Brandon Stokley backed away from his deal to join the Washington Redskins. His agent tweeted that there were too many new wide receivers on the Redskins’ roster. I surmise that to mean the Redskins backed away from Stokley.
The Redskins released DE Phillip Daniels, NT Ma’ake Kemoeatu, C Casey Rabach, WR Roydell Williams, P Josh Bidwell, P Sam Paulescu, RB Chad Simpson, and RB Andre Brown. The team reportedly will allow free agent OLB Rocky McIntosh to move on. Perry Riley will move up to compete for Rocky’s spot.
Phillip Daniels is my friend. By that, I mean I friended him on Facebook and felt privileged that he shared a slice of his life with me and several thousand close personal friends. Daniels does the best job of any celebrity athlete I follow to relate to fans. He has shared everything from movie reviews to his love of the Lakers to his joy following the high school exploits of his son Devaris, soon to be a member of the Fighting Irish football team. Daniels did that without betraying any Redskins secrets. Indeed, after the Eagles beatdown last November, Daniels was on Facebook to apologize to fans and commiserate with them us. Redskins fans were angry with the team. No one was angry with Daniels.
Daniel’s farewell tweet was typically classy.
“Thank you to the Redskins organization for 7 great years. It’s tough to say goodbye when you have bled burgundy & gold for so many years. I have no regrets because I left everything on the field. To Redskin Nation who have supported me all this time I got nothing but love for you. God opens doors no man can close and close doors no man can open. I want to keep playing football and proud of what I have accomplished as a Redskin. #HTTR and good luck to all the guys that I loved going to battle with.” (@PhillDayz93)
Goes without saying that I will not be dropping “thatboyphi”l from my FB friends list nor stop following @PhilDayz93 on Twitter. Redskins p.r. chief Tony Wyllie would be wise to hire Daniels to manage Daniel Snyder’s social media strategy.
DE Stephen Bowen preferred the Redskins to his old team, the Dallas Cowboys. He passed on an offer to stay with the ‘Boys and accepted a five-year $27 million contract, $12 million guaranteed. I’m of two minds about this. Anyone who chooses the Redskins over the Cowboys is my kind of man. On the other hand, he’s here to get paid and that hasn’t always worked out well for the Redskins.
The Cowboys said they were scared to death of losing Bowen (Um yeah, like the pool hall guy who says “I never played this game before.”). Twelve million does not strike me as an insurmountable amount for a guarantee, even for a team struggling to come under the cap. Makes me go Hmmm.
Bowen is young (27) and still developing. He’s solid and might do the job absorbing blocks so that linebackers run free.
With Bowen in the Redskins’ fold, the Cowboys may pursue DE Cullen Jenkins, once thought to be a prime target of the Redskins. Jenkins will demand more than $12 million guaranteed. Ironic!
Chris Chester followed his former Ravens teammates Donte’ Stallworth and Josh Wilson to Washington. The Redskins signed the reserve right guard to a five-year, $20 million contract. Chester will be tabbed as starting right guard for the ‘Skins.
The Redskins agreed to terms with all 12 of their rookie Draftees. The new rookie pay scale works!
The Redskins signed Undrafted Free Agents Shaun Draughn (RB, UNC), Kevin Gildrey (TE, South Florida), Ben Chappell (QB, Indiana), Willie Smith (OT, ECU) and Dante Barnes (CB, Norfolk State).
The Redskins opened training camp Today (Thursday), but begin practice on Friday, July 29. Open practices with fans welcomed begins 8:30 AM, Saturday, July 30 and runs daily, except Sundays, through August 15. Fan Appreciation Day is Saturday, August 6 starting at Noon. Print your invitation at CSNWashington.
The Redskins blog has a few traffic warnings you should know before you go.
All the free agent moves we’ve been reporting this week do not become official until 6:00 PM Eastern today when contracts are actually signed and announced by the NFL. That makes today the real start of the NFL Year. Happy 2011, everyone!
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