Per the Official Site:
Sean Taylor has joined the Redskins for the second week of OTAs.
No word on why he was absent though the Post and others have intimated contractual frustrations per unnamed teammates. As I've stated previously the wild card here is Drew Rosenhaus, who has absolutely no beef encouraging his players to break contracts midway through their fruition in order to secure ever-increasing market values for players. Curly R has an excellent post up right now on this precise subject. Among many prescient observations made was that players frequently negotiate in the middle of their contracts though it rarely goes the other way:
Taylor was at Redskins Park on Tuesday morning working out with teammates and attending meetings. He is expected to participate in the team's afternoon practice session.
But the model does not usually work in reverse with a growing breed of player. If a player is deemed by his performance to be overpaid, the player is at liberty to refuse to accept a paycut, due to the contractual nature of the team's agreement with the player.
Ben reminds that the team's recourse here is to cut said player, but that doesn't really help the team at all. Contract negotiations have become increasingly contentious with the rise of the salary cap, which has gone by leaps and bounds. This is not coincedental -- a deal signed in 2004 was obsolete rather quickly, since the cap has increased by tens of millions since.
The good news is Taylor is back and thus there is little indication that he plans on sitting out a minute of this season for a contract boost. His failure to show up at the OTA was actually par for the course, as that's what he did in 2004. Hogs Haven predicts he has a new Redskins contract by 2008.
In other news, the Redskins signed 8 rookies:
Byron Westrbook, DB
Brandon Register, DB
Alex Buzbee, DE
Brian Bell, TE
Kevin Jones, LB
Pete Schmitt, FB
Carl Berman, WR
Cornelius Rogers, OL
While releasing six to make room:
Brandon Register, DB
Alex Buzbee, DE
Brian Bell, TE
Kevin Jones, LB
Pete Schmitt, FB
Carl Berman, WR
Cornelius Rogers, OL
tight end Zach Hilton, wide receivers Adrian Madise and Deyon Williams, defensive tackle Vaka Manupuna and defensive backs Daniel Francis and Jerrell Pippins.
Hilton and Madise just joined us, so I didn't have time to fall in love. Vaka Manupuna was an undrafted free agent in 2006 who was cut, joined the Jets, and then joined us again earlier in the year (after being cut by the Jets). Feel free to post your comments on the signings and cuts below -- is anyone out there?
Hog Heaven, Sean Taylor is in the house
Washington Post, Taylor Shows Up for Workouts