Colt McCoy took over as the Redskins’ starting quarterback after Alex Smith suffered a gruesome leg injury last week, and while the veteran signal-caller is technically under contract through 2019, he’s on pace to become a free agent if he stays under center for the rest of the season. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com explains, McCoy’s deal will void if he plays 30% of Washington’s offensive snaps, an easily attainable figure providing the McCoy stays healthy.
However, if McCoy does exercise his option to become a free agent, the Redskins have the right to buy back the 2019 season while giving McCoy a raise. The details of that raise aren’t exactly clear, but Rapoport says it would be worth anywhere from $750K to $4MM, depending on how McCoy performs for the rest of the year.
Rapoport does pass along one example for reference: if McCoy starts the rest of the season and plays in two playoff games, he’d be entitled to a $2MM buyback, a figure that would be fully guaranteed. So instead of earning a $3.5MM and $2MM guaranteed (which is what his contract currently calls for), McCoy could collect $5.5MM in total and $4MM guaranteed.
Whether the Redskins have interest in using their buyback clause will likely rest on two factors: how well McCoy plays, and their optimism regarding Smith’s health. Per Rapoport, Washington would have been comfortable deploying McCoy as its starter this season had it not been able to acquire Smith from the Chiefs, so the club clearly has confidence in the 32-year-old. As far as Smith goes, the Redskins are optimistic that he’ll be ready for the 2019 campaign, but his recovery timeline is uncertain.
Colt McCoy is a younger version of Alex Smith. May as well move forward w McCoy, not like Washington won’t need a QB next year anyway.
Because of the cap hits, doesn’t Washington pretty much have to give Smith a shot?
Colt McCoy = 32, Alex Smith = 34. He might be slightly younger than Smith, but if you want to move forward with a new QB you might want to aim for one younger than 32 with little to no experience as a starting QB.
He’s slightly younger than Alex smith and didn’t snap one of his leg bones through his skin recently… he’s less expensive with a similar skill set… idk what QB will be available in the middle of the first round, but my guess is that the redskins won’t prioritize the QB position this year in the draft. Other than that, what “younger qb” do you have in mind? Why would you play a younger QB instead of McCoy? Just because he is younger? Young, franchise QBs aren’t readily available at a moments notice, redskins have two game manager QBs on the roster with no immediate solution to replace either… so you may as well retain and play McCoy as the starter until (and if) Smith comes back.
The Redskins expediency at making QB decisions is well known. Shouldn’t take more than 2 years for McCoy to learn if the team is interested in the buy back option.
If their defense stays this good, they can go out and give someone a one year deal that can prove it. Bridgewater fits now that he’s just hanging out in New Orleans. With that defense, they can grab anyone who’s left and ride them while they take a leftover QB in the draft.
Really don’t see a big market for McCoy on the free agent market – he’s not a potential “quarterback to start in Game 1” for next year but simply a 33 year old back-up with limited success which would be what he is now.