Free agent wide receiver Pierre Garcon — who has joked on Instagram about needing a job, and who recently made his free agent case on social media — said on Thursday that he still hasn’t heard a word from his most recent employer.
After dealing with an injury in his first season in Washington, Garcon developed into one of the league’s more reliable receivers. He has the seventh-most receptions in the NFL over the past four seasons, and is ninth in Redskins history in both receptions and receiving yards. The 30-year-old receiver caught 79 passes for 1,041 yards in 2016, one of the best seasons of his career. But he said any potential conversation with the Redskins about a new deal “hasn’t started yet.”
“I’m sure I’ll hear something from them,” he said. “But yeah, I haven’t heard anything from them.”
Garcon rather deftly sidestepped multiple questions about some of the off-field drama the Redskins dealt with during his five years in Washington, and had kind words for the D.C. community and the business and personal opportunities he found here. But when McAfee asked Garcon which teams might make sense, he didn’t even mention the Redskins.
“Man, honestly right now it doesn’t matter, to tell you the truth,” Garcon said. “You know how it is during free agency. There are a lot of teams that come up, but right now there’s no real concrete team. Obviously, everyone’s connecting me to the L.A. Rams because Sean McVay, our ex-offensive coordinator is there. And Kyle Shanahan, the ex-offensive coordinator for the Falcons, is in San Francisco, so they’re saying that. Actually, any team that needs a veteran receiver, just to plug in and make that Super Bowl run, to tell you the truth.”
Garcon said he thinks he could play at least five more years, and that winning a Super Bowl ring would be a major consideration in his decision. His Redskins deal — five years and $42.5 million — was perhaps unusual for a sixth-round pick from a Division III school. He has repeatedly said he wants to remain with the Redskins, telling SiriusXM NFL Radio in December that “everything that I could ever want is in D.C., so I want to be in D.C. forever.” And he said this week that he still relishes the deal that brought him here.
“Oh, man, it was amazing,” Garcon said. “It was amazing that they even wanted me. It was amazing that I actually finished out the whole contract. There’s a lot that goes into that, that we don’t talk about every day; [things] that are very tough to do. But it was amazing that they wanted me, it was amazing that I saw the whole five years. … It was a great thing. It helped me gain confidence in myself and in my game.”
