Another thing, if Gardner gets traded before draft day, the chances of the Skins drafting Winslow go up, IMO. Another, better weapon on offense...
:twocents:

This may be true, but it really does not take away from the fact that we will still be full at the WR position. That really won't become one of our main needs. I think even if he is, we still have a high chance of getting Taylor.

Ive got a feel that we shouldnt hold our breaths for a trade before traft day. My gut tells me that the Skins are going to keep quite and then there will be lots of surprises when Paul T. comes out to make announcements. He wants to have trade bait for draft day, and if he trades before then he wont have as much bait to DRAFT TAYLOR AND WINSLOW!!!

We could rotate McCants and Jacobs as the number two...

OR - unless we have specific people in mind, hold on to RG until he is a free agent. His cap figure is not that big for a starting receiver.

:)

[QUOTE=dieselhog]We could rotate McCants and Jacobs as the number two...

OR - unless we have specific people in mind, hold on to RG until he is a free agent. His cap figure is not that big for a starting receiver.

:)[/QUOTE]
Both excellent points, dieselhog. I can definitely see Jacobs and McCants splitting time at #2, with McCants coming in for red zone situations.

But like you say, Gardner's cap numbers do not warrant a trade, and if they keep him he might finally blossom into the player they thought he could be.

The Skins give up on peopel to easy. We have a history of signing older players and getting nothing from them. RG is one of the players we have left that we drafted and are grooming, it would be a shame to get rid of him now and lose more youth and someone that might be a core skin that Gibbs is looking for. Id love to see us get Winslow and Taylor but I kinda want us to just draft one and get what we can for trotter and keep gardner and just see what our team can do

The two players most people want to take over for RG, McCants and Jacobs, are both younger players that we have drafted and are grooming.

People want to trade Rod primarily for two reasons:
1) We have good depth at WR.
2) He has the most trade value of them (besides Coles, who isn't going ANYWHERE!).

Unless we can get a 2nd rounder for Rod, which I think is doubtful, then I say hold on to him.

[QUOTE=SkinsRock]The two players most people want to take over for RG, McCants and Jacobs, are both younger players that we have drafted and are grooming.

People want to trade Rod primarily for two reasons:
1) We have good depth at WR.
2) He has the most trade value of them (besides Coles, who isn't going ANYWHERE!).[/QUOTE]

His trade value is good, but since he is in a contract year, he is a "rental". He'll be a free agent next year, which is a double-edged sword. He's going to play his tail off, because his numbers will affect his contract, but it's a gamble to trade for him, because even though he'll play hard, he may leave next year.

The Rod Gardner plan is so very clear to me....

1) If we trade him, it will only get us a 4th rounder at best - that stinks and is not worth it. We can all agree on that...

2) If we keep him, we give Taylor & McCants another year to mature & develop.

3) As noted in the previous post, Gardner will play his ass off - so we can enjoy him having a "career year" - whatever that is for him.

4) If he's such hot shit this year - then we let some other team pick him up and pay the big bucks or we can resign him and suck it up (not likely). If he leaves, we'll have a ready Taylor & McCants in the wings to pick up the slack!

Let's hold onto Rod!! :food-smil

Whos contracts are up next year other than RG and Smoot. If those are the main two I see us resigning atleast one during the season so that we can use a tag on the other if we have to.

I think rod's value may be a little higher around the league than on this site, I think gardner and a pick would bring back a 2nd rd pick, I think someone one would go for that, based on his potential, obviously.

[QUOTE=offiss]I think rod's value may be a little higher around the league than on this site, I think gardner and a pick would bring back a 2nd rd pick, I think someone one would go for that, based on his potential, obviously.[/QUOTE]

I just don't see it. He's known for periodically having a case of the dropsies, has never been to the Pro Bowl (and has essentially done nothing to convince anyone that he belongs there) and I really don't think he has the presence on the field that commands attention from opposing defenses.

With all that said, I'd certainly trade him for a 2nd rounder, but otherwise, we might as well keep him for his contract year.

Personally, I like Gardner -- but he also comes across as someone that may not be a "Gibbs" type of guy. Couple that with the additional needs on the D and there you go.

This may be as simple as that.

Mabye Gardner can use his talents to play defense??? Bulk him up a little and he might be a good end

What about using Gardner, Brunell and Ramsey in a 3-QB set?

lol, he does have teh best QB rating on our team, why not. We could even implement some of spurriers sets and get rid of the O-line. Three QBs, Portis, Six WR and a center.

Taylor Jacobs will probably never take over the #2. I'll be surprised if he lasts much past next season. I know he was hurt and all, but I don't think he'll make the adjustment. As for McCants, he's not quite there yet. While we're talking about the dropsies...look at McCants, he does it all the time...and he fumbles. He does make good catches, but he does the same things as Gardner.

My vote: Keep Rod Gardner. He's the second best reciever on the team going away and he's of little value to other teams. On top of all of that, he doesn't make much money.

Just so you guys know... Gardner is signed through 2005, so NEXT year is his "contract year", not this year.

I would hope that Gardner sees the writing on the wall, and works his tail off this offseason to hold onto the #2 spot, knowing that Gibbs has liked what he's seen thus far of Jacobs.

jdlea, I agree with you on McCants-- he's been just as inconsistent as Gardner, though he did come up with some nice catches in the red zone last year.

However, I respectfully disagree with you on Jacobs. For everything that Gardner and McCants lack in focus and concentration, Jacobs has in spades. Add in the fact that Jacobs is adding some muscle this offseason to go with his speed and quickness, and I think he's going to surprise a lot of people this year. I think last year went about as bad as it could've possibly gone for Jacobs, and he's really determined to prove that he's not the wasted draft pick that so many fans are already saying he is.

The thing about MCcant's is he came into the league as a project, last year you could observe his maturation as a reciever, he seemed to have started to become a more reliable reciever, at least toward's the end of the year, he was hauling in whatever came his way, gardner came in much more refined, and seemed to have gone backward's to the point where MCcant's is getting ready to pass him by, gardner has been stagnant were as at least IMO MCcant's has made stride's, If you wan't to say give gardner a shot under Gibb's? I will buy that, but 1 thing that a coach really has nothing to do with is a player's abiltity to catch the ball, and If gardner isn't going to haul in 95% of the ball's that hit him in the hand's then you just can't take a chance on throwing to him, that will land him on the bench, I know he has all kind's of potential, but as forrest say's, stupid is as stupid does, and gardner has shown no propensity for maximizing his talent's. physically he's more gifted than Monk, but that's where the comparison end's.

As I have stated before, I don't think we shouldn't trade RG just to trade him. However, I also believe that, if we can address an area of need, now is the time to trade RG. I think the best he will ever be for the Skins is a solid No.2 receiver maybe a good No.2; but we have plenty of WR's who can fill the No. 2 slot nicely right now - Thrash (yes I said it - he can be a solid, not great, No. 2), Taylor and McCants.

At this point, because he is still young, other team's may be willing to bet that RG can be a solid to good No.1 or at least a very good No.2 and pay accordingly.

Trading RG is a gamble no matter how you cut it. The safest bet is to hold onto him and let him play out his contract - He doesn't have particularly deadly cap numbers even in 2006. IF we can get good value and have a good chance of addressing other needs, THEN (and only then) I think we should trade him.

Bottom line - Even if you have needs at some positions, you can never have too many good players at other positions.

So there!