New Redskins senior vice president of personnel Doug Williams indicated in a recent interview that he will be on equal footing with coach Jay Gruden when it comes to personnel decisions rather than having full authority. Still, Williams says he will not simply bend to the whim of Gruden, team president Bruce Allen, or anyone else in D.C.
“I’ve never been a ‘yes guy,’ ” Williams told Liz Clarke of The Washington Post. “Now, can I be someone who can talk things over and work it out? Yes. I know Jay well and Bruce well. And I know there are going to be times when we may not agree. That’s a good thing; that’s what scouting is all about.”
While we wait to see how the revamped front office structure pans out, here’s more on the Redskins:
- Tackle Morgan Moses, who signed a lucrative five-year, $40MM+ extension with the Redskins this offseason, is the team’s secret superstar, according to Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus. Per PFF’s stats, Moses had three perfect games of pass protection in 2016 and finished with the eighth-highest grade of any right tackle in the NFL last year. The 26-year-old now has the third-richest deal among RTs league-wide and it’s easy to understand why when examining the advanced metrics.
- The Redskins presently have nine inside linebackers on the roster and are likely to only keep four or five. With Will Compton, Zach Brown, and Mason Foster as locks to make the 53-man roster, Martrell Spaight, Chris Carter, and Zach Vigil find themselves on the bubble, Rich Tandler of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes. If Spaight, Carter, and Vigil are competing for one spot, then Spaight might have the inside track based on what he was able to do as a fill-in for Compton last season. Meanwhile, Pete Robertson, seventh-round pick Josh Harvey-Clemons, and Nico Marley appear to be longshots. Harvey-Clemons may need a year on the practice squad to get seasoning and Marley is lacking size at 5’8″.
- Kirk Cousins could make a difference for all NFL players by pushing for a deal with unprecedented guarantees, Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post. As we all know, NFL deals will often sound more impressive than they are due to paltry guarantees. Meanwhile, contracts for players in the NBA and MLB come fully guaranteed. Cousins is seeking to get maximum value on his new deal, but he would really move the needle for his brethren by getting a completely guaranteed pact, or something close to it. A long-term deal for the Redskins and the quarterback coming together this month is currently viewed as a longshot. There are also rumblings that Cousins is not happy with the organization in general, meaning that he might not be willing to sign an extension of any size with the team.