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Here is what you need to know on this Saturday, March 15, 23 days before the Redskins start their offseason workouts.

Nickel coverage

The Redskins have cut Will Montgomery, their starting center since 2011. Who will play center for them in 2014? Here are five possibilities:

Kory Lichtensteiger—He is the favorite as of now. Gruden would prefer a bigger guard so Lichtensteiger could slide to center and newly acquired Shawn Lauvao will go into his guard spot.

Adam Gettis—The 2012 draft pick appears to be in the process of bulking up and he could be around 310 by the time the offseason program starts. He could be a good fit in he middle of the line and after two years on the bench he could be ready for a move to the starting lineup.

Kyle Cook—He was the Bengals’ regular starting center for every game that Jay Gruden was the offensive coordinator there (he did miss most of 2012 with a foot injury). He was released in a salary cap move earlier this week. There could be some interest in the 30 year old although none has been reported yet.

Marcus Martin—The USC product is among the top-ranked centers in the draft. He almost certainly will be there when the Redskins pick in the second round. Bryan Stork of Florida State was the Rimington award winner and could also be ready to start very early on.

Will Montgomery—This is very unlikely to happen but it can’t be ruled out completely. Perhaps they will try to bring him back at a salary lower than his $2.6 million number. Or they might ask him to come back in the event of an injury at some point.

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Timeline

—It’s been 76 days since the Redskins played a game; it will be about 176 days until they play another one.

—Days until: Offseason workouts start 23; NFL Draft 54; Training camp starts 130

In case you missed it

• Hatcher: 'I’ve got it all, man'
• OT Donald Penn scheduled to visit Redskins
• Redskins sign kicker Jake Rogers
• Clark to Redskins fans: 'You can unfollow me'
• Hatcher adds disruption to Redskins DL but for how long?
• Redskins release Will Montgomery
• The top five free agent tackle options for the Redskins

2018 NFL Draft

Sony Michel has what the Redskins need at running back

Redskins have drafted RBs, just not well

The 2018 NFL Mock Draft 9.0: One week away

Versatile DB Minkah Fitzpatrick could be too talented to leave on the board

On average, the mock drafts like Vita Vea going to the Redskins

Here is what you need to know on this Saturday, April 21, five days before the 2018 NFL draft.  

The Redskins week that was

A look at some of the most popular posts and hottest topics of the week on Real Redskins and NBC Sports Washington. 

Should the Redskins pursue Dez Bryant? This topic was one like a meteor, very hot for a short period of time before it quickly faded out. It started to heat up as soon as the Cowboys cut Dez (about a month too late) and when it was reported that he wanted to play against Dallas twice a year it really picked up steam. But then people started to actually think and figured out that signing Bryant didn’t make much sense for the Redskins. Add to that the reports that the Redskins had no interest and would not look into signing Dez in the future and the Redskins fans quickly lost enthusiasm for the topic.

Seven-round Redskins mock draft—I think that most Redskins fans would be happy with this mock. Well, I’ll say some Redskins fans, most is a pretty strong word in this case. 

Is the draft pool deep enough for the Redskins to trade back? There is plenty of talk about the Redskins trading down in the first round to recoup the third-round pick they gave up in the Alex Smith trade. But they need to be careful. Many consider the draft to be top heavy and they may lose their chance to pick up an impact player if they trade back too far. The question then becomes one of quality vs. quantity. 

Three questions as offseason workouts get underway—There will be plenty more questions that we can ask about this team. But we don’t really know what to ask before the draft, particularly when it comes to the defensive line and running back. One the personnel settle into place we will know what we don’t know. 

Tweet of the week

On Chris Cooley’s thought that the Redskins might try to trade back and get Da’Ron Payne in the draft and the use the assets obtained to move up to get Derrius Guice. 

Interesting. They could move back from 13, get Payne and pick up a third. Then package their second and the third to move up to get Guice early in the second. Not sure he’ll be there but not a bad plan. https://t.co/socT0f6oFZ

— Rich Tandler (@TandlerNBCS) April 17, 2018

This is related to the questions about trading back. On paper it looks like a good idea, assuming the Redskins want Payne. We’re pretty sure they would like to have Guice but we haven’t heard as much about the Alabama defensive lineman. 

I had many reply that Guice won’t be there in the second round. It’s possible, perhaps even likely, but you just don’t know. There was zero chance that Jonathan Allen would be there at No. 17 last year, right? 

Stay up to date on the Redskins. Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page, Facebook.com/TandlerNBCS and follow him on Twitter  @TandlerNBCS.

Timeline  

Days until:

—OTAs start (5/22) 31
—Training camp starts (7/26) 96
—2018 NFL season starts (9/9) 141

In case you missed it

• Need to Know: Five pivotal games on the Redskins' schedule
• Clarifying the confusion about the Redskins' Week 16 game at the Titans
• Redskins' schedule "rest disparity" is very fair in 2018

The NFL started taking into account a new factor when putting together its schedule this year. The concept is called rest disparity. It stems from a complaint made by the Giants last year. And, of course, when the Giants have a cold, the NFL sneezes and immediately does whatever it takes to cure the cold. 

Here is how Peter King laid it out this morning on the MMQB:

Last year, I heard the Giants were not pleased with their schedule because they felt they were too often playing teams more rested than they were. In consecutive October weeks, they played teams coming off byes, for instance. The NFL calculated a figure for every team based on the number of combined days of rest for their foes or for the team, calculating, for instance, in those two weeks, the Giants were a minus-14 (minus-seven for each of the foes, Seattle and Denver, coming off byes). In all, by my math, the Giants were a league-worst minus-22 in “rest disparity.”

So the schedule makers worked to minimize the rest disparity this year. According to King, the worst rest disparity in the league this year is minus-11. The Giants are minus-eight. 

The question that Redskins fans will have immediately here is if the Giants’ rest disparity was reduced at the expense of the team in burgundy and gold. The answer that will surprise many is no. 

The Redskins rest disparity in 2018 will be either minus-one or zero. The variance is due to the possibility that their Week 16 game in Tennessee will be flexed to a Saturday game (see details here). If the game stays on Sunday, they will be at minus-one in rest disparity. If it gets moved, they will have had exactly as much rest over the course of the season as did their opponents, in aggregate. 

If you're interested in the nitty-gritty, here is how it breaks down. In eight or nine of their games, they will have had the same amount of rest as their opponents. They play one game coming off of their bye, a Monday night game in New Orleans. The Saints play the previous Sunday, giving Washington a plus-seven in days of rest. That is canceled out when they play the Falcons in Week 9 after Atlanta’s bye. 

Due to their Thanksgiving game, they get three extra days off going into their Week 13 Monday night game in Philadelphia. Two weeks later the Jaguars will have those three extra days of rest when they host the Redskins, having played on Thursday in Week 14.

They lose a day relative to their opponents coming off of those Monday night games against the Saints and Eagles. The Redskins get an extra day prior to visiting the Giants in Week 8 as New York has a Monday night game in Week 7. 

So far, that comes to minus-one in rest disparity. That will remain in place if they play the Titans on Sunday, December 23. If the game is flexed to Saturday, they will gain a day of rest on the Eagles in Week 17, zeroing out the rest disparity for the season. 

More Redskins

• Redskins 2018 regular-season schedule is here
• Sony Michel has what the Redskins need at running back
• Five players who are wild cards for the 2018 Redskins

Stay up to date on the Redskins. Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page, Facebook.com/TandlerNBCS and follow him on Twitter @TandlerNBCS.