On Sunday, a couple of the top free agents in the Redskins’ need areas come off the board as top safety Devin McCourty has reached an agreement to remain with the New England Patriots, and nose tackle Ndamukong Suh now appears set to sign with the Miami Dolphins for a mega deal.  The Redskins never seemed to have strong shots at, or legitimate desires for either of these players despite needing to upgrade both their safeties and defensive line. Instead, they have focused on more affordable options.  They remain interested in safety Marcus Gilchrist, but the Chargers also are trying to re-sign him. Taylor Mays’s camp heard from Washington, but it’s unclear how serious the level of interest is there. And there’s no update on the Tyvon Branch front. Kansas City’s Ron Parker has had his name linked to the Redskins as a possible target. But right now, it sounds like speculation.  McCourty and Tampa Bay’s Major Wright so far are the only safeties to have agreed to new deals, both with their own teams. That means the list of top available safeties right now consists of Rahim Moore, Branch, Antrel Rolle, Gilchrist, Louis Delmas, Stevie Brown and Dawan Landry.  As anticipated, Washington reached out to Arizona nose tackle Dan Williams’s camp, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed. An ESPN report said Washington ranks among a handful of teams with “serious interest” in Denver nose tackle Terrance Knighton. What does “serious” mean? Hard to say, really. Remember last year, people in the camps of Mike Mitchell and Captain Munnerlyn said Washington had strong interest in both of those players during this weekend last year, but when it came down to making an offer on Tuesday, the Redskins backed off.  Detroit’s Nick Fairley, Miami’s Jared Odrick and Chicago’s Stephen Paea, whom Washington expressed interest in on Saturday, also have yet to agree to terms with any team.  Talks continue with defensive lineman Jarvis Jenkins and running back Roy Helu Jr., who were both drafted by Washington in 2011, but neither seem on the verge of signing a new contract with Washington just yet.  The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Washington ranks among a group of teams interested in right tackle Bryan Bulaga. But the paper also said that he’s seeking a deal in the $7 million-per-year range. It’s hard to imagine the Redskins being serious players here, because they were very much interested in Derek Newton, but didn’t want to pay more than $4.5 million a year, and he went on to re-sign with the Texans.  St. Louis’s Joe Barksdale, Carolina’s Byron Bell and Dallas’s Jeremy Parnell, all right tackles, also all remain available. And the action has been pretty quiet on the guard front, where Mike Iupati, Rodney Hudson and Clint Boling all remain available.  We’ll see how things pick up over the course of the next 48 hours. Teams can actually begin signing players at 4 p.m. Tuesday, so obviously, talks will intensify between now and then. And for a team like the Redskins, who could wait to see which players remain available after the high-priced stars come off the market right away, Wednesday could wind up being the busier day.  Redskins play it unusually low key as free agency begins  Maske: Free agency to begin with lack of actual free agents  League-wide, updated free agency roundup  D.C. Sports Bog: The III-year anniversary of the RGIII trade  More NFL: Home page | Sports Bog | Early Lead | Fancy Stats | Fantasy  Follow: @MikeJonesWaPo | @lizclarketweet | @Insider  Mike Jones covers the Washington Redskins for The Washington Post. When not writing about a Redskins development of some kind – which is rare – he can be found screaming and cheering at one of his kids’ softball, baseball, soccer or basketball games.
A couple of the top players, Ndamukong Suh and Devin McCourty, agreed with other teams on Sunday, but the Redskins remain in pursuit of several free agents.