Jason LaCanfora recently reported that the Redskins have their eye on Barry Cofield, who has been a 4-3 defensive tackle his entire (healthy) career. As Tiller pointed out, he's not a good fit for the traditional 3-4, especially listed at 306 pounds. I emailed Ed Valentine of SB Nation's Big Blue View for more insight:
Barry Cofield, to me, does not seem like a player who would fit with the Washington Redskins as a 3-4 nose tackle.Cofield is a good player, but he is a 4-3 defensive tackle and at just a shade above 300 pounds isn't nearly large enough or dominant enough physically to handle playing the nose. Cofield has even admitted that he is usually blocked one-one-one, while fellow defensive tackles Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard handle most of the double teams.
I seriously doubt Cofield will be back with the Giants. He has made no bones about wanting to test the free-agent waters, and wanting a pay day, but the Giants have been unwilling to give it to him.
There will be plenty of 4-3 teams like St. Louis, New Orleans and others who could be interested. I just don't see his skill set as fitting with what the Redskins do on defense. Unless they think he can be a 3-4 defensive end, something he has never done, I am not sure why Washington would pay him big money.
Of course, Vonnie Holliday is listed at 288 and saw quite a bit of action at NT last season (arguably out of necessity). In addition, Jay Ratliff is only 300 lbs, yet he holds down the NT position fine. Last year the Redskins 3-4 got better once Kemo was taken out of the lineup. The Redskins rotated guys in at NT and showed more 4 man fronts (despite rushing 3). In short, this defense is still evolving and it'll be interesting to see where we go in Free Agency. Anyone have any guesses?