Washington Redskins taking smart approach in free agency
By Andrew Long
Free agency has gotten off to a slow start for the Washington Redskins as they have focused on re-signing their own players rather than making expensive moves on the open market.
The Washington Redskins have stuck to their guns in terms of their free agency plan, opting to re-sign their up and coming players rather than blowing a majority of their cap space signing one or two free agents during the first few days of free agency.
General manager Scot McCloughan is largely responsible for the team’s plan, as he prefers to build a team through the draft, a style of team-building that has worked for him on a number of occasions through out his career.
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I believe the team will benefit from this approach.
The fact that McCloughan has had a hand in building teams like the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and Seattle Seahawks is extremely promising. With the general manager utilizing the same team-building formula in Washington, there’s reason to be optimistic about the team developing into a consistently competitive unit, as drafting young talent will provide the Redskins with cheap, youthful players.
Washington, prior to the start of free agency, parted ways with a number of expensive and aging veterans. Jason Hatcher and Dashon Goldson were both cap casualties and that to me is telling. Hatcher was on the ropes about retiring or not, and Goldson, while playing generally well in 2015, is on the downside of his career and sported a big contract.
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The team also cut ties with safety
and quarterback
III. Johnson and Griffin certainly weren’t old, but their play didn’t line up well with their salaries.
It’s encouraging to see McCloughan parting ways with players that are old, overpaid, or under-performing. In previous years, it’s likely that the Washington Redskins would have elected to keep players on the roster because of name recognition alone, a move that can potentially cripple franchises. That’s not the way things work in D.C. anymore, and McCloughan is the reason why. There’s no point in keep an expensive player on the team because he used to be good, and the savvy GM knows that.
So, instead of retaining pricy players with minimal skills and signing expensive free agents on the open market, McCloughan and company have focused on extending their productive players while signing role players on the open market. At this point in time, the club has opted to extend or re-sign the following players: quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy, tight end Logan Paulsen, inside linebacker Mason Foster, defensive lineman Kedric Golston, and punter Tress Way.
Bringing back Cousins and McCoy should provide the team with stability at quarterback, something that is foreign to the Washington Redskins. Paulsen will vastly improve the state of the team’s run-blocking, as tight ends Jordan Reed and Niles Paul are better suited as pass-catchers. Golston and Foster will help bolster the team’s defense, while punter Tress Way will pair up with kicker Dustin Hopkins to supply Washington with a young and talented kicker-punter tandem.
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The days of the Redskins winning free agency are over and, in my opinion, that’s a positive sign for the team moving forward. Focusing on drafting, developing, and re-signing their own players is what Washington is about now and, if you look at McCloughan’s track record as a team-builder, that’s good news for the Burgundy and Gold.
It’s likely that the Redskins will sign a few more solid players on the open market, but don’t hold your breath on them making any big splash signings.