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Changes galore for Redskins as new league year approaches

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ASHBURN, Va. — With new general manager in Scot McCloughan, a new defensive staff — other than linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti — new offensive line coach Bill Callahan and quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh, there’s plenty new at Redskins Park in 2015.

The question is whether the same spend-large mentality that characterized Dan Snyder’s previous 15 offseasons as Washington’s owner will hold true under McCloughan, who helped build winners in San Francisco and Seattle, largely through the draft.

With the aftereffects of the 2012 trade that brought starting quarterback Robert Griffin III to Washington finally history, the Redskins have a full complement of draft picks for the first time since 2011.

At the same time, only two players who started the majority of last season’s games for the Redskins — defensive end Jarvis Jenkins and safety Brandon Meriweather — are set to become free agents on Tuesday.

With Washington having signed Ricky Jean Francois to presumably replace Jenkins and with Meriweather a liability who’s almost surely gone, three-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker Brian Orakpo, who didn’t produce as the franchise player in 2014 before his season ended after seven games with a torn pec, is the only looming free agent who would be a starter if he returns. However, it’s hard to see the Redskins giving Orakpo, their first-round pick in the 2009 draft, the lucrative long-term contract he wants.

McCloughan began reshaping the roster by releasing former starting defensive linemen Barry Cofield and Stephen Bowen on Feb. 27, the same day that he signed Jean Francois, whom he drafted for the 49ers but who played the past two seasons for Indianapolis.

With coach Jay Gruden having answered the biggest dilemma on offense by declaring Griffin the starter last month, the Redskins are pretty set at the skill positions with receivers DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon, tight end Jordan Reed, running back Alfred Morris and fullback Darrel Young. Trent Williams is a stud at left tackle, but the rest of Callahan’s group is in need of a serious overhaul through free agency and the draft that could start with the release of right guard Chris Chester that would shave $4 million off the salary cap.

New defensive coordinator Joe Barry will surely be looking for plenty of talent, starting with safeties to replace Meriweather and the retired Ryan Clark. David Amerson’s disappointing second season and DeAngelo Hall’s two Achilles surgeries (on the same leg) leave only second-year man Bashaud Breeland as a sure thing at cornerback.

Ryan Kerrigan outside and Keenan Robinson inside are keepers at linebacker, but inside starter Perry Riley took a step back in 2014 and Trent Murphy didn’t appear quite ready to start after being pressed into service as a rookie after Orakpo’s season-ending injury. Up front, Jason Hatcher will be 33 in July and swingman Chris Baker is an overachiever.

Kicker Kai Forbath, punter Tress Way and snapper Nick Sundberg are set on special teams, but Andre Roberts wasn’t very good in his first year as the Redskins’ main return man. so they should at least bring in some competition for him, perhaps Jacoby Jones, who was let go by Baltimore.

And given the Redskins’ many needs, there’s no reason they shouldn’t kick the tires on such other recently released players as defensive linemen Darnell Dockett and Kendall Langford, return man Ted Ginn, offensive linemen Justin Blalock, Todd Herremans, Charlie Johnson and Mike Pollak (who played for Gruden in Cincinnati), linebackers A.J. Hawk, Shaun Phillips (who played for Barry in San Diego), LaMarr Woodley, cornerbacks Cortland Finnegan and Cary Williams and safety Tyvon Branch.

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Buccaneers admit mistake, boot Aguayo

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In the NFL, it’s always better to admit a mistake than to compound it. For the Buccaneers, the decision to burn a 2016 second-round pick on kicker Robert Aguayo has proven to be a mistake. The Buccaneers made the definitive admission of their error on Saturday, cutting Aguayo. He exits with $428,000 in fully-guaranteed salary [more]

Source: Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk

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Did Bucs put too much pressure on Aguayo?

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After the Buccaneers surprised everyone by taking a kicker with the 59th overall pick in the draft, G.M. Jason Licht explained the move by heaping superlatives on the player. “I was very excited along with my staff and coaches about Roberto for a very long time,” Licht told PFT Live in May 2016. “It’s not [more]

Source: Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk

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Broncos holding their breath on Derek Wolfe

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Only two days after losing Billy Winn for the year with a torn ACL, the Broncos are now sweating out another potentially serious injury along the defensive line. Via multiple reports, Broncos defensive lineman Derek Wolfe was carted off the field during practice on Saturday. It’s being described as a right ankle injury by coach [more]

Source: Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk

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