Trey Burton, OJ Howard? Redskins Options remain at TE

The Redskins still a need a tight end. The question is how badly do they want one? A couple of veteran options remain. One is absolutely available now and one might be.

In the last few days, we've seen some options at tight end become available at a major need position for the Washington Redskins. 

Ron Rivera said he was excited about what the Redskins added at tight end during recent media availabilities. 

Rivera said of Logan Thomas:  "Pete Hoener our tight end coach felt very strongly about this guy’s abilities, mostly because he thought he was a very smart and savvy football player, he’s a tremendous athlete."

Washington also signed Richard Rodgers, whose Dad is on the coaching staff. "[Richard is] a guy that has had success when he was in Green Bay playing with Aaron Rodgers. I got to know Aaron a little bit and one thing Aaron always thought that this was the kind of guy who was a safety valve, a go to guy, that just knew how to get himself open in position and I can also say every time we played against Green Bay, Richard had a good game. 

“Well I think there’s a lot to explore. It's one of those things that in the system you love to have a guy with Greg Olsen type of ability, who is a primary ball catcher, a guy that goes out and finds the hole, finds the crease, can separate when the ball is in the air at the right time."

The problem? Rodgers has played eight games in the last two years and Thomas has a career high 16 catches (last year) and only 35 in his 42-game career. 

Jeremy Sprinkle? Marcus Baugh? Hale Hentges? All just guys. 

Friday afternoon, "Mr. Philly Special" Trey Burton was released by the Chicago Bears. 

Already, one NFL reporter has connected the Redskins and Burton, who spent two years in Chicago after winning a Super Bowl in Philly. 

Expected after the signing of Jimmy Graham.

The Redskins will probably look into signing Burton. https://t.co/QQdgesTOG6

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 17, 2020

Keep in mind however, that Burton is recovering from hip surgery. 

Trey Burton underwent off-season hip surgery and is expected to be ready well before training camp, per source. Bears still owe Burton $4 million, so it’s not likely he will cost another team very much. https://t.co/VFSs6bzrXt

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 17, 2020

Then there's the O.J. Howard speculation, which has been largely there for weeks but went back on the front burner this week with informed speculation from Michael Lombardi. 

Lombardi says he was told by a league source that Bucs are trying to trade O.J. Howard: "I think Howard's got a great name, but I think there's an instinctive issue going on. I think he's going to be available." Said he wouldn't be surprised if he's traded next week. (28:30 mark) https://t.co/BtsoLD5Fjv

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) April 15, 2020

Despite the Bucs saying earlier this offseason that Howard was in their plans, it would not be shocking if he's dealt, despite Tampa's addition of Tom Brady and his proclivity towards tight ends. 

There's been speculation that Rob Gronkowski would come out of retirement to join Brady while the Bucs already have Cameron Brate. When you combine that with Bruce Arians not being a huge tight end heavy offense and Howard going into the final year of his rookie deal, it all makes sense that he could be on the market.

Howard, of course, is an Alabama product which immediately makes him more attractive to the Redskins than others and he's coming off a 34-catch season for nearly 460 yards but only one score. 

Tampa has about $13.5 million in cap space left per OvertheCap.com that does not include their rookie allocation. Howard counts for about $3.5 million so the Bucs would save roughly half of that with a trade. 

If Howard is truly available, the Redskins should be all in. Period. 

What will it cost? Maybe one of Washington's two fourth-round picks? I would do it. 

In the right situation, Howard can hopefully rediscover what made him a first-round pick a couple of years ago. 

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Chris Russell is the Publisher of RedskinsReport.com & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.