Redskins: Trent Murphy could be hard to retain due to league-wide interest

It was originally thought that Trent Murphy may not have a lot of suitors on the open market. However, the Washington Redskins linebacker is receiving a lot of interest and may be hard to retain as a result.

Coming into 2018 free agency, Trent Murphy was somewhat of a forgotten man. While the Washington Redskins wanted to keep him, his name had been uttered behind the likes of Kirk Cousins, Zach Brown, Spencer Long, and fellow edge rusher Junior Galette. It’s not that Murphy wasn’t talented. It’s that he hadn’t been on the field in 2017 and thus, wasn’t on the mind of everyone.

Murphy missed the 2017 season after suffering an ACL tear in the preseason opener. This was a blow to the Redskins at the time, as Murphy was coming off a career 2016 campaign in which he recorded a career-high nine sacks. He was expected to reprise his role as a top reserve in 2017, but that never materialized due to his injury.

There was an additional concern with Murphy given that he had tested positive for PEDs and was slated to serve a four-game suspension at the start of the 2017 season. With a second suspension, Murphy would be suspended for a year. That, coupled with the injury issue, was supposed to cool the market for Murphy a bit, and make it possible that he would ink a one year,
“prove it” deal.

However, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Per David Lombardi of The Athletic, there is a high level of interest in Murphy on a league-wide scale, so the Redskins will have more competition than initially anticipated.

Per source, 10 teams — including the 49ers — have expressed interest in Washington pass rusher Trent Murphy.
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) March 12, 2018

The fact that nearly a third of the league is interested in Murphy speaks volumes about his talent, work ethic, and character. Most guys coming off a PED suspension and a serious knee injury wouldn’t get this kind of consideration. But, Murphy appears to be different. He has proven to be a good player in the past, and was an even better teammate. He bulked up to play defensive line prior to 2016 only to have to lose the weight and move back to his natural edge rush position a few months later. All of this was done selflessly to help make the Redskins better.

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Depending on which 10 teams are interested in Murphy, the Redskins could have trouble retaining him. Spending more than $5 million annually on Murphy doesn’t seem ideal for the Redskins, as they already have Ryan Kerrigan and Preston Smith, and if they get into a bidding war, that amount could end up being what Murphy gets.

The 49ers, who are interested per Lombardi, have a ridiculous amount of cap space and could stand to add an edge rusher like Murphy to help complete their defensive front.

Another team who could be interested is the Los Angeles Rams. They have about $30 million in cap space and have a huge need at the rush linebacker position after trading Robert Quinn. Sean McVay is familiar with Murphy from their time together in Washington, so perhaps adding him to Wade Phillips’ unit with some of their excess cash would make sense.

Next: Redskins top 10 free agents to watch in 2018

Either way, the market for Murphy appears to be a strong one, and that could be trouble for the Redskins. They were once expected to be able to re-sign Murphy with little trouble. Now, the market appears to be far more competitive. The team has already extended an offer to Murphy, so here’s hoping that the money is enough to convince him to stay in D.C.

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