The Washington Redskins came into free agency with a number of glaring needs and after addressing some of that early, the team is looking at a number of players and after Darren Sproles was traded to the Eagles, Ryan Clark, Corey Graham, Cortland Finnegan, Champ Bailey and Anthony Spencer are all getting looks from the team.
The team was looking into signing Jairus Byrd at safety to fill that need, but he ended up going to the New Orleans Saints and now the Redskins are looking at Ryan Clark as a possible option. Clark spent his recent career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and now he could come back to his former team in the Redskins, where he played from 2004 to 2005. Clark is a veteran and at 35 he has experience and leadership and while he is older than the average safety, he is the type of player that takes care of himself and he has been very durable, missing only four games during the past six seasons and that is the type of consistency that the Redskins need at the position.
Clark has been a leader on the Steelers for the last few years and he has the skills to play both safety positions and that could be big for the Redskins. Clark had 104 tackles and two interceptions last season and he should be able to translate well to the Redskins, as the Steelers ran the same scheme Washington uses. The team had Brandon Meriweather last year and he could return and Clark is one of the better options left on the market after Jairus Byrd signed with New Orleans, TJ Ward left Cleveland for the Denver Broncos, while Mike Mitchell took over for Clark in Pittsburgh.
The Redskins also are on the market at cornerback and after Aqib Talib and Darrelle Revis signed deals, names like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Tracy Porter, Cortland Finnegan and Champ Bailey are still available. The Redskins could also look to other names at safety, including Chris Clemons, Roman Harper and Thomas DeCoud. The Redskins have a lot to offer in terms of facilities and a new coaching staff and they will bring in both defensive end Antonio Smith and corner Corey Graham this week. Both are targets for a number of teams and Smith already will be seeing the Titans and the Raiders.
The offense needed some depth at wide receiver past Pierre Garcon and Santana Moss last season and now the team has Andre Roberts on a four year deal and that could turn out to be a steal for the team. Eric Decker is now off the market and Roberts is coming off of a down year, but two seasons ago he was excellent while catching 64 passes for 759 yards and five touchdowns and if he can put up numbers like that again, the Redskins should be fine at wideout.
