AROUND THE SHIELD Alex Smiths time with the Washington Football Team has come to a close.
The NFL team based in the nation s capitol made official Friday the news that has been expected for several days, stating that the former University of Utah star and No. 1 overall draft pick has played his final snaps in a helmet adorned with the burgundy-and-gold W.
The move is expected to save around $15 million in salary-cap space as Washington, which finished 7-9 last season with an NFC East title and wild-card round loss, searches for a quarterback of the future. I had a chance to meet with Alex Smith this week, and we had a very honest and real discussion, Washington coach Ron Rivera said in a statement from the team. We had the chance to reflect on the 2020 season and talk about moving forward into next year. After the conclusion of that meeting, we decided it would be best for both parties to move on and we will be granting Alex his request to be released.
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Cut cap savings: $7,500,000
Cut dead money: $6,920,000
The Ravens don’t have a pressing need to make this move, and Williams was still a solid nose tackle clogging up the middle for Baltimore last year, grading out at 67.2 overall. But with a ton of Ravens players in need of new contracts both free agents like Matthew Judon and Yannick Ngakoue and young stars like QB Lamar Jackson and TE Mark Andrews Baltimore has to clear room somewhere.
Projected AAV: $9-12 million
Davis is not an anonymous figure, by any means, going fifth overall in the 2017 draft and breaking out with a career-high 984 yards and five scores in 2020. But in a crowded WR market featuring splashier names such as Allen Robinson and JuJu Smith-Schuster, he’s probably not getting quite the attention he deserves. His eventual contract will likely suggest otherwise, but everything says he’s worth the gamble: He’s young
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Matt Judon
Baltimore Ravens · OLB
The Ravens smartly placed the franchise tag on Judon last offseason. Talking to.