Washington could look to bring back safety Dashon Goldson, according to John Keim of ESPN.com. Goldson, of course, was just released by the club on Monday.
When Goldson’s release was reported, Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com reported that Washington attempted to restructure Goldson’s contract before cutting him, but when the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement, the veteran defensive back was released. That jibes with Keim’s report, which states that Washington wanted Goldson to return in 2016, but not at his $8MM cap figure.
So while Washington and Goldson clearly had different ideas about his value prior to the start of free agency, it remains to be seen if Goldson can find a better deal on the open market. Clearly, no competing club was in a rush to sign him during the opening wave of the free agent period when a number of other safeties — such as Rodney McLeod, Tashaun Gipson, and George Iloka — flew off the board. Goldson, at 31 years of age, is quite a bit older than those options, so he might need to sit on the market for awhile before landing a new contract.
Washington still has abut $17.22MM left in 2016 cap space, so finding room for Goldson shouldn’t be an issue. The team also has a need in the back end, especially after releasing another safety — 2015 signee Jeron Johnson — earlier this week. DeAngelo Hall and 2015 sixth-round pick Kyshoen Jarrett are currently penciled as Washington’s starters, with Duke Ihenacho available off the bench, so Goldson could certainly find a role among that group.
Of course, Goldson has never quite been the player he was in San Francisco, where he was named first-team All Pro in 2012. He started 15 games for Washington last season, playing on more than 90% of the team’s defensive snaps. Goldson posted 70 tackles and one interception, grading as the No. 70 safety among 88 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.