Tag: 2021 offseason

Brandon Scherff’s comments show he has no intentions of leaving Washington in free agency

Brandon Scherff expressed his intense love for Ron Rivera and this Washington team on Sunday, showing little intention of leaving in free agency.

When it comes to the Washington offensive line, 80 percent of the players upfront are signed to contracts that have them in D.C. for the next couple of years, at least, but the biggest piece is still out there with his future uncertain.

We’re talking about RG Brandon Scherff, who was the first Washington player to be named an All-Pro this century, and someone who also was named to the Pro-Bowl for the fourth time in his career, and was given the Ed Block Courage Awards this season. In other words, a pretty important piece of the offense.

With Scherff playing on the franchise tag this past season, there have been questions as to if and when he is going to re-sign with Washington. Coach Ron Rivera has expressed his desire to get Scherff under contract, and in the past, the vet has said that he wants to stick around as well. Still, things can change, so it’s always smart to check-in.

Well, media members checked in with Scherff on Sunday, the morning after Washington’s last game of the 2020 season, and his answer doesn’t seem to have changed. In fact, his desire to stick around in Washington may be stronger than it ever has been.

It’s tough to deal in certainties in this day and age, especially when talking about a multi-million dollar deal that involves an NFL player. With that being said, I feel pretty safe saying that Scherff will sign a long-term deal with Washington this offseason, and hopefully finish his career in D.C. as well. He wants to be here, and the team desperately wants him back. Time to get the deal done.

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Examining the Falcons’ biggest positional needs for 2021

Since the Atlanta Falcons didn’t qualify for the NFL’s expanded postseason, it gave the team an early start on what’s sure to be a busy offseason.

Since the Atlanta Falcons didn’t qualify for the NFL’s expanded postseason, it gave the team an early start on what’s sure to be a busy offseason. The Falcons have plenty of needs to fill, not including the team’s general manager and head-coaching vacancies.

Here are Atlanta’s biggest positional needs heading into the 2021 offseason.

Cowboys Amari Cooper posts ‘Surgery was a success’ after ankle work

Amari Cooper had his fifth 1,000-yard season in 2020, and he did so with an ankle injury that required surgery on Thursday.

If there’s one thing the 2020 Dallas Cowboys dealt with in abundance it was injuries, especially to key offensive personnel. Dak Prescott, Tyron Smith, and Blake Jarwin all suffered season-ending injuries by October. Zack Martin didn’t take a snap after Thanksgiving, Ezekiel Elliott had a calf issue, and La’el Collins was out for the entire season.

As the Cowboys turn the page to next season, it appears another key starter on offense was dealing with an injury in 2020. Wide receiver Amari Cooper posted via his Instagram account that he had successful surgery on Thursday.

According to Brianna Dix of D210Sports, Cooper had an ankle clean up procedure done. Although he did appear to injure his right ankle in the season finale against the New York Giants, no details had been reported as to what specifically caused the injury. He is expected to be ready to go by time offseason workouts begin.

Cooper had a career-high in yards (1,189), touchdowns (8), and yards per catch (15.1) in 2019 which led to his five-year, $100 million dollar extension in the offseason. He followed it up with another productive year in 2020 as he hit the 1,000-yard mark for the fifth time in six seasons (1,114) and set a new career-high in receptions with 92.

The four-time Pro Bowl selection was on a near 1,400-yard pace in the first five games before Prescott went down. The fact that he played with three additional quarterbacks (Andy Dalton, Garrett Gilbert, Ben DiNucci) and still was as productive as he was is quite impressive. He also did so alongside a solid alternate options in Michael Gallup, and a near 1,000-yard rookie in CeeDee Lamb.

There weren’t many bright spots for the Cowboys in 2020 but Cooper was one of them. Not many receivers could lose a quarterback of Prescott’s caliber and almost catch 100 passes.

Cooper certainly validated his contract in the first year.

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News: Potential trade targets, free agents, how to fix the Cowboys

Also in the news, Jerry Jones boasts about his attendance record, and why Will McClay hasn’t taken a GM job with another NFL team.

The big wheel of the Dallas Cowboys keeps turning. There’s no playoff game to prepare for, so thoughts have already shifted to the 2021 season. And that opens up all kinds of possibilities. Which draft picks to zero in on, what veterans on other rosters to go after in a trade, who among the team’s own free agents to retain… it’s all on the table once again.

There’s still plenty of rehashing of 2020 to do, including lots of suggestions on how to fix the many things that went wrong this year. But there’s good news, too: a rookie is singled out ahead of his peers, a monster performance ranks among the season’s best, and more than one Cowboy showed out with a surprising season. All that, plus back in the weeds with the Dak Prescott contract saga, Jerry Jones finds something to brag about, and a look at why one of the most well-respected front office guys in the league hasn’t jumped ship to be a GM somewhere else. That’s coming right up in News and Notes.

Texans QB Deshaun Watson wants to give DE J.J. Watt a Super Bowl ring

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson says he wants the be the one to give defensive end J.J. Watt his first Super Bowl win.

There are some unknown factors surrounding defensive end J.J. Watt’s career with the Houston Texans, but it is still one of quarterback Deshaun Watson’s goals to deliver the former 2011 first-round pick a Super Bowl win.

The three-time Pro Bowler talked about how he envisions the franchise’s first Super Bowl win going.

“Hopefully he’s still here in this organization because I want to be the one that gives him that Super Bowl ring and be that quarterback he continues to talk about that gave him that first one,” Watson said. “That’s my idea. I definitely want him here, so that’s the plan for me and that’s my take on that, is to keep him in Houston. But this is a crazy business.”

The crazy business saw Watson’s biggest target, three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins, traded in the 2020 offseason. That was part of the moves of former coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, who was fired Oct. 5.

With a new general manager and a new coach incoming, there is no guarantee they will value Watt for his contributions to the franchise, but where he is entering his 11th season in the NFL.

“I know he still has time to play,” said Watson. “I don’t know his contract and stuff like that so I’m going to stay away from all that. New head coach, new GM, all that stuff is definitely new to me.”

Part of how Watson and Watt bonded was in the 2018 offseason when both were working through season-ending injuries. For Watt, it was a left tibial plateau fracture in Week 5 of 2017, and for Watson, it was a torn ACL sustained in practice on Nov. 2. In their rehabilitation process, their chemistry was formed.

Said Watson: “J.J.’s a big part of my career. From the time when we both had injuries, learning from him, watching him, seeing his production, his preparation, his leadership — just everything. He’s a big part of my career and I respect him and I thank him for everything that he’s done for me.”

Watson just wants another shot to do one big thing for Watt.

Why Troy Aikman was spot on with ‘So many things that have to be addressed’ for Cowboys

Hall of Famer Troy Aikman gave an honest critique of his former team on Tuesday night, saying the direction of the organization is unknown.

The 2020 Dallas Cowboys have hit rock bottom. Their 34-17 loss on Tuesday night to the Baltimore Ravens was their second straight and the sixth defeat in their last seven games. Defensively, they gave up nearly 300 yards rushing and the 34 points they yeilded was the seventh time an opponent has reached that mark this season.

Hall of Fame quarterback and Cowboys legend Troy Aikman knows all about struggling under the bright lights of Dallas, Texas. After being the top pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, Aikman lost all 11 of his rookie starts and the team went 1-15. The three-time Super Bowl champion gave a brutally honest assessment of where his former team is going forward while covering the game for FOX.

“I wouldn’t say this is necessarily over, but it’s hard to keep saying that when you’re not winning football games,” Aikman said. “I mean, I don’t know… I just don’t know where this organization… where they go. There are just so many things that have to be addressed this offseason.”

He couldn’t have been more spot on with his critique. The biggest elephant in the room this offseason will be the contract situation of Dak Prescott. He signed a franchise tag that paid him $31.4 million in 2020 back in June, and that number will balloon to around $38 million if another tag is applied in 2021. Both sides have been adamant that they want a long-term marriage. However, with the Cowboys 1-6 record since Prescott’s season-ending ankle injury the organization may be more ready than ever to make that a reality.

The offensive line has been a disaster, to say the least. Perennial All-Pro guard Zack Martin was placed on injured reserve recently with a calf injury. The biggest issue, however, has been at tackle. Tyron Smith and La’el Collins both suffered season-ending injuries. Smith missed three games in each of the previous four seasons and Collins had hip surgery, which can be a tricky ailment to recover from. Looking for a young tackle in the draft could be a focal point.

On defense the Cowboys have been even worse. They currently ranked No. 32 in rushing yards allowed (167.8) and points allowed per game (32.8). Defensive tackle was thought to have been addressed during the last offseason with the additions of Gerald Mcoy and Dontari Poe. Unfortunately, McCoy was waived after rupturing his right quad in August, and Poe was released in October due to underperforming and weight issues according to owner Jerry Jones. Rookie Neville Gallimore has shown a few flashes as well as Antwaun Woods, but the interior defensive line remains an issue to be addressed.

The linebacker situation is an interesting one as well. Veteran Sean Lee will be a free agent in 2021. Leighton Vander Esch missed seven games in 2019 with a neck issue and four this season with a broken collarbone. The Cowboys have a lot of money tied into Jaylon Smith but his play hasn’t lived up to expectations in 2020, and the team could get out of his deal before the 2021 season. This uncertainty makes a player like Penn State’s Micah Parsons one to keep an eye on if the Cowboys keep a top 5 pick in next year’s draft.

The secondary could likely see a major overhaul.

Cornerback’s Jourdan Lewis and Chidobe Awuzie as well as safety Xavier Woods are all currently in contract seasons, and none have shown much consistently to be a top priority once the offseason hits. Rookie cornerback Trevon Diggs showed flashes of how good he could be before a broken foot in Week 9 put him on the shelf for 4-6 weeks, and he was eventually placed on injured reserve a week later. Another bright spot has been safety Donovan Wilson who finally got his shot to contribute, but a groin injury forced him to miss Week 13. Cornerback and safety should be high on the 2021 priority list in Dallas.

It’s impossible to predict what the Cowboys will look like next season, but they have a plethora of changes to make if they want to be a contender anytime soon.

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Redskins projected to have fifth-best ‘Salary Cap Health’ for 2021 season

With few long-term contracts and a load of young talent, the Redskins are shaping up to have quite a bit of flexibility in 2021.

Now more than ever, it is tough to forecast what the future in the NFL will look like when it comes to the salary cap, especially when you consider that we are going through a global pandemic that has the potential to shut down the sport for some time this fall, which could end up having a large effect on the salary cap in 2021 and for years to come.

With that being said, our friends at Over The Cap put out a piece this week trying to break down where teams stand going into next year, using a number of different factors in predicting the 2021 salary cap projections. Here’s how they determined the final numbers:

  • Projected 2021 Cap Space
  • Max 2021 Cap Space Based on Cuts
  • Max 2021 Cap Space Based on Restructures
  • Potential 2021 Free Agents

With these factors in place, the Washington Redskins currently rank fifth in the NFL when it comes to projected salary cap health in 2021, estimated at just under $87 million.

Via Over The Cap

The article pegs the Redskins as being one of a handful of teams who will likely be in the run for some big-named free agents (there happens to be a cornerback in LA who may be on the market and has shown an affinity for QB Dwayne Haskins). It’s also noted that Washington has virtually no extension or signing that should single-handedly trouble them, should the cap be normal in 2021.

It may be a team full of young players who have yet to fully prove themselves thus far in Washington, but with another year under their belts, and some flexibility when it comes to contracts, the Redskins could be in a position to build quite an intriguing roster come a year from now.

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