Here is what you need to know on this Friday, November 4, 9 days before the Washington Redskins play the Minnesota Vikings at FedEx Field.

Timeline

—Today's schedule: Bye week

—Days until: Packers @ Redskins 16; Redskins @ Cowboys on Thanksgiving 20; Redskins @ Cardinals 30

Five pending free agents the Redskins need to re-sign

During the bye week I’ll spend some time looking ahead at the 2017 offseason and what might happen then. Today, I look at some current players who are pending free agents who the Redskins need to re-sign.

QB Kirk Cousins—Yes there are pros and cons to bringing back Cousins and a lot may depend on what transpires over the course of the final eight games. But its hard to imagine the Redskins being able to come up with a quarterback who gives them as good a chance of winning as does Cousins. They either need to open up the checkbook for a long-term deal or go with a second franchise tag at $24 million for the year.

DE Chris Baker—I debated whether or not bringing back Baker is a must. He is the team's best defensive lineman but that's not saying a whole lot on this team. It's a unit that needs to be rebuilt. Do you retain Baker, who will turn 30 yearly next season? Or do you find younger alternatives in the draft? I don't think he'll cost a lot of money in the grand scheme of things and so he's probably worth keeping around until the organization shows that it is capable of drafting productive defensive linemen.

DL Ziggy Hood—He has played 65 percent of the defensive snaps this year and has done a good but not great job. Let me be clear, he should not be brought back next year to have such a heavy workload. If he comes back at something around the veteran minimum and plays about 30 percent of the snaps he could be a very good asset.

TE Vernon Davis—Even if he loses a step between his age 32 and 33 seasons he could still be a valuable asset to the offense. He’s the sort of freakish athlete who still has great athleticism at an advancing age and what he has lost to age he makes up for with added football IQ.

OLB Junior Galette—He’ll be 29 and two and a half years and two torn Achilles tendons removed from his last NFL action. If he was a guard or another dime a dozen position I’d say move on. But pass rush is a rare commodity and you can’t have enough of it. Bring him back on a contract similar to the incentive-heavy deal he signed this year. If they sign him the need to proceed with the rest of free agency and the draft as though he’s not there. If he makes it to the season he will be a bonus.

Tandler on Twitter

Hard to believe that only 1 TE and 1 WR have more than 1 TD. https://t.co/dJBcRerIZC — Rich Tandler (@TandlerNBCS) November 3, 2016

#Redskins Bye Week Grades: Pass catchers getting lots of yards, but not TDs https://t.co/1XgpRAuCL1 #RedskinsTalk — JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) November 3, 2016

In case you missed it

https://audioboom.com/posts/5242507-episode-16-making-sense-of-the-trent-williams-suspension