Washington Redskins hopeful for long-term association with Fred Davis – NFL News
Washington Redskins have once again reiterated their plans of establishing a long-term association with tight end, Fred Davis, on whom the franchise has recently applied its tag so as to prevent him from becoming a free agent.
Davis was drafted by Redskins in 2008 and was given a four-year, $3.5 million contract including bonus money of $1.8 million.
In his rookie year, he started only two games while playing 11. In the next season he was entrusted with more responsibilities as he started 10 games while playing 16. In the 2010-11 season, he started nine games while playing 16.
He became the team’s regular starter in the last season and started the first 12 games. However, he was suspended for the rest of the four games as he was found involved in violation of the National Football League’s (NFL) substance abuse policy.
In the 12 games he played, he rushed for career-best 796 yards on 59 receptions for three touchdowns.
However, the suspension did not become an obstacle in Davis’ way. Redskins’ head coach, Mike Shanahan, had earlier said of the player:
“Fred made a mistake. We sat down and talked about his mistake. I do feel very good about Fred as a person.”
He added:
“I think he’s had a complete change in the way he handles himself off the field, to preparing himself to be a consummate pro, to working out, and hopefully the mistake won’t happen that he made this year.”
Now, Redskins’ general manager, Bruce Allen, has also expressed faith in the player and said that the decision of placing the franchise tag was aimed at preventing Davis from hitting the free agency market.
He also said that he would work out a long-term deal with the player in future.
He said:
“We franchised Fred because he was our most valuable free agent and we couldn’t get a deal done. But we’re hoping to get a deal done that is a longer-term deal and we’ll see what happens in the future.”
In 2012, Davis is expected to earn around $5 million, which is the calculated by keeping in mind the pay scale of top five highest-paid tight ends in the league.
With clear intentions of general manager to keep Davis in the team for more seasons, and support from the head coach, the player is certainly going to land a multi-year lucrative deal in future.
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