NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Redskins

Cowboys

• According to the Athletic’s Jon Machota, the Cowboys elected to selected DE Taco Charlton ahead of T.J. Watt in the first round in 2017 because they felt Charlton was a better fit in their 4-3 scheme. 
• However, Charlton’s body language and effort alongside mediocre production and outspokenness on social media ultimately led to his release yesterday.
• Charlton also clashed with defensive coach Rod Marinelli, according to Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones: “Sometimes the chemistry doesn’t work with a player. With Rod, he has certain standards that he looks for in a player, I just don’t think they ever saw eye to eye in terms of what that standard should be” (Nick Eatman)
• Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says he negotiated WR Dez Bryant‘s contract with Jay-Z in an interview with Cheddar.
• While Jay-Z is the president of Roc Nation, which included Bryant as a client, Jay-Z himself is not an NFLPA-certified agent, which would be a breach of the CBA per Pro Football Talk.

Giants

The Giants elected to make the change at quarterback to Daniel Jones in an effort to spark their offense and turn the season around following an 0-2 start. However, Giants OT Nate Solder says it’s going to take more than a change at quarterback to save the season. 

“It’s not an easy task, and I think it’s going to take all of us,” Solder said. “It’s never one guy. It’s always a group effort. It’s always all three phases of the game. It’s all working together. That’s how you help a guy out like that. We take that very seriously protecting him and running the ball and all of the things that we need to do to be successful as an offense.”

Few NFL executives are as polarizing as Giants GM Dave Gettleman, as evidenced by the continued vitriol he still receives from former players. With the Giants and Redskins still not set to play for another week, two of Gettleman’s former players, S Landon Collins and CB Josh Norman, had strong words for the way they felt like their exits from New York and Carolina respectively were treated by Gettleman. 

“No dignity at all,” Collins said via Darryl Slater of NJ.com. “I didn’t know what was going on. He’s a liar. He lied to everybody. So that’s a man I do not trust. I would hope nobody else would, too.”

Collins said Gettleman didn’t communicate with him while Collins was in the final year of his deal about how he fit or didn’t fit with the Giants. The Giants passed on trade offers for Collins, only to decline to franchise tag him this past offseason and let him leave in free agency. The lack of communication was similar for Norman, who had his franchise tag abruptly rescinded in the summer of 2016 with the Panthers.

“When you look at that, it’s full of [expletive],” Norman said. “And that’s what I feel about the situation and him. If you really want to be honest, every time I see him, I really want to like smash their face in the grass. That’s how I really feel about it.”

• Giants WR Sterling Shepard is expected to be cleared from the concussion protocol and be ready to play in Week 3, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
• Meanwhile, Giants WR Bennie Fowler has picked up a hamstring injury. 

Redskins

• According to 106.7 The Fan’s Eric Bickel, Redskins senior VP of communications Tony Wyllie is leaving the team after 10 years to take a job with the Special Olympics. 
• Redskins TE Jordan Reed (concussion) remains out of practice. (John Keim)
• After pushing through and practicing Wednesday, Redskins DT Jonathan Allen missed practice Thursday with a knee sprain. (Keim)
• Redskins HC Jay Gruden said Allen did not suffer a setback, and the team is just going to take it slow with what he called a “significant” injury. (JP Finlay)
• Redskins CB Aaron Colvin‘s one-year deal is worth $757,647. (Aaron Wilson)