Here is what you need to know on this Monday, February 20, 17 days before the March 9 start of NFL free agency.
Timeline
Days until:
—NFL Franchise tag deadline (3/1) 9
—NFL Combine (3/2) 10
—Redskins offseason workouts start (4/17) 56
—NFL Draft (4/27) 66
—First Sunday of 2017 season (9/10) 202
More free agency quick hitters
Ty Nsekhe not going anywhere There seems to be some confusion as to Ty Nsekhe’s free agent status. Some websites have him as a restricted free agent. But from what I can tell he will be an exclusive rights free agent. You need to have three accrued seasons to be a RFA. Nsekhe has two seasons from the last two years here but he came to the Redskins without any. He did appear in two games for the Rams in 2012 but he wasn’t on the roster long enough to accrue a season. This means that the Redskins will bring him back, probably on a one-year, minimum salary contract.
More Redskins: NFL Mock Draft 3.0
Thompson, Compton restricted The Redskins third-down back and Mike linebacker are restricted free agents as they each have three accrued seasons in Washington. The Redskins can tender them one-year contracts and then they can go out and solicit offer sheets that Washington would have an opportunity to match. RFA’s rarely end up changing teams so they both likely will be back.
Duke Ihenacho back? He played in 15 games at safety last year, starting 10. His play was competent in may respects but had the most missed tackles in the team, 15, despite being 10th on the team in snaps played. The coaches were reluctant to use him sometimes because he tended to freelance. Ihenacho will be an unrestricted free agent and I haven’t heard much talk about his status. That’s kind of unusual for a guy who started 10 games. If I had to guess I’d say he’s not going to return but that’s just a hunch.
Cousins to tag and sign? Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports said that he believes that Kirk Cousins will get the franchise tag by March 1 and then “I suspect Cousins has a long-term deal with Washington agreed to.” I’m not sure what will happen between March 1 and July 15 that would get the Redskins to make a better offer or that would get the Cousins camp to lower their demands. But July 15 deals do happen so we’ll see. I’ll stick with my belief that if a long-term deal is not done by March 1 it won’t get done at all.
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Stay up to date on the Redskins! Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page Facebook.com/TandlerCSN and follow him on Twitter @Rich_TandlerCSN.
Here is what you need to know on this Friday, May 5, 19 days before the Redskins start OTAs on May 24.
Timeline
It’s been 124 days since the Redskins played a game. Their season opener against the Eagles at FedEx Field is in 128 days.
Days until:
—Redskins rookie camp (5/12) 7
—Redskins OTAs start (5/24) 19
—Training camp starts (7/27) 83
How many wins for the 2017 Redskins?
Veteran free agency is just about done, the draft is over, and the first wave of undrafted free agents has been signed. Almost all the players who are going to be on the Week 1 roster are in the building. It’s time to break out the $100 in imaginary and bet on what the Redskins’ 2017 win total will be.
0-6 wins, $10—This is double-digit loss territory. Barring a catastrophic string of injuries, I don’t see this team falling off that badly, even with a moderately tough schedule.
7-8 wins, $30—The most recent over-under for wins I saw from Vegas was 7.5, so this is in that territory. They probably have seven wins baked in. They should split the six games in the division and be favorites against the 49ers, both Los Angeles teams, and the Vikings at home.
9-10 wins, $40—This is where the Redskins can get to if their red-zone offense and third-down defense improve to somewhere around average in the league. They would need to win some tough but winnable home games like the ones against the Raiders and Broncos and perhaps pull out a win in New Orleans
11+ wins, $20—This is not an insignificant bet on a number of wins that could take the division and put the Redskins in contention for a bye. They would need to have a good run of luck, from good health on their end and some key injuries popping up for the stronger opponents on their schedule to an occasional fortuitous bounce of the ball. I’m fairly bullish on this team but they aren’t at the level to get there without a serious help from the football gods.
Stay up to date on the Redskins. Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page Facebook.com/TandlerCSN and follow him on Twitter @Rich_TandlerCSN.
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Reacting to the news that the Redskins had signed Kansas safety Fish Smithson as a undrafted free agent:
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Ever since the Redskins fired general manager Scot McCloughan on March 9, the conventional wisdom has been that the Redskins would find a replacement from within the organization.
This time, the conventional wisdom appears to have been right, at least as far as the likelihood of anyone from outside of the organization being brought in the replace McCloughan.
RELATED: GRADING THE REDSKINS' 2017 NFL DRAFT
John Wooten of the Fritz Pollard Alliance said that the Redskins have submitted a plan to reorganize the front office without replacing McCloughan, accordin to Jason Cole of the Bleacher Report.
The Fritz Pollard Alliance is an organization that promotes diversity within the ranks of NFL coaches and front office executives.
They monitor compliance with the Rooney Rule, which requires that minority candidates be interviewed for head coaching and general manager jobs.
Cole said that the alliance doesn’t yet know the details of the Redskins’ plan. Among the Redskins’ current front office members who could be elevated is Doug Williams, who was the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl.
MORE REDSKINS: BROWNS LAUGH AT REPORT OF COUSINS TRADE
From this report, it appears that the Redskins may not actually give anyone the title of “general manager”.
But with the details of the plan still under examination by the NFL we will have to wait and see how this all shakes out.
Stay up to date on the Redskins! Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page Facebook.com/TandlerCSN and follow him on Twitter @Rich_TandlerCSN.
