Yesterday, the Redskins were up-front about their willingness to let outside linebacker Brian Orakpo play out the year on the franchise tag.
So this morning, he took them up on it.
The Redskins announced that the pass-rusher had signed his one-year, $11.455 million deal, guaranteeing the amount for the season.
“We’d like to get him here for as many years as we can, but right now I wouldn’t mind letting him play out this franchise tag and see what happens,” coach Jay Gruden said, via Mike Jones of the Washington Post. “He’s a talented player. I think he can do a little bit better. [We] can ask more of him where he could be more productive as far as getting his hand down and rushing more instead of dropping [into pass coverage] quite so much. We have high hopes for Brian and whether the deal gets done or not, we know he’ll be a big part of our success [in 2014].”
Tagging him was as much sitting on an asset as anything, as it’s clear Gruden’s not in a hurry to commit long-term dollars to Orakpo until he’s had a chance to see him first.