Free agency is in full swing, and the Redskins have made some interesting moves.
First, they traded with the Broncos for Case Keenum (QB), they get a 6th round pick in the 2020 draft, and we get a 7th round pick also in the 2020 draft. We are basically getting the QB the Vikings let walk away to sign Kirk Cousins in 2018—who was our former starting quarterback and whom the Redskins also allowed to walk away. Cousins ended up signing with the Vikings replacing Keenum….weird connection.
If Alex Smith can’t play QB this upcoming season, I hope Colt McCoy gets the starting job. He knows the offense very well, and I’ve seen enough flashes of his ability commanding our offense to inspire hope for a productive season…..Fingers crossed McCoy stays healthy for the entire season.
Next, we picked up Landon Collins (S), a free agent safety from the NY Giants. He still is highly regarded by the so-called TV football experts as one of the best safeties in the league and NY fans are distraught with their GM for allowing him to walk away to a division rival….so kudos to their GM.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (CB) decided to return to football and signed with the Redskins for a one-year deal (he announced last season that he was retiring), but I suspect that the idea of playing with Landon Collins again intrigued him, and decided to un-retire. I like the move, and I think our defense got much better. Having those guys join talented players like Josh Norman, and Quinton Dumbar is enough to feel hopeful about our defense.
Adrian Peterson was re-signed to a two-year deal with a low-risk salary, and we hope he can continue to stay healthy. Partnering Peterson with Darius Guice is an intriguing combination, and I hope it pays dividends this upcoming season. Guice was our second round selection last year (’18), but he tore his ACL before the season even started, so we are still waiting to see what kind of running back we have in him.
We lost Jamison Crowder (WR) to the NY Jets, and I’m not too concerned about this loss. He showed flashes of talent, but never really stood out as a top-featured wide receiver, and he was injured and unavailable to play for seven games last season, so his production was low. I’m hoping this upcoming season Josh Doctson steps up and becomes the top-primary wide receiver he was supposed to be when we drafted him.
We also let Preston Smith walk away and join the Green Bay Packers. He was a solid LB for us, but his production declined a bit last season. We had high hopes for Preston since he was a top draft pick for us, and the replacement for Brian Okrapo opposite Ryan Kerrigan, but he never really became what we hoped.
Next, we released Zac Brown (LB) and Stacy McGee (DL), both of these two players did not contribute much to our defense last season.
Our offensive line lost Ty Nsekhe (OT) to the Buffalo Bills. This is a spot we need to address before training camp.
I don’t pay too much attention to college football, so I only know about the potential top picks in the draft, and we currently hold the 15th pick overall. Hopefully, we can find another great addition to either our offensive line or to our defense.
We have slowly been building through the draft, and I like how our D-Line is shaping up, so we need to continue to address the immediate needs of the team, and to shy away from overspending in free-agency like we’ve done in the past.
Last season we were poised to win the division, but through injuries and lack of depth in key positions, we ended the season in third place and missed the playoffs.
We have to build our team not just to contend for the NFC East but to dominate like we once did in the good ol’ days of the Joe Gibbs/Jack Kent Cooke era.
I don’t see the Giants being a serious threat this year. The Eagles are pretty good in all areas, the only question is whether Carson Wentz can stay healthy for an entire season and be productive. I doubt it, but we’ll see.
The Cowboys got hot late last year, but I still don’t believe Dak Prescott is an elite quarterback, and our defense seems to be designed to shut Zeke Elliot down, so I think if our defense can actually contain those two–then the Cowboys won’t have any real answer for us on offense. My only concern is whether our secondary can actually neutralize Amari Cooper….and I think we can.
So none of the players we lost so far will really hurt us in the long run, but in actuality, our first few moves in free agency have been solid, and somewhat upgrades from what we had last season…..feeling hopeful.
Rod Rioja 