despite the fact that RGIII would need surgery to repair the damage to his knee that he sustained during that matchup with Seattle, the 2012 campaign was widely regarded as a harbinger of good things to come for the Redskins. But about a month after Washington was bounced from the playoffs, Griffin held a summit with Shanahan, then-OC Kyle Shanahan (Mike’s son), and then-QBs coach Matt LaFleur to discuss changes he wanted to make to the offense. Mike Shanahan, who was very candid and expansive in his interview with Reid, knew from the language that Griffin used during his audience with the coaching staff and the substance of the concerns that Griffin voiced that the young signal-caller was either acting on the orders of team owner Dan Snyder, or at least had ownership’s blessing to call the meeting. All that did was further strain the relationship between head coach and owner, and both Shanahans were fired after the 2013 season, which saw the Redskins stumble to a 3-13 record.
As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, Shanahan’s openness with Reid suggests that his career as an NFL head coach is officially over. Per Florio:
“Shanahan’s decision to speak so openly and candidly—and critically—regarding one of his former NFL bosses reflects an acknowledgment that the two-time Super Bowl winner[‘]s chances of getting another NFL head-coaching job are slim and none. Whatever they were before his comments were published, his prospects are dimmer now, because owners don’t want to have to worry about a former coach putting the organization on blast after walking out the door, voluntarily or otherwise.”
Florio’s conclusion is a logical one, but it is noteworthy because Shanahan was recently a finalist for the 49ers’ head coaching job before San Francisco hired Chip Kelly to fill the vacancy. Shanahan did say at the beginning of April that, if he were to return to the NFL as a head coach, it would have to be a perfect situation, and he conceded that he may be better suited to a consultant position at this stage of his life. Nonetheless, the fact that he was apparently a viable head coaching candidate just a couple of months ago do render his remarks to Reid somewhat surprising, but if Shanahan simply does not want to coach anymore, he really does not have anything to lose. And, as Florio observes, he may have something to gain, because his comments help to absolve Kyle Shanahan of responsibility for much of went wrong in Washington during the early RGIII era. As such, Mike Shanahan may be attempting to help get his son, once predicted to be a head coach himself sooner rather than later, reestablish his head coaching candidacy.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Logan Paulsen Fighting For Job?; Bruton, Ihenacho Set For Role Reversal?
- Logan Paulsen could be on the Redskins‘ roster bubble after the addition of Vernon Davis, Tarik El-Bashir of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes. A starter in 36 games the past three seasons as the team’s blocking tight end, Paulsen missed 2015 with a toe malady. Washington also has Niles Paul and Derek Carrier returning from injuries, though El-Bashir estimates the latter to begin the season on the PUP list after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year.
- Although Duke Ihenacho started over David Bruton during the Broncos’ AFC championship season of 2013, Bruton was the more consistent player. Now that the former Broncos are reunited with the Redskins, John Keim of ESPN.com expects Bruton to start. Ihenacho signed his $1.67MM low-end tender in March, and despite winning a starting job in training camp, the 26-year-old ex-UDFA broke his wrist in Week 1 and missed the rest of the season. Regarded as one of the Broncos’ top special-teamers the past several years, Bruton filled in well for T.J. Ward when called upon the past two years but has made just eight starts in seven seasons. The 29-year-old Bruton is signed to a three-year, $9MM deal.
Redskins Notes: Ioannidis, Sudfeld
- The Redskins are hoping that fifth-round pick Matt Ioannidis can play defensive end, defensive tackle, or nose tackle depending on the team’s package on the field, John Keim of ESPN.com writes. “He has the toughness and competitiveness and quickness to cause problems,” GM Scot McCloughan said. “He doesn’t look like Terrance Knighton, but this team will be a good team because we have a couple guys who are special and the majority will be good. He’s one of the good guys.”
- There is a lot to like about Nate Sudfeld and the only question is whether the quarterback will be on the Redskins‘ 53-man roster this year or on their practice squad, as Rich Tandler CSNMidAtlantic.com writes. To get Sudfeld on to the taxi squad, the Redskins would have to sneak the QB through waivers. But if he performs well in camp and in the preseason, he might be plucked by another team. As a result, the odds slightly favor Sudfeld making the 53-man roster. Sudfeld, an Indiana product, was taken in the sixth round with the No. 187 overall pick.
Mike Shanahan Wasn’t Sold On RG3 Trade
Lukewarm about Washington trading so much to acquire Robert Griffin III in the first place, Mike Shanahan became further divided against the team’s then-franchise quarterback and Daniel Snyder, whom he felt was partially responsible for pulling the strings for Griffin, after a February 2013 meeting.
The current Browns projected starter, Griffin addressed Mike Shanahan, then-OC Kyle Shanahan and then-QBs coach Matt LaFleur to discuss things he wanted to change about the offense, according to an expansive report from TheUndefeated.com’s Jason Reid. Then coming off a torn ACL sustained during Washington’s playoff defeat against the Seahawks, Griffin said 19 of Washington’s plays were unacceptable to run, primarily identifying several from the zone-read-based package that helped the former Baylor spread passer to the 2012 offensive rookie of the year award, and expected them to be removed from the playbook, Reid writes. RG3 concluded the meeting, which featured video examples of his points, by identifying himself as a dropback passer rather than a running quarterback.
Griffin using the word “unacceptable” pointed Mike Shanahan to connect the dots to this mandate having a Snyder touch, in his opinion, with Washington’s owner using that word often.
“I said to Dan, ‘Do you realize what you’re doing to this kid?’” Shanahan told Reid of a coach-owner summit that occurred immediately after Griffin’s address. “He was using phrases Dan used all the time. There’s only one way a guy who’s going into his second year would do something like this: If he sat down with the owner and the owner believed that this is the way he should be used. He had to have the full support of the
owner and, in my opinion, the general manager to even have a conversation like that. … We tried to get him to slide. We tried to get him to throw the ball away. If he had told me he was hurt, I would have taken him out of the [playoff] game. To hear him … it was really incredible.”
Ironically, Shanahan changed Washington’s offense to fit Griffin’s speed and lack of polish as a dropback passer. Griffin, though, hasn’t been the same since that rookie slate when he threw for 20 touchdown passes and rushed for 815 yards while throwing for 3,200. In 13 games in 2013, RG3 threw for 3,203 but rushed for just 489 as Washington went 3-10 during his starts before giving way to the now-franchise-tagged
Kirk Cousins to close out that season.
“When I finally sat down with Dan, I said, ‘Hey, you own the team. We can work with him and do some things. But we haven’t seen anything on tape that warrants giving [up] this type of compensation.’ To me, it was absolutely crazy,” Shanahan told Reid about his stance at the time on Griffin, for whom Washington traded its first-round pick in 2012, along with its 2013 and ’14 first-rounders. “But I told Dan that if that’s what he wanted to do, I’d make it work.”
Responding to his former coach’s comments, the recently signed Browns passer did not offer a rebuttal, according to the team website.
“I’m so far removed from Washington now and focused on this opportunity here in Cleveland that I don’t even worry about those things anymore,” Griffin said. “I can only focus on what I can control and that’s here in Cleveland … I didn’t even see that story.”
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images