Free Agency 2018: Corners

Posted on by

March 6, 2018

by Steve Thomas

This is part 4 of my ongoing free agency preview series.  In light of the fact that I previously addressed two offensive positions, wide receiver (click here to read) and running back (click here to read), and one defensive position, inside linebacker (click here to read), it seemed like a good time to balance things out with another defensive position; hence, corners.  The Redskins’ need at this position is slightly different than the other positions.  Assuming the Alex Smith trade goes through, the team is in need of two players who will receive significant playing time – one starter to replace unrestricted free agent Bashaud Breeland (which could be Breeland himself) and one nickel corner to replace Kendall Fuller, who is going to Kansas City in the Alex Smith trade.  In his Combine press conference last week, Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said two things of note: (1) they need to add at least one corner, and (2) that he thought 2017 rookie corner Fabian Moreau should play outside if possible, which leads me to believe that the team might be in the market for both.  As another wildcard, looking down the road, the team will soon have to make a decision one way or the other on Josh Norman’s contract, which is the most onerous corner contract in the league.  Bottom line: uncertainty abounds at this position.  The team could address this either in free agency or the draft; this column focuses on free agency choices.

The basics of what I’m looking for in a corner is someone who, like the other positions, is not old in football terms, and is healthy and reliable.  Regarding age, I’m willing to compromise with corners a bit more than I was with running backs.  Hard, objective statistics that give a good picture of a corner’s performance are hard to come by, so I’m not necessarily looking for any particular minimum numbers.  Because of this statistics problem, many other cornerback previews take the easy, lazy way out and just cite Pro Football Focus rankings; however, since I’ve been telling you for several seasons now that PFF rankings are inaccurate, statistically and practically unreliable, bordering on fraud, and a big waste of time, we’ll avoid going down that particular toilet bowl and concentrate on subjective evaluative factors.

With that having been said, these are my free agent cornerback rankings, as applicable to the Redskins:

Starting Corners

Top of the Heap

#1 – Malcolm Butler; 5’11”, 190 lbs; 28 years old[1]

Malcolm Butler has come a long way in his NFL career, rising from obscurity as a 2014 undrafted free agent signee out of the University of West Alabama by the New England Patriots, to Super Bowl XLIX hero, to solid, productive starter, to a high-profile but still unexplained trip to Bill Belichick’s doghouse immediately prior to Super Bowl LII.

Butler, who hails from Vicksburg, Mississippi, began his college career at Hines Community College.  He transferred to Alcorn St., then again to West Alabama, where he played two seasons and was a two-time First Team All-Gulf South Conference selection[2].  He ran a 4.6 second 40 yard dash at the 2014 West Alabama pro day.

With the Patriots, Butler has played 59 games, starting 48, over 4 seasons, with 177 tackles, 32 assisted tackles, 8 interceptions, and 2 sacks, and has been healthy.  He’s developed from non-starter in his first year to solid performing every down starter and 2015 Pro Bowl selection on the best franchise in the league.  Butler has quality all-around skills and will likely be viewed as a #1 option by some teams.  What happened during this year’s Super Bowl week to cause Bill Belichick to bench him right before the Super Bowl remains a mystery, with a few salacious details leaked by media and then denied by Butler himself.  It’s not worth re-publishing trashy rumors here; suffice to say that something happened, but we don’t know what it is.  Regardless, it seems clear that he will not be back with the Patriots.  Butler developed into an elite-level talent and could serve as an anchor of the Redskins defensive backfield along with Josh Norman.

Contract-wise, Butler is a #1 cornerback option who will probably seek a 5 year deal that places him amongst the higher paid corners in the league.  The questions surrounding the Super Bowl may affect his contract if they are not resolved.  As a comparable, last year, the Atlanta Falcons gave one-time Pro Bowler Desmond Trufant a 5 year, $68.5M contract that included a $15M signing bonus and over $41M guaranteed – this is the range that Butler will likely expect to be paid.  It would be quite a bit for the Redskins.

#2 – Trumaine Johnson; 6’2”, 213 lbs; 28 years old

Trumaine Johnson was a 2012 3rd round pick out of Montana by the then-St. Louis, now Los Angeles Rams.  He was a four year starter and a 2 time FCS (i.e., the former Division I-AA) All-American at Montana and ran a 4.61 second 40 yard dash at the 2012 NFL Combine.  In his six year career with the Rams, Johnson has played 85 games, starting 62, and made 281 tackles, 46 assisted tackles, and 18 interceptions.  The Rams placed the exclusive franchise tag on him in both 2016 and 2017 after failing to reach a multi-year deal with him.

Johnson did not have a particularly good year in 2017, but has slowly progressed from slot corner to starter in 2015, and played well enough to prompt the Rams to keep him for two years in a row via the franchise tag.  Johnson would come to Washington as the clear-cut #2 starter opposite Josh Norman, not as a slot corner.  His film shows that Johnson is versatile, capable of playing both zone and press-man coverages.  The Rams sometimes had him travel with certain receivers and flip sides.  He’s a smart player and does well at sniffing out plays.  The concern with him would be his health, as he suffered a leg injury in the early part of the 2017 season that affected the quality of his performance last year, but he’s a good player who would no doubt do well in Washington.  Assuming he can bounce back to his pre-2017 self, Johnson and Norman paired together would give the Redskins two of the better cornerback tandems in the league.

From a contractual standpoint, it seems obvious, considering that he played on the franchise tag for 2016 and 2017, that Johnson expects a full-value 5 year contract.  He’s probably worth as much as, or slightly less than, Malcolm Butler.

#3 – Kyle Fuller; 6’0”, 190 lbs; 26 years old

Kyle is the older brother of soon-to-be former Redskin Kendell Fuller.  He was a 1st round pick in 2014 by the Bears and was a day one starter.  He’s played 48 games in his NFL career, starting 46, and has made 156 tackles, 30 assisted tackles, and 8 interceptions.  He missed all of 2016 with a knee injury.  He’s an outstanding player with elite coverage and tackling skills who will be due to a top of the market contract.  Despite some inconsistencies at times, he’s most likely another #1 corner option, not a #2 option; plus, something about bringing in Kendall’s older brother just seems unlikely to me, as irrational as that may be.  Though two things together make me think that he’s less likely to be brought to Washington than either Butler or Johnson.  He’s not quite at the level of Butler, certainly, but he will also expect a full value 5 year contract.

Second Tier

# 4 – Bashaud Breeland; 5’11”, 195 lbs; 26 years old

Bashaud Breeland came to the Redskins in the 4th round of the 2014 draft by way of Clemson.  He played for the Tigers for three seasons, finishing with 136 total tackles, including 35 assisted tackles, 3 sacks, and 6 interceptions.  He ran a 4.62 second 40 yard dash at the 2014 NFL Combine.  In his career as a Redskin, he has played 60 games, starting 57, and has made 211 tackles, 57 assisted tackles, 1 interception, and 1 sack.

Breeland has had an up and down career in Washington, at times looking like a top-flight starting NFL corner and at other times appearing to be a suboptimal solution.  In particular, as a rookie, Breeland famously stepped in for an injured Deangelo Hall and held Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant to just 3 receptions for 30 yards.  Breeland failed to continue to progress in following years, though, showing flashes of additional outstanding performance, but never ever truly making the leap to an elite corner.  Over the past two years, he has both benefitted and suffered from the presence of Josh Norman at the other starting corner position, as offenses have frequently stayed away from Norman.  Bashaud is a corner that the Redskins may want to bring back simply because it’s a marriage of familiarity and lower cost more than the team having a strong expectation of getting a Pro Bowl-level corner.  I ranked him higher than others who objectively may be more consistent because he probably has more value to the Redskins than other teams due to his time with the franchise.

At this point, it seems probable that Breeland will be allowed to test free agency.  As a guess of a fair contract, only 4 of the top 25 cornerback contracts, as measured by average annual value, are 3 year deals – all of the rest are 4 or 5 year deals.  Regardless of inconsistency, I think Breeland is young and is a top 25 corner.  Therefore, I expect a reasonable deal for Breeland to be either a 4 or 5 year contract somewhere in the range of $6M – $7M per year on average.

#5 – E.J. Gaines; 5’10”, 190 lbs; 26 years old

E.J. Gaines is a 2014 product of the University of Missouri.  He was drafted in the 6th round by the Rams. He played 50 games in 4 years at Missouri, making 244 total tackles, including 183 solo and 61 assisted tackles, and 8 interceptions. He ran a 4.49 second 40 yard dash at the 2014 NFL Combine.

Gaines earned the starting job with the Rams as a rookie in 2014, he missed the entire 2015 season with a Lisfranc injury.  He then missed 5 more games in 2016 with a thigh injury.  The Rams traded him to Buffalo before the 2017 season in the Sammy Watkins trade.  He later had knee and hamstring injuries in 2017 that caused him to miss 5 more games.  Gaines is another outstanding corner when he’s actually been in the game – he possesses quality coverage skills and would make an ideal #2 corner behind Josh Norman.  The problem, of course, is whether he can be trusted to stay healthy.  He just finished his rookie contract, and but for his injury history would be due to a contract in the range of Bashaud Breeland, if not more.  As it stands, however, the Redskins should be able to acquire him at a lesser cost and for a contract that properly protects the team against further missed injury time.

Slot Corner Possibilities

#1 – Patrick Robinson; 5’11”, 190 lbs; 30 years old

Robinson is a 2010 1st round pick out of Florida St. by the New Orleans Saints.  He played 44 games, made 117 tackles, including 82 solo and 35 assisted tackles, and 7 interceptions, and was named as a Second Team All-ACC player.  He ran a 4.46 second 40 yard dash at the 2010 NFL Combine.  In his NFL career, he’s played 97 games, starting 57, made 250 tackles, 50 assisted tackles, 14 interceptions, and 2 sack for the Saints, Chargers, Colts, and most recently the Eagles.  He’s had two serious injuries in his career, a patella injury in 2013 and a groin injury in 2016.

Robinson has been up and down as a starter for most of his career but found new life as a slot corner, and was a key contributor towards the Eagles march to the Super Bowl this past season.  On his 2017 film, he shows as a smart, experienced corner who still has good coverage skills and has a thorough understanding of his role on the defense.  Understanding that the Eagles had a defense that was far more successful, generally, than was the Redskins’ defense, this is a player who could come into Washington and play his role well immediately.  His principal downside is that he’s already 30 years old, and I’m generally not in favor bringing in free agents over 30, but in this case, Robinson’s skillset and success as a slot corner, plus the fact that he’d be leaving the Eagles, might make it worthwhile for the Redskins to bring him in.  Robinson played 2017 on a one year, $775,000 contract, and while he’s certainly due a raise, he could likely be had for a relatively modest one or two year deal.

#2 – Bryce Callahan; 5’10”, 188 lbs; 26 years old

Bryce Callahan was signed in 2015 by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent out of Rice University.  He played 47 games in four seasons at Rice, making 145 total tackles, with 116 solo and 29 solo, 13 interceptions and 1.5 sacks.  Callahan ran a 4.4 40 yard dash and had a 43” vertical leap at the Rice pro day.  As a Bear, he spent part of his first year on the practice squad, but has played a total of 32 games, starting 19, in his NFL career, with 70 tackles, 7 assisted tackles, 2 interceptions, and 2 sacks.

Callahan is known as a slot corner and has performed well in the role.  He’s the Bears principal slot corner and is on the field for a significant portion of the defensive snaps.  He has strong coverage skills, seems to have good game speed, and doesn’t get caught out of position very often.  I did not see Callahan get challenged by quarterbacks very often in the film I watched.

Callahan is a Restricted Free Agent, and thus may not actually hit unrestricted free agency if the Bears decide to tender him a contract in order to keep him.  If he does reach free agency, he’d be a quality addition to the Redskins defensive backfield and a worthy replacement for the departed Kendall Fuller.

Other possibilities

Former undrafted free agent with an unremarkable career who became a solid starter for the Colts in 2016 and 2017.

The Bengals drafted him in the 1st round out of Michigan St. in the 2014 draft.  He has disappointed in Cincinnati but played well in 2017.

The “just in case” file

Aqib Talib; 6’2”, 200 lbs; 32 years old

The now-widespread rumor is that the Broncos might let Talib go for cap reasons, prompting some Redskins fans to immediately start rooting for him to make his way to Washington.  Be wary, though – yes, Talib is one of the best corners in the game, was a 2016 First Team All-Pro and is a five time Pro Bowler, but he’s also 32 years old and will demand a Josh Norman or bigger type of contract if Denver does cut him.  Talib is currently about to enter year 5 of a 6 year, $57M contract with a $12M cap hit in 2018.  It’s unlikely that Talib will agree to take a pay cut from that standard.  We’ll address this in more detail if and when he’s actually let go.

Conclusion

Butler, Johnson, and Fuller may very well be all out of the Redskins’ price range given that the team already has Josh Norman at the #1 corner position at a $16.9M cap hit in 2018.  Given that, the team may not want to increase the amount of salary cap spent on this position group by as much as it will take to sign Butler, certain, and perhaps Johnson and Fuller as well.  Gaines has a severe injury history, so as unlikely as it may seem, if the Redskins want to sign a proven #2 corner and not just promote either Quinton Dunbar or Fabian Moreau, or a start a draft choice, they might just have to pay Breeland what he wants.  In terms of slot corner, the Bears may very well keep Callahan, making the 30 year old Robinson all of a sudden a more viable option.

What do you think? Let me know in the comment section below.

 

 

[1] NFL statistics are courtesy of www.pro-football-reference.com and/or www.nfl.com.  College statistics are courtesy of www.sports-reference.com/cfb/.  Some background information is courtesy of Wikipedia.

[2] http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/02/where_is_west_alabama_home_of.html

639 comments