Thanks, as always, for taking part in the mailbag. Keep sending those questions my way. E-mail me at mike.jones@washpost.com with the subject line, “Mailbag question,” and we’ll do it all over again next week.

I read yesterday the Vikings were dangling center John Sullivan as trade bait. Given the Stork fiasco, do the Redskins have any interest in making another move to shore up depth?



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– John Tayman

From what I’ve been able to gather, the Redskins are monitoring this situation, but that’s about it for now. I don’t think they’re willing to give up a pick for the 31-year-old Sullivan, who spent last season on injured reserve while recovering from two back surgeries. Now, if the Vikings wind up cutting Sullivan, which is very possible, because he’s not owed much guaranteed money, then the Redskins could consider having him in for a workout, give him a physical and go from there. They definitely remain interested in upgrading the depth at that position. But that upgrade has to come at the right price.

I’m grateful that the Redskins seek to continuously improve the roster by bringing in players (e.g., Bryan Stork, Cullen Jenkins, Vinston Painter). It looks as if the Redskins gave the initial roster a chance to state its case through the first three preseason games (Jenkins being available all offseason) and the team isn’t entirely satisfied with the performance level along the offensive and defensive lines. With a decision due in four days, and only one “reserve level” game between now and then, how will the Redskins go about this evaluation? Is it also a sign that the Redskins are really concerned about their lack of quality depth given that they could have waited two weeks to sign a veteran to a non-guaranteed contract?

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– Tim Foisie, Westport, Conn.

It just means that Scot McCloughan and Alex Santos are always looking for ways to get better. McCloughan has said repeatedly that you can never get satisfied or too comfortable with your roster. So, as opportunities to kick the tires on intriguing players come along, they’ll pounce if it makes sense. Yes, they could’ve waited to try to sign Jenkins in Week 2, but I think they wanted to see him in a game so they can get a better evaluation of him. It’s hard to say if Painter is a potential upgrade. But he’s young, affordable and worth getting onto the field and seeing how he does in individual and team drills, and possibly in Wednesday’s game in Tampa.

If Cousins plays well and the team is winning, do you expect the Redskins to offer him a contract extension in the middle of the season?

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– Tristan Nguyen

NFL rules actually prevent the team from awarding Cousins a contract extension during the season. He has to play out the season on this one-year, $19.95 million deal, and can’t sign a new deal until the day after the final regular season. In fact, Cousins’s agent and the Redskins aren’t even allowed to negotiate until after that last game. The Redskins have that window from the end of the season to the start of next year’s free-agent signing period, where they can negotiate with Cousins exclusively.

Prior to the Junior Galette injury there was talk that Preston Smith would get some snaps as inside rusher in nickel? Is that still possible or has the Galette injury forced a change in those plans?

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– Ryan Chase

We saw a couple times last year where Smith would kick inside and Trent Murphy would rush off the edge – or vice versa – in those nickel fronts. But this was just an isolated thing, and had Galette suited up this year, I’m not sure how frequently this alignment would have come into play. I had asked both Smith and Galette how they expected to be used, and neither was sure. I asked Joe Barry once this past spring, and he said he would have to do some experimenting to see. They never got a chance to do that experimenting.

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Do you have an idea what the ideal OLB/edge help the Skins are looking for, looks like? I’ve seen you, John Keim, and JP Finlay all imply the Skins will be watching availability at this position very closely. This makes me happy, as the depth at that spot scares me. Have you heard any names that might be suspected as being available?

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– Randy Strickland

Well, ideally, he has good length, good speed and aggression and can play the pass and run well. He would have good versatility, with the ability to line up at either edge position. It’s still too early to tell what players they could pick from because final roster cuts don’t take place until the end of the week. But I do know they’re not in pursuit of former Cleveland Browns outside linebacker Paul Kruger.

The number of penalties being committed by the Redskins is concerning. And don’t use preseason as an excuse. A lot of starters are at fault. To me it shows lack of focus and discipline and tolerance of bad habits. I think it reflects poorly on the coaching staff for not finding a way to improve in this area. Your thoughts?

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– Randy Mihalchik

It depends on the penalty, really. But some of the penalties we’ve seen during the preseason have been a bit ticky-tack. I think that officials are trying to make sure the players understand the points of emphasis on things that will be called this season, and so, they’re probably a little more vigilant right now, and could loosen up a little once the season starts. One example: the low hits on the quarterback. Most of the roughing the passer calls that I’ve seen so far are actually good, clean hits. They’re not below the knee. Even Jay Gruden disagreed with the officials on that penalty they awarded to Lorenzo Alexander’s sack on Kirk Cousins.

But, the false starts, holding and personal fouls have to get cleaned up. It’s an area that has concerned the coaching staff, and they’re trying to remind the players to play with greater discipline. We’ll see if the message eventually sinks in.

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Email a Redskins question to mike.jones@washpost.com, with the subject “Mailbag question,” and it might be answered next Tuesday.