I have to hand it to the Redskins; they are making a plethora of moves to overhaul their roster, and even though they seem to be targeting a few random free agents, most of them actually fit their current offensive and defensive systems. There's little to be gained by discussing the Albert Haynesworth trade much further -- fans have been waiting for months for the Skins to ship Haynesworth out of Washington -- so let's examine what else happened yesterday:
Brandon Stokley backs out of deal
So much for the whole Stokley-to-the-Redskins thing. Apparently, Stokley initially agreed to terms with the Redskins, but yesterday he decided to go elsewhere. Stokley is 35 and an injury-prone wide receiver, so there wasn't a great chance that he'd make the roster. And now there's no chance.
At the end of the linked PFT piece above, Mike Florio mentioned that "the Redskins aren’t happy about this one." Maybe, but their fans don't mind it.
Signed Stephen Bowen
The most surprising signing of the day (for the Skins, at least) had to be defensive end Stephen Bowen. Not only did the Redskins hand Bowen, apparently a sleeper/below-the-radar type of signing, a five-year, $27.5 million deal ($12.5 million guaranteed), but they also lured him away from the division-rival Cowboys. The most significant reshaping going on with the Redskins right now is on the defensive line, where the Redskins have added Jarvis Jenkins via the draft and Barry Cofield and now Bowen via free agency. Bowen and Cofield are both 27.
Unlike Cofield, who came from a 4-3 defense and may not the most ideal player to fill the nose tackle role, Bowen comes from a 3-4 defense and is seen as a pretty reliable defensive end. The main concern is that the Skins may have overpaid Bowen, a guy who's been more of a part-time player who's only really started games when others in front of him were hurt. But again, the Redskins seem to be banking on his potential to produce when giving more time on the field.
Agreed to terms with Chris Chester
At some point, the Redskins were going to address at least one of their needs on the offensive line. They did just that by signing Chris Chester away from the Ravens with a five-year, $20 million deal (can't seem to find how much of it's guaranteed). Chester, 28, will apparently fill the right guard slot for the Redskins, but he can also fill in at center if necessary.
Chester seemed to fall out of favor with the Ravens, and he wasn't guaranteed to start for them. With the Redskins, though, Chester seems to be an adequate acquisition because he's athletic enough to thrive in Mike Shanahan's zone-blocking scheme. That doesn't mean the Redskins didn't overpay for him; they always seem to overpay for most of their signings.
Signed their draft picks
Last night, the Redskins signed their top two draft picks, Ryan Kerrigan and Jarvis Jenkins, to deals. The terms of those deals haven't been made available yet.
According to Rick Maese (in the Jarvis link), the only unsigned draft pick left for the Redskins is Maurice Hurt, an offensive lineman they selected in the seventh round. Everyone else is on board and scheduled to practice.
Update: According to John Keim, Kerrigan was the last draft pick to agree to a deal, so Hurt's apparently signed already. So that's good news.
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By the way, here's a list of players the Redskins have released so far, via PFT's Release tracker:
- Casey Rabach
- Phillip Daniels
- Maake Kemoeatu
- Chad Simpson
- Andre Brown
- Roydell Williams
- Josh Bidwell
- Sam Paulescu
No arguments here.
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