Washington Redskins Signing Vernon Davis Will Have Minimal Impact

The Washington Redskins have reportedly signed one of the bigger names left on the free agent market. Tight end Vernon Davis, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos, will be heading to Washington on a one-year deal. Despite the fact that the signing will not cost the Redskins much, Davis will likely have little to no impact on the team.

The fact is that the Redskins already have a strong group of tight ends on their roster. Jordan Reed developed into one of the best players at the position last season after finally staying healthy, while Niles Paul is a solid player in his own right. The team even has Logan Paulsen who has been a serviceable blocker when called upon to play. All of those players have more upside than Davis, so it is hard to imagine that he would beat any of them for a roster spot.

Still, signing Davis is still not a bad move. The team could still have some injury issues since Paul and Reed have been so frequently injured during their careers, so should one of them go down again Davis would be an effective replacement. He certainly is not the same player he was during the prime of his career, but he will still offer some speed and decent catching ability that will help Kirk Cousins a bit.

In terms of finances, this deal is not going to hurt the Redskins much. It is only a one-year pact, so no matter what they pay Davis it will only go on the books for this season. I would imagine that there are not a lot of guarantees in the contract either, and it’s probably heavily incentive based. The team is risking very little to bring in a player who was once considered one of the best at his position, so this deal is a pretty big win for the Redskins.