NFC Notes: Eagles, Giants, Lions, Redskins

Eagles

• Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice.com offers three free agents who would make sense for the Eagles to target in the coming months.
• Kempski’s list includes Broncos WR Cody Latimer, Ravens TE Crockett Gillmore, and Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson.

Giants

• Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com writes that former first-round OT Ereck Flowers is a “logical candidate for the trade block” if the Giants elect to decline his fifth-year option in the coming months.
• Dunleavy does, however, point out that many of the former first-round offensive linemen who have been traded in the last few years haven’t brought back much value in return.
• It’s possible New York could decline Flower’s option and move him around a bit during the 2018 season to see if he settles in anywhere.

Lions

• The Detroit Lions announced Friday that they’ve hired Hank Fraley as an assistant offensive line coach and moved Evan Rothstein to head coach assistant/research and analysis.

Redskins

• A one source with knowledge of the manner in which Washington president Bruce Allen does business tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the Redskins will likely attempt to conjure up a potential deal for QB Kirk Cousins in an effort to salvage value for him and in turn make it harder for him to test the open market and secure a massive contract.
• Florio’s source said of the Redskins: “They are in the pettiness game.”
• In order for Washington to recoup any value for Cousins, they would need to either franchise him or use their transition tag on him in the coming weeks. This could ultimately blow up in the Redskins’ face, as they would be committed to a large cap hold until they have officially traded Cousins to another team, which in turn could inhibit their free agency plans seeing as no trade can be completed until free agency is already underway. There’s also no guarantee that team will be willing to trade for Cousins after he’s tagged.
• Florio mentions that if Cousins is tagged and he signs it, there’s a good chance the Redskins would be stuck with him and it could cause Washington to back out of the Alex Smith trade.
• Albert Breer recently reported that if the Redskins were to franchise Cousins with the intention of trading him to another team, Cousins’ representatives would quickly file a grievance to block tag, given that this would be Washington violating the spirit of the rules.
• The franchise tag rules dictate that players can be tagged as a mechanism for teams to buy time toward getting a long-term deal finalized.