NFC Notes: Eagles, Panthers, Redskins

April 1, 2018

Eagles

Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com writes that free agent P Marquette King is an option worth exploring for the Eagles now that Donnie Jones has decided to retire.
Rosenblatt admits that it won’t be easy for the Eagles to pay King a market-value contract, given that they currently have $2.62 million in available cap space, but with Cameron Johnston being the only punter on their roster, it’s worth having a conversation to see if they can somehow make it work.
We have King featured in our Top 50 Available 2018 NFL Free Agents list.

Panthers

Joe Person writes that the Panthers should consider drafting a running back in the middle rounds this year, even after they used their top pick on Christian McCaffery in 2017.
Person believes WR D.J. Moore and TE Hayden Hurst could be appealing options for the Panthers in the first round, even though they have other pressing needs.
Another option for Carolina in round one, according to Person, could be Stanford S Justin Reid, who could give them a long-term replacement for Kurt Coleman.

Redskins

Redskins HC Jay Gruden said last week that TE Jordan Reed will likely be healthy and ready to go for training camp.

“Jordan Reed is important,” Gruden said, via Redskins.com. “I mean, I think in his absence last year, Vernon Davis did some good things and [Jeremy] Sprinkle got a lot of work there towards the end of the year, which will be helpful to his progression as a player. So that’s good news. But Jordan is a special guy. There’s not many tight ends in pro football that can do what he can do as far as running the option routes across the middle and breaking people down and then lining up on the outside and beating people deep, across the middle. He’s a special talent. He makes us better, without a doubt.”

Washington is also expecting big things from WR Josh Doctson in 2018.

“The route tree, the ability to line up in different spots, I think Josh will get more opportunities to make plays on 50-50 type balls, which is Josh’s strength,” Gruden said. “Josh is not a guy, and we knew that coming in, that’s going to get five or six yards of separation right away. He’s a guy that builds up his speed; he can run, he can adjust to the ball like no other, 42-inch vertical was documented, 41, whatever it is. So that’s where he gets the separation, by leaping and adjusting to the ball.”