One of the franchise players who may not be happy about Drew Brees’ unhappiness with the magnitude of the long-term offers he has received from the Saints is Redskins tight end Fred Davis.
Davis, franchised by the Redskins, has signed the one-year $5.4 million offer, but the Redskins haven’t shown much of an interest in giving him a long-term, market-value contract.
Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com, the PFT Live unofficial Redskins correspondent, writes that it’s “extremely unlikely” Davis will be getting a multi-year deal to replace his one-year franchise-player contract.
It’s extremely unlikely Rich is wrong, but a source with knowledge of the situation says that the Redskins have reached out to Davis about a doing a long-term deal.
Per the source, nothing is imminent. Per the CBA, nothing can happen after July 16, the deadline for signing franchise players to long-term deals. Thus, the source says at this point that it’s more likely than not that Davis will play 2012 under the franchise tender.
And while the Redskins may be willing to give Davis a multi-year contract, the Redskins may be inclined to do so only at their chosen price. For starters, the Redskins are $18 million lighter in the salary-cap loafers, both this year and next year. Then there’s the fact that Davis was suspended four games last season for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, putting him one more positive test away from a one-year suspension.
If Davis fails another drug test, here’s hoping he doesn’t represent himself at the hearing.