Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

First, we had to pay Coles the $5 million in bonus because we were contractually obligated to do so. That $5 million wasn't a roster bonus, it was guaranteed to him for signing with the 'Skins. They just deferred the payment until now. When you cut or trade a guy, that releases you from all liability regarding the annual base salaries. But there is no getting around the guaranteed portion, and we guaranteed him we'd pay $5 million this spring.

I agree that Moss is a step down from Coles in terms of talent, and it sure does suck that our cap room is gone. But Coles forced our hand on this one. We would have made a bigger mess if we kept him against his will, and used the extra cap room to sign more free agents. This year, we would have stuffed more talent under our salary cap for sure. But next year, in 2006, we'd have a disaster of Tennessee Titan proportions and we DEFINITELY would have had to blow the whole thing up. Now that we traded Coles, restructured some contracts, and refrained from signing any big-name free agents, we have a fighting chance to keep the team together in 2006 and beyond.

Those complaining about the NFL and how it's so hard to keep your players for the long-haul should be rejoicing on this one. The downside to this deal is our team suffers talent-wise this year. The plus side is we have a much better chance at building something that will last and gradually improve.

I think the front office made the best of a bad situation. I'm glad to see the team making a philosophical switch to doing things the right way.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=BrudLee]Because we were contractually obliged to. Why didn't we fight it? Because it isn't a big free agency selling point to race like mad to avoid paying players already on the roster.

Put it another way. We can get another $5 million. We can't get back our reputation if we screw someone out of $5 million.[/QUOTE]He was the one who signed the seven year deal and now wants out. How would we be screwing him out of money if we made the deal contingent on him waving the 5mil

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=firstdown]He was the one who signed the seven year deal and now wants out. How would we be screwing him out of money if we made the deal contingent on him waving the 5mil[/QUOTE]

Because it's guaranteed money....

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

I think we shot ourselves in the foot here. I know its a matter of getting somthing for Coles; but in all seriousness, I would have rather released Coles and not taken that hit. You cant trade a guy for lesser value and take that hit, in my opinion. I think we should have either kept Coles on the bench, or just flat out released him, which yeah woudl have sucked. However taking this cap hit for this crap is rediculous.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=calia]I agree -- this was bungled and badly. Does anyone else think Cerrato is struglling with the concept of walking upright? He must have a picture of The Danny with a goat or something, because he's ruining the team. Without more $$, Smoot is gone, which is a shame given that the guy plays with real heart (recall him playing with a busted sternum -- that's as tough as it gets).

Separately, does anyone know what the story is with Mike Barrow? If he's back and healthy (two big ifs), that will make the loss of Pierce a bit easier.[/QUOTE]

You are SO RIGHT ABOUT Cerrato. He did SF in :Flush: and when he is through here the same will be said. If anyone needs to go it is VINNY!!!! Trade him to the jets please Danny!!!! As for Coles I think he will not be right for the rest of his NFL days. Yes he plays hurt but he is not the player he thinks he is. Is Moss better only time will tell. One thing that looks to be true is Moss was a better Jet in the locker room and a real Jet then Coles ever was or would be after what he said! I Can't wait to see Taylor taking him out someday!!!! But Unless Vinny and Danny gets Smoot back as a Redskin I think we are no better off then we were a week ago!

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

Do the Skins play the Jets this year?

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection]Do the Skins play the Jets this year?[/QUOTE]

Only in the Super Bowl.... but the Jets wont get there ;)

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=RedskinPete]You are SO RIGHT ABOUT Cerrato. He did SF in :Flush: and when he is through here the same will be said. If anyone needs to go it is VINNY!!!! Trade him to the jets please Danny!!!! As for Coles I think he will not be right for the rest of his NFL days. Yes he plays hurt but he is not the player he thinks he is. Is Moss better only time will tell. One thing that looks to be true is Moss was a better Jet in the locker room and a real Jet then Coles ever was or would be after what he said! I Can't wait to see Taylor taking him out someday!!!! But Unless Vinny and Danny gets Smoot back as a Redskin I think we are no better off then we were a week ago![/QUOTE]

I'm not sure it's Vinny's fault. I'm sure this had to be run by Prez Gibbs and Owner Snyder for approval, so they share in the responsibility.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Redskins_P]I really don't know why you think we were better off keeping a guy who doesn't want to be here.[/QUOTE]

Why? Dollars and common sense!

Whether or not we actually spend the cap money is academic now. If we had the cap space, options would be there. And that's the point: We greatly reduced, if not eliminated, many of our options.

I'd let him sit and pout all he wants. Sooner or later he'd have a change of heart, particularly if we're winning and get our act together offensively.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

You also have to think about what kind of message that sends though? You can sit on your ass and bitch and when we win we'll put you back in like nothing happened?

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

Sit and pout on the bench??? Come on that does a team more harm then good. We could have just had him give us the 5 million back and release him and taken that money to shore up with 2- players versus taking Moss. But I think the prevailing thought was to start getting the Cap ready for 2006. My question about Cerrato is what has he done to hurt the team. We have been ahead of everybody in terms of the free agent thing for many years now. Our cap is right at the limit. Revenue for the Skins is up which plays a part in their thinking. So why the fuss?

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Tahoe Skin]Why? Dollars and common sense!

Whether or not we actually spend the cap money is academic now. If we had the cap space, options would be there. And that's the point: We greatly reduced, if not eliminated, many of our options.

I'd let him sit and pout all he wants. Sooner or later he'd have a change of heart, particularly if we're winning and get our act together offensively.[/QUOTE]


Common sense? Having a player sit and pout and bring a negative attitude to the team is common sense?

Have you ever played any type of team sport? Have you ever heard of comradarie? Or team chemistry?

And what makes you think that he'll have a change of heart? And if we're winning with him "sitting and pouting" on the bench.....then why even let him play when he decides to have his "change of heart"? By that time we won't even need him.

Common sense? Please.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

We'll see what people think of this deal after Coles doesn't play half the season due to further injuring the toe from the artificial turf at Giants stadium. And when we have more cap room next year. ;)
Actually, I was in the thought that if the Skins would have released him, we WOULD be getting something in return....$5 Million more room against the cap, which some of could have been used to sign a FA receiver. Maybe the NFL PA gave the Skins the impression that they wouldn't approve the give-back...they were already questioning it. That said, I think we made the best out of a bad situation, and Moss could end up being the super-fast WR that Coles was supposed to be for us. Remember, Griffin was a "disappointment" for the Giants before we signed him last year and he almost (should have) made the pro bowl, so why couldn't Moss be the same type of situation? It happens with players all the time....whether it's a different system or just a change of scenery. Any change is a risk, just like when "great" players struggle with a new team.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

I aggre with SKINSROCK!
The only time though you should fear change is when we had something good. With our record we have some work to do, so why not try it. If Coles doesn't want to be here than good ridance. Moss could be the guy we are looking for. He has something to prove for now. You never know what the right combination of players will take you far. And it is obvious that coles and the redskins was not the right combo. Better we know now than later.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Redskins_P]Common sense? Having a player sit and pout and bring a negative attitude to the team is common sense?

Have you ever played any type of team sport? Have you ever heard of comradarie? Or team chemistry?

And what makes you think that he'll have a change of heart? And if we're winning with him "sitting and pouting" on the bench.....then why even let him play when he decides to have his "change of heart"? By that time we won't even need him.

Common sense? Please.[/QUOTE]


Yes, in fact, I played quarterback in high school and split end in college. And we had a couple of players pouting in high school and one in college. There's usually someone who's unhappy for selfish reasons. So if YOU had played football, you would know that "comradarie" and "team chemistry" is not always affected by one player's negative attitude. (For example, several Vikings players, including Culpepper, didn't want to see Randy Moss leave, and he was as disruptive as you can get. Even Jeff Garcia didn't want to see T.O. leave the Niners.)

Our players rallied around each other, and the discontents each found themselves alienated. Because of the peer pressure that existed in our squads, and because they saw we were occassionally winning, they each had a change of heart and straightened up. But you probably can't understand that.

And you also probably can't understand that common sense means that, rather than blow away all our cap money on one player in one year, we could have used that Cap Space to re-sign Smoot AND Pierce, PLUS maybe a pass rushing defensive end AND/OR a quality left guard. I'm sorry to say, but we just don't make smart management decisions. But don't take my word for how stupid this move was. Get a clue! Read today's Wash Times:

[url]http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20050308-120841-3835r.htm[/url]

The Washington Redskins will spend $9.3 million for Laveranues Coles not to play for them next season.
. . .
The $9.3 million figure, an acceleration of Coles' signing bonus, represents 11 percent of the Redskins' $85.5 million salary cap for next season -- and the latest example of how the Redskins continue to struggle with NFL caponomics.
One source with intimate knowledge of NFL players' contracts and team salary structures said no club has spent so much and gained so little as the Redskins.
Those kind of expensive mistakes explain why the Redskins likely will have to let top cornerback Fred Smoot leave as a free agent: They probably won't have enough room under the salary cap to re-sign him. The loss of Smoot would force the Redskins to gamble on Walt Harris as the new starting corner and leave them with no proven replacement for Harris at nickelback.
Those moves also explain why the Redskins settled for the cheaper and older David Patten at receiver instead of pursuing the top-end free agent wideouts, Derrick Mason and Plaxico Burress.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

I agree with Tahoe - I don't feel trading Coles was a good idea. He wasn't happy last year either, was he driving the locker room apart? We heard nothing that said or hinted at that. That cap hit is absolutely massive and handcuffed us. Not to mention it left us with a very average receiver with one year left on his contract.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Tahoe Skin]Yes, in fact, I played quarterback in high school and split end in college. And we had a couple of players pouting in high school and one in college. There's usually someone who's unhappy for selfish reasons. So if YOU had played football, you would know that "comradarie" and "team chemistry" is not always affected by one player's negative attitude. (For example, several Vikings players, including Culpepper, didn't want to see Randy Moss leave, and he was as disruptive as you can get. Even Jeff Garcia didn't want to see T.O. leave the Niners.)

Our players rallied around each other, and the discontents each found themselves alienated. Because of the peer pressure that existed in our squads, and because they saw we were occassionally winning, they each had a change of heart and straightened up. But you probably can't understand that.

And you also probably can't understand that common sense means that, rather than blow away all our cap money on one player in one year, we could have used that Cap Space to re-sign Smoot AND Pierce, PLUS maybe a pass rushing defensive end AND/OR a quality left guard. I'm sorry to say, but we just don't make smart management decisions. But don't take my word for how stupid this move was. Get a clue! Read today's Wash Times:

[url]http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20050308-120841-3835r.htm[/url]

The Washington Redskins will spend $9.3 million for Laveranues Coles not to play for them next season.
. . .
The $9.3 million figure, an acceleration of Coles' signing bonus, represents 11 percent of the Redskins' $85.5 million salary cap for next season -- and the latest example of how the Redskins continue to struggle with NFL caponomics.
One source with intimate knowledge of NFL players' contracts and team salary structures said no club has spent so much and gained so little as the Redskins.
Those kind of expensive mistakes explain why the Redskins likely will have to let top cornerback Fred Smoot leave as a free agent: They probably won't have enough room under the salary cap to re-sign him. The loss of Smoot would force the Redskins to gamble on Walt Harris as the new starting corner and leave them with no proven replacement for Harris at nickelback.
Those moves also explain why the Redskins settled for the cheaper and older David Patten at receiver instead of pursuing the top-end free agent wideouts, Derrick Mason and Plaxico Burress.[/QUOTE]


I played football almost all my life except for my senior year at HS. So I know what I'm talking about. Relax.

From what I remember we were never going to pursue Plax or Mason because of their asking price. Gibbs called Patten at 12:01 am right when Free Agency started, so obviously he was one the first players that we wanted to sign.

As for Smoot, almost everyone here realizes that he's as good as gone. We weren't going to sign him for more than what we offered.


We won't find out anything about this trade until we start playing some football games. Then we'll find out if we were better off with or without Coles. Until then YOU can keep on pouting and crying about how much of mistake we made.

Oh and by the way I understand alot of what you're saying so don't try to make me look stupid.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

Redskins P - Financially the trade didn't make sense. 9.3 for a player we don't even have this season. I'd rather have the 5 mil in cap room!

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Daseal]Redskins P - Financially the trade didn't make sense. 9.3 for a player we don't even have this season. I'd rather have the 5 mil in cap room![/QUOTE]


Me too, but why give him what he wants?

Maybe I'm just pissed about the whole situation. Trust me, I wasn't happy about the trade either, but then I thought about it and said fuck him. He doesn't want to be here.....let him go.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??

No, we just cut off a bad toe. :)

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=SkinsRock]Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??

No, we just cut off a bad toe. :)[/QUOTE]


Classic! :lol:

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[quote]Me too, but why give him what he wants? [/quote]

But he wanted a trade.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Redskins_P]Classic! :lol:[/QUOTE]
Just thought this thread could use a little humor! :laughing2

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Daseal]But he wanted a trade.[/QUOTE]
No, he wanted to be released. That's why he said the Skins reneged on the agreement and demanded a new contract from his new team...to make things difficult.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Daseal]But he wanted a trade.[/QUOTE]


Didn't he ask to be released? Thats why we didn't release him because we wanted something in return.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

Tahoe, please read this article. This is why I'm glad that LC is gone. Hopefully you can understand where I'm coming from.

[url]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/jeffri_chadiha/03/08/coles/index.html[/url]

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

Well - more than anything he wanted out.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Redskins_P]Tahoe, please read this article. This is why I'm glad that LC is gone. Hopefully you can understand where I'm coming from.

[url]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/jeffri_chadiha/03/08/coles/index.html[/url][/QUOTE]

Good story. Thanks. It's nice to hear Coles' story upfront. However, that doesn't change my opinion.

Don't get me wrong. I don't blame Coles for wanting to leave. If I was in his shoes, I would want to leave too! No changing the fact that our offense stinks, and like Coles, I have my doubts that our offensive scheme will improve much at all next year (particularly now that we have no Cap room to get a few more quality players on offense). Yes, I NEVER blamed Coles for wanting to leave, even though I see me wasting more money for another frustrating year of DirecTV.

And don't misunderstand me. I'm a huge Gibbs fan for what he did in the past, and for what he's trying to do now. And I'm also a big Snyder supporter for all the money he spends trying to make my favorite team better. Yes, I'm a true Redskin faithful. But that doesn't change my opinion that Snyder and Gibbs screwed up. And you can't blame Vinnie either. Responsibility lies at the top.

And don't think I don't understand where you're coming from. I was never opposed to getting rid of Coles if that's what he wanted. What I'm disgusted about is the way it was done; the way we let Coles have his way at the expense of our Cap. A $9.3 million Cap hit is devastating. You can't deny that! I'm a contracts lawyer, and while I admit that there may be something pertinent here about NFL contracts that I'm not aware of, I'm still incredulous about how poorly this was negotiated! I'm still looking for a good reason as to how this benefits us. Somebody please tell me! Surely, a straight-up Coles for Moss swap doesn't benefit us greatly - if at all. But when you consider the $9.3 million Cap hit we took, the $5 million check we have to write the Jets next year, and the No. 1 draft choice we gave up in getting Coles, My God: We got royally screwed! It's monumental stupidity. That's up there right behind the Vikings giving up 11 players for Herschel Walker.

My point is: If I had been Snyder (as owner and chief of personnel or whatever he is), or Coach Gibbs (as Prez), you tell Coles I don't care what you were told. If you want out, Buddy, you've got to renegotiate your contract to avoid a devastating hit to my team. Otherwise, go look at that big screen I bought you and SHUT THE F___ UP!!!!!

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but benching a disgruntled Coles would have cost the Skins only about $1.3 million a year for the next 3 years. That's a lot better than $9.3 mil this year. UNBELIEVEABLE!!

What will be interesting to me is to hear player reaction. How do the players REALLY feel about having the money it would have taken to improve ourself this season heading on a downtown train to New York?

Yours truly.
Relaxed but Still Incredulous

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Tahoe Skin]Good story. Thanks. It's nice to hear Coles' story upfront. However, that doesn't change my opinion.

Don't get me wrong. I don't blame Coles for wanting to leave. If I was in his shoes, I would want to leave too! No changing the fact that our offense stinks, and like Coles, I have my doubts that our offensive scheme will improve much at all next year (particularly now that we have no Cap room to get a few more quality players on offense). Yes, I NEVER blamed Coles for wanting to leave, even though I see me wasting more money for another frustrating year of DirecTV.

And don't misunderstand me. I'm a huge Gibbs fan for what he did in the past, and for what he's trying to do now. And I'm also a big Snyder supporter for all the money he spends trying to make my favorite team better. Yes, I'm a true Redskin faithful. But that doesn't change my opinion that Snyder and Gibbs screwed up. And you can't blame Vinnie either. Responsibility lies at the top.

And don't think I don't understand where you're coming from. I was never opposed to getting rid of Coles if that's what he wanted. What I'm disgusted about is the way it was done; the way we let Coles have his way at the expense of our Cap. A $9.3 million Cap hit is devastating. You can't deny that! I'm a contracts lawyer, and while I admit that there may be something pertinent here about NFL contracts that I'm not aware of, I'm still incredulous about how poorly this was negotiated! I'm still looking for a good reason as to how this benefits us. Somebody please tell me! Surely, a straight-up Coles for Moss swap doesn't benefit us greatly - if at all. But when you consider the $9.3 million Cap hit we took, the $5 million check we have to write the Jets next year, and the No. 1 draft choice we gave up in getting Coles, My God: We got royally screwed! It's monumental stupidity. That's up there right behind the Vikings giving up 11 players for Herschel Walker.

My point is: If I had been Snyder (as owner and chief of personnel or whatever he is), or Coach Gibbs (as Prez), you tell Coles I don't care what you were told. If you want out, Buddy, you've got to renegotiate your contract to avoid a devastating hit to my team. Otherwise, go look at that big screen I bought you and SHUT THE F___ UP!!!!!

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but benching a disgruntled Coles would have cost the Skins only about $1.3 million a year for the next 3 years. That's a lot better than $9.3 mil this year. UNBELIEVEABLE!!

What will be interesting to me is to hear player reaction. How do the players REALLY feel about having the money it would have taken to improve ourself this season heading on a downtown train to New York?

Yours truly.
Relaxed but Still Incredulous[/QUOTE]


Good post Tahoe, and I understand what you're saying.

Like I said, we'll have to wait and see how much this will effect us on the field. Financially, yes we got a big stick up our ass. You're right about that.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

Redskin P, you've got it right. Tahoe Skin, I'm sorry to say, you don't.

Tahoe, you're being too short-sighted. You're considering the 2005 salary cap, which is good, but you're not giving one iota of thought to the 2006 cap situation. Before the Coles trade, the Redskins were projecting to have a salary cap total of $107 million in 2006. After trading him, their 2006 cap situation projects to be $100 million. By the way, the salary cap has been rising at about 6% a year or so, which means the 2006 salary cap will be about $90 million. So you're saying keeping Coles would be a good idea, even though it would have us $17 million over the cap instead of $10 million over it? Not only that, but you're advocating the signing of even more free agents this year, a CB, a DE, and whatever else you wanted.
In other words, if the team were in your hands, you'd run it right into the ground in 2006. You'd have to jettison great guys who want to be here, people like LaVar and Jansen, and forget about resigning Patrick Ramsey.
I'd rather drop a guy who doesn't want to be here now if it means I have a fighting chance at keeping the guys who want to be here in 2006 and beyond. Laveraneus Coles is not worth blowing up the team for in 2006.

It's this kind of short-sighted thinking that has gotten the Redskins into trouble in the Dan Snyder era. It's about time we started looking down the road, do some serious planning, and build something that is meant to last.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Schneed10]Redskin P, you've got it right. Tahoe Skin, I'm sorry to say, you don't.

Tahoe, you're being too short-sighted. You're considering the 2005 salary cap, which is good, but you're not giving one iota of thought to the 2006 cap situation. Before the Coles trade, the Redskins were projecting to have a salary cap total of $107 million in 2006. After trading him, their 2006 cap situation projects to be $100 million. By the way, the salary cap has been rising at about 6% a year or so, which means the 2006 salary cap will be about $90 million. So you're saying keeping Coles would be a good idea, even though it would have us $17 million over the cap instead of $10 million over it? Not only that, but you're advocating the signing of even more free agents this year, a CB, a DE, and whatever else you wanted.
In other words, if the team were in your hands, you'd run it right into the ground in 2006. You'd have to jettison great guys who want to be here, people like LaVar and Jansen, and forget about resigning Patrick Ramsey.
I'd rather drop a guy who doesn't want to be here now if it means I have a fighting chance at keeping the guys who want to be here in 2006 and beyond. Laveraneus Coles is not worth blowing up the team for in 2006.

It's this kind of short-sighted thinking that has gotten the Redskins into trouble in the Dan Snyder era. It's about time we started looking down the road, do some serious planning, and build something that is meant to last.[/QUOTE]
From what I understand the salary cap is based on the TV contracts which will end after this season, and it is expected that the new one willraise the salary cap substantially, which may actually bring it to closer to $100 million. If that happens, we should be in good shape.
Also, I'm just going by what I've read from people who seem to know more about it.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=SkinsRock]From what I understand the salary cap is based on the TV contracts which will end after this season, and it is expected that the new one willraise the salary cap substantially, which may actually bring it to closer to $100 million. If that happens, we should be in good shape.
Also, I'm just going by what I've read from people who seem to know more about it.[/QUOTE]

That's a pretty big IF there isn't it? Even if it does get up to $100 million, keeping Coles still would have had us well over the limit. Getting rid of his ass now is in the best interests of our team's ability to build a consistently winning program.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

The cap IS going to go up substantially in 2007. Probably on the order of 11-15% making it closer to 100-103. That is what is expected by all who know what they are talking about. Teams like the skins have prepared for it already.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=FRPLG]The cap IS going to go up substantially in 2007. Probably on the order of 11-15% making it closer to 100-103. That is what is expected by all who know what they are talking about. Teams like the skins have prepared for it already.[/QUOTE]

Did you mean to say 2006? Because if it gets to $100 million in 2007 that doesn't help us much.

Cutting Coles is just another way of preparing the team for cap-longevity in 2006 and beyond. Someone had to go at some point to make it under the cap, might as well have been a malcontent. That's all I'm sayin.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Schneed10]Before the Coles trade, the Redskins were projecting to have a salary cap total of $107 million in 2006. After trading him, their 2006 cap situation projects to be $100 million. By the way, the salary cap has been rising at about 6% a year or so, which means the 2006 salary cap will be about $90 million. So you're saying keeping Coles would be a good idea, even though it would have us $17 million over the cap instead of $10 million over it?[/QUOTE]

Funny thing about throwing numbers around. Your numbers seem to be higher than the ones I've seen. But perhaps you have better numbers than the Washington Times, which in today's article flatly disagrees with your assessment in stating:

"The trade of Coles back to the Jets means the Redskins will take a huge salary cap hit next season (Washington also lost a first-round draft pick when they acquired the restricted free agent in 2003)."

[url]http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20050308-120841-3835r.htm[/url]

In any case, yes I would rather spread out the Cap hit over several years, rather than have it come crashing down as it has this year.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

Don't believe anything regarding the cap in the WT, I have no idea where they get their info but it's usually way off.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

we have the space this year, we don't have the space next year... so better now than later.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]Don't believe anything regarding the cap in the WT, I have no idea where they get their info but it's usually way off.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I don't believe anything ANYONE says about Cap figures. Not even statements coming from the Redskins front office.

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

Calia there is no upside to Borrows

Re: Did We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot??
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]Why is anybody surprised that we may lose Smoot??

Even before the Coles deal went down the likelihood of re-signing Smoot wasn't good.[/QUOTE]


I agree Matty, most of the fans were pessimistic about the re-signing. But when several CBs were signed and no one took a nibble at Smoot then some hope sprung up that perhaps we could get him back.......