Washington Football Team list of 2021 free agents, draft positions and key off-season dates

During the 2020 regular season, we got a taste of the kind of flexibility the NFL has had to embrace in the face of a global pandemic.

The need for teams, coaches, players and fans to remain flexible will probably continue for several months, and perhaps into the 2022 calendar year.

With that said, the NFL released key dates for the 2021 post offseason back in mid-November, and, two months later, those dates remain unchanged. Today seems like a good day to highlight those key dates, and what they mean for the Washington Football Team.

Here are a look at some important dates this offseason

• January 30: Senior Bowl, Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, AL
• February 7: Super Bowl LV, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
• February 23: First day for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players
• March 9: Prior to 4:00 p.m., New York time, deadline for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players.
• March 15-17: Clubs are permitted to contact, and enter into contract negotiations with, the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2020 player contracts at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on March 17.
• March 17: The 2021 league year and free agency period begin at 4:00 p.m., New York time.
• April 5: Clubs with new head coaches may begin offseason workout programs.
• April 23: Deadline for Restricted Free Agents to sign offer sheets.
• April 29-May 1: 2021 NFL Draft, Cleveland, Ohio

More offseason dates will be announced at a later time.

Franchise/Transition Players

The team tagged Brandon Scherff for the 2020 season, so is extremely unlikely to do so again, as it would require paying him 20% more than the $15m he earned this season.

Of the other 13 players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents in March, none appears to be a candidate for the franchise tag.

Free Agency

Washington has 19 players set to become free agents in March, though only 14 of them are headed towards Unrestricted Free Agency (UFA). The others will be either Restricted Free Agents (RFA) or Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFA).

Here is the list of players whose contracts are set to expire on 17 March:

** Note: Reuben Foster spent the entire year on PUP/IR, which I believe will cause his contract to toll. If that happens, then he would still be under contract to the WFT for 2021. I have sent a query to Jason Fitzgerald at OverTheCap to confirm whether or not this is correct.

NFL Draft

Washington holds eight picks in the draft.

• Round 1 - Pick 19
• Round 2 - Pick 51
• Round 3 - Picks 74 & 82
• Round 4 - Pick 114
• Round 5 - Pick 146
• Round 7 - Pick 209
• Round 7 - Pick 211