Redskins cautious in free agency

The first weekend of the NFL free agency season is over and the Redskins...didn't do all that much. LT Chad Clifton visited and then returned to the Green Bay Packers for a contract of 3 years and $21 million. RT Tony Pashos dropped by and there was speculation that Pashos, who played for OL Coach Tony Foerster last  year when Foerster coached the same position for the San Francisco 49ers, would parlay that association into a contract. Instead he went to the Cleveland Browns for 3 years and $10.3 million. According to Pashos' agent, his client and the Redskins were "nowhere near close" on a deal. Instead, the Redskins focused on re-signing their own free agents, like C Casey Rabach, OG Mike Williams, DE Phillip Daniels and OLB Lorenzo Alexander, to team-friendly contracts and ridding themselves of some unwelcome contracts.

The Redskins dropped $63 million of dead salary cap pro-ration with the retirement of Chris Samuel and the releases of veterans Rock Cartwright, Todd Collins, Randy Thomas, Ladell Betts, Cornelius Griffin, Antwaan Randle-El and cornerback Fred Smoot. If there were a $123 million salary cap, the Redskins would have been $39 million over the cap after those transactions. For cash, the Redskins cut their payroll to $70.6 million, fourth-lowest in the league.

Imagine that -- the Redskins with the fourth-lowest payroll in the NFL. Times have indeed changed at Redskins Park. Instead of a free-spending, know-nothing owner and his half-wit  homonculus playing fantasy football with a professional team, seasoned professionals like GM Bruce Allen and Head Coach Mike Shanahan are running the show. Throwing good money after bad on free agents who will never live up to their contracts isn't part of the plan.

On Sunday afternoon, Washington GM Bruce Allen put free agency in perspective quite well, saying, "Free agency isn't a day, and it's not a weekend. We think free agency runs 'til the first day of training camp. Let's see who you have a couple of months from now, not just who you have after a couple of days. What difference does it make when you sign them, if they help you?'

When the Redskins did get into the free agent market it was more like dipping a toe rather than plunging in head first. Washington signed OL Artis Hicks, an 8-year veteran and 335-pound mountain of a human being who can play both tackle and guard spots. In keeping with their newfound prudence, Hicks received a 3-year deal with only $3 million guaranteed -- and the possibility of earning another $9 million only if he performs at a high level. Paying someone for future performance rather than past performance is a sound idea -- and a new one at Redskins Park.

Read more at

http://dcprosportsreport.com/articles/washington-redskins/redskins-cautious-in-free-agency.html