Phillip Daniels, who tore his ACL on the first day of training camp, said he will be back to 100% by the start of camp this year and wants to contribute. The WaTimes covered his story last week.
Phillip Daniels turns 36 next month, is rehabilitating from knee surgery that cost him all of last season and counts $2.156 million against the Washington Redskins' salary cap in 2009.
Favoring Daniels is the fact that the free agent class isn't deep. Carolina is expected to franchise Julius Peppers, and other players are aging (Tampa Bay's Kevin Carter) or are a better fit for a 3-4 scheme (Dallas' Chris Canty and San Diego's Igor Olshansky).
The lone marquee defensive tackle is Tennessee's Albert Haynesworth, and if the Titans can't sign him to a long-term deal, they likely will franchise him.
So that doesn't leave Washington many options. Even drafting a DL won't be enough. We need depth at this position so keeping Daniels makes sense to me. The Skins still have some cap space they need to eliminate. I'd imagine Marcus Washington would be the fall guy for that though.