Count Washington Redskins defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois among those stunned by developments at Redskins Park.
Francois joined the Sean Salisbury Show on SB Nation Radio on Thursday to discuss the Redskins’ offseason, and he was as confused as everyone else.
“It seems like we’re getting back to the norm,” Francois said. “We’re getting back to the drama, the dysfunction. It feels like we’ve never had that period where we were comfortable with everything and everything was running smoothly.”
Washington has lost its top two receivers along with defensive end Chris Baker, both coordinators and fired its general manager so far this offseason, and the turmoil doesn’t appear to be ending any time soon. Francois was speaking even before Scot McCloughan’s employment was terminated.
“At the end of the day, it’s business,” Francois said. “But it’s not the business you want to see every day at work. As soon as you open the newspaper you see drama. We haven’t had that grace period where there’s no drama, where we can be happy and make a run at the playoffs and at the Super Bowl.”
Francois said that Redskins Park is not a comfortable place to come to work every day.
“It won’t be comfortable,” he said. “You don’t know if you’re walking in lifting weights one day and someone taps you and says you’ve been traded or released. They need to realize that they’re not making your building comfortable enough for people to come in.”
Francois was also concerned about Kirk Cousins and his contract negotiations.
“You’ve got a quarterback that wants a trade,” Francois said. “I thought it was just a rumor. I hope it is a rumor. But he wants a trade. Your franchise quarterback that holds just about every record wants a trade.
“That’s not comfortable. I’m not comfortable going into the season with my quarterback not wanting to be there, not wanting to be with the guys he’s been with the last few years.
“[Cousins] has his reasoning, and [the Redskins] have their reasoning. I just feel like I’m siding with [Cousins’] reasoning because this guy put up every number that you needed to see to get paid the big bucks. To get paid the Tom Brady, the Big Ben, the Matt Ryan money. You can see that they just don’t have trust in him.
“I don’t know how, because this guy almost had 5,000 yards passing last year and the year before he had 4,700 or 4,800 yards. We’re talking about franchising a guy who was in the top three in passing yards and was up there with the best names in the NFL.”
No one from the Redskins’ front office had spoken to the players regarding the current situation, according to Francois.
“They’re never going to come to us and speak to us, I don’t know why,” Francois said. “The front office has to do what the front office feels is right for our team. And hopefully at the end of the day we come out with a great season, go to the playoffs, and start the season with a quarterback that wants to be there.”
Francois noted he did not know who was making the decisions in the front office, and that McCloughan should’ve been at the NFL combine. He stood behind his former GM.
“Check his resume. He has two super bowl rings,” he said.
When asked if he’d rather be playing somewhere else, Francois gave the organization a small vote of confidence.
“I’d love to be playing for the Redskins,” he said. “Right now it’s hectic. But I know every organization goes through this at least one time throughout the span of their franchise.”
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