The Washington Redskins had a terrible season in 2013 and after finishing on a losing streak and firing their head coach, they are ready for a brand new start with Jay Gruden and in free agency the tight end position will be a focus, with names like Jimmy Graham, Jermichael Finley, Brandon Pettigrew, Dennis Pitta and Kellen Winslow options after Fred Davis was hit with a six game suspension.
Davis had been on the outs with the franchise last season and trade rumors came up around the deadline and now, according to Pro Football Talk, CBS Sports reports that the impending free agent faces a six games suspension next season. The report says that Davis violated the league substance-abuse policy and he is possibly facing a six game suspension for that and as he hits the free agent market, that significantly changes things for him and the Redskins.
While the team appears to have been ready to let Davis go, there was a chance according to the Washington Post that the team would re-sign him at a cheaper price if no other teams jumped in, but that now appears out the window. Gruden is a new coach and the team has promising players in Logan Paulson and Jordan Reed and that makes Davis expendable. While the team has those two players, they could be active in free agency since both were injured for various periods last season. While a player like Graham may be out of the price range for the Redskins right now, Winslow and Finley could be interesting options, as could Pitta, as those players may come cheaper after coming off of injuries.
The report from Pro Football Talk describes the various problems for Davis, as he came back to the Redskins last season on a one year deal and only started three games and was inactive for six and this comes after he was franchised the year before. Davis is looking for a more long term deal now, but this suspension will affect things for him and comes after his four game suspension in 2011 for the substance abuse policy and Broncos linebacker Von Miller had a similar issue this season and missed that amount of time.
Graham is expected to be the top tight end on the market, but the Saints may not let him get there with a franchise tag and it comes after two of three seasons of 1,000-plus receiving yards and 11-plus touchdowns. This season he led the league with 86 catches for over 1,200 yards and he had 16 touchdowns as well and no other tight end even came close to that. Graham was among the leaders with wide receivers in receiving yards and that will make negotiations tough with the Saints.
Other options include Winslow, Jermichael Finley, Brandon Pettigrew, Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson and those names would come cheaper than Graham. Dustin Keller will be on the market after missing the season with an injury and Finley is coming back after injuring his neck.
