Washington Redskins ‘like’ Owen Daniels
Owen Daniels (81) runs the ball past San Diego Chargers running back Fozzy Whittaker (34) during the first half at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY
Former Houston Texans starting tight end Owen Daniels was an unsurprising cap casualty, as the Texans were confident enough in their ability to re-sign solid TE Garrett Graham and had diamond-in-the-rough Ryan Griffin waiting in the wings. Daniels was set to make $4.5 million in 2014 which isn’t much, but the Texans still wanted to save that money and had the tight ends behind him to feel comfortable cutting ties with him.
Daniels has unsurprisingly generated interest on the free agent market as the best FA tight end available, and he visited the Green Bay Packers before taking a visit with the Washington Redskins today. It’s unclear if the Packers are still interested in signing Daniels after re-signing Andrew Quarless to a two-year deal yesterday, but it’s clear that the Redskins have interest in the 31-year-old as part of a TE duo with rising young gun Jordan Reed, who was excellent as a rookie and looks poised to become a household name in 2014.
ESPN NFL Nation’s John Keim reports that Daniels has just left his visit with the Redskins organization, and he adds that the team “likes” him. There’s a lot to like about Daniels’s past production, reliable play, and solid hands, and the Redskins offensive coordinator was their TEs coach last year. Plus, new head coach Jay Gruden worked with a tight end duo as the Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator last year, and Reed and Daniels would obviously be a much better pairing than Tyler Eifert and Jermaine Gresham. The Redskins could use another TE and could play Daniels in an in-line role with the versatile, explosive Reed as the “joker, and they have the cap space and desire for pass-catchers to sign Daniels to a decent-but-not-expensive contract.