NFC Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Washington

Cowboys

• Joel Corry of CBS Sports notes that the NFL’s lowered salary cap in 2021 will likely make it much more challenging for the Cowboys to use a second franchise tag on QB Dak Prescott next offseason, given that it would cost $37,690,800. 
• Corry mentions that Dallas already has near $182 million in 2021 salary cap commitments on their roster. 

Eagles

• 94 WIP’s Eliot Shorr-Parks lists WRs Paul Richardson, Taylor Gabriel, Tavon Austin and Jarius Wright as speedy veteran receivers the Eagles could add to replace WR Marquise Goodwin, who opted out of the season. 
• NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo says Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery is not planning to opt out and a number of people in the building say Jeffery is as focused as he’s been in years. 
• Garafolo adds to take that with a grain of salt as offseason positivity, but Jeffery very well could have been cut if not for his high guarantees this year. If he’s healthy and locked in, it’s a big boost to the Eagles’ receiving corps. 
• The Eagles announced they hired former WR Jason Avant as a coaching intern through the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Fellowship. 

Giants

• Per the Athletic’s Mike Sando, Giants QB Daniel Jones got some attention as a young quarterback with potential in his survey of NFL evaluators.
• Jones placed as a Tier 3 quarterback with one QB coach saying he could leapfrog some other young players soon: “He is going to jump some of those dudes in the third tier ahead of him. He has enough arm talent. His decision making and poise are better than Josh Allen or Sam Darnold. And he’s not on a better team. He has a better running back, but he just makes good decisions, sees the field. I’ve just been impressed, and he has enough poise where he can do it consistently, whereas I think the Buffalo guy doesn’t, and Darnold doesn’t.”
• The Athletic’s Dan Duggan says, despite conflicting reports, it appears that signing bonus proration for players who opt out will toll along with their contracts. 
• So for instance, Giants LT Nate Solder will count $6.5 million against the cap in prorated bonus money each of his final two years, with 2020’s figure being pushed to 2021 instead of staying in 2020.  
• Before the opt-out, the Giants were set to save $14 million by cutting Solder in 2021 with just $6.5 million in dead money. Now that figure changes to $13 million in dead money and just $3.5 million in savings. 
• With Solder out, Duggan confirms Giants first-round OT Andrew Thomas will start on the left side and free-agent signing Cameron Fleming becomes the favorite to start at right tackle, with Nick Gates and third-round rookie Matt Peart in the mix. 

Washington

Washington already had two decent options returning at running back with future Hall-of-Famer Adrian Peterson and former second-round RB Derrius Guice, But the team added a number of other players, including third-round rookie Antonio Gibson. Washington HC Ron Rivera says they haven’t mapped out exactly how they will split touches but the goal is to use each back to their strengths. 

“We know one thing: Adrian Peterson is a trendsetter, a tone-setter for a game. He’s a physical runner. He’s going to set that inside tone or that outside tone coming off the edge for you very well,” Rivera said via the Athletic’s Ben Standig. “Guice is a dynamic, explosive guy. What we’ve got in Antonio Gibson is a Swiss Army knife along the lines of – and I’m not comparing him to (Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey), but to the way we used Christian. We would love to be able to do that with Antonio, and that’s the big reason we went out drafted him because we see some of those abilities. We have a chance to be dynamic on the offensive side, as long as we use the weapons and the players that we have correctly, and we fit what we’re doing to their skill sets.”

• The Athletic’s Rhiannon Walker thinks Gibson could also serve as a backup slot receiver to starter Steven Sims.
• Depth in Washington’s pass-catching group is a concern. Walker projects fourth-round WR Antonio Gandy-Golden will start as the No. 2 across from WR Terry McLaurin, while free-agent addition TE Logan Thomas will win the starting job at that position.