Redskins Running Back Decisions
February 7, 2020
by Steve Thomas
Since it’s a slow Friday in just our first week of the long offseason, I wanted to spend some time on a quick note about the Redskins running back group. The team has a big decision to make in just a couple of weeks. For those not aware, the Redskins hold an option on Adrian Peterson that must be exercised no later than 22 days prior to the start of the new league year, which begins on March 18. He is not just signed to a regular contract for the 2020 season. This means that the Redskins must make a decision about him on or before February 25.
This is particularly relevant because Peterson’s base salary next year, if the option is exercised, is $2.25M; plus, he had a $1.5M signing bonus and has a vesting roster bonus, which would make his salary cap hit $3,109,375 for the 2020 season. The point here is that the team is forced to make a big roster decision with significant cap implications before the start of free agency. The team’s running back group is not exactly in premier shape – Washington only has the unproven Derrius Guice, who’s been injured almost the entire time he’s been in DC, 2019 rookie Bryce Love, who’s been recovering from a torn ACL suffered in his final college game, and practice squad holdover Josh Ferguson, who spent the final two games on the active roster. That’s it. That’s all the Redskins have right now.
Under normal circumstances, voluntarily committing $3.1M to a 35 year old running back prior to free agency and the draft would seem like a dumb thing to do. There will be plenty of options available in free agency (our own Jamual Forrest previewed them; click here to read), but is the team willing to gamble on that? The fact of the matter is that the Redskins don’t have a non-injury prone starter on the roster, and as a result they might do the expensive but conservative thing and bring Peterson back. The good news is that Peterson’s base salary is not guaranteed, so the team could cut him at a dead cap hit of just $750,000 and a savings of $2,359,375. However, cutting a guy like Peterson might not go over very well with his teammates, who felt that former head coach Jay Gruden disrespected Peterson by deactivating him in week 1 last season and then subsequently bashing him to the media afterwards.
It seems to me that the Redskins may be forced into a pretty critical decision before they really want to be, but given the state of this position, the wise thing to do might be to just take the cap hit and exercise Peterson’s option. Peterson has averaged 4.2 yards per carry in 462 atttempts for the Redskins, and has never missed a game due to injury. He’s a first ballot hall of famer who has shown no signs that he can’t at least crank out another decent season equivalent to what he’s done for the past two years. At a minimum, Peterson can provide consistency and can continue to be a mentor to the team’s group of young backs.
What do you think? Let me know in the comment section below.