Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[URL="http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/15064/snyders-worst-free-agent-signing"]Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing - NFC East Blog - ESPN[/URL]

Let's try our own poll. Personally I went with George. At the time the move was completely unnecessary. Brad Johnson was coming off a great season and should have been our QB for the long term. George's signing rocked the boat and a year later BJ was gone, only to go on to win a SB with the Bucs.

Fat Al was 2nd for me. As Mosley points out AH was bitching about the scheme last year and didn't even give the new one a chance, so it seems that he's just a malcontent no matter what.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

QB has by far the greatest impact on your team of any position. To have one who had just gone to the pro bowl, and bring in another guy who had no leadership skills? Makes no sense.

Johnson could have been a very good Redskins QB for several years after that.

George.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=Schneed10;708630]QB has by far the greatest impact on your team of any position. To have one who had just gone to the pro bowl, and bring in another guy who had no leadership skills? Makes no sense.

Johnson could have been a very good Redskins QB for several years after that.

George.[/quote]

Agree completely, this is exactly what I was going to say.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

Can we add Brandon Llyod to the list?

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

Deion. I hated him. I booed him at training camp. I still hate him.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

Jeff George played good for us that year he was a backup. I to this year don't know if he was the sole problem. The skins have been bad for a long time. George played great in Oakland and Minnesota afterwards. I think by the time he got his attitude problems fixed, teams didn't want to give him a chance anymore.

Oh and BTW, i watched that dude workout last summer. He still has a rifle for an arm. He flicked it 60 yards or more like it was cake. He still makes all the throws. Why that guy isn't even a backup somewhere i can't understand....

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

I'll go w/George too, mainly because that screwed up a team w/super bowl potential. The 2000 skins had it all except for chemistry.

B. Loyd was a trade, but he's right up there as a totally head scratching move. Similar to the George signing, Loyd came into a team that felt it could take the next step to the super bowl after winning a playoff game the year before. That team had the whole Arch & safety issue that year, but Loyd certainly didn't help the chemistry.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=SolidSnake84;708637]Jeff George played good for us that year he was a backup. I to this year don't know if he was the sole problem. The skins have been bad for a long time. George played great in Oakland and Minnesota afterwards. I think by the time he got his attitude problems fixed, teams didn't want to give him a chance anymore.

Oh and BTW, i watched that dude workout last summer. He still has a rifle for an arm. He flicked it 60 yards or more like it was cake. He still makes all the throws. Why that guy isn't even a backup somewhere i can't understand....[/quote]

First of all, George was in OAK and MIN before coming here and he played pretty well at Minnesota before we signed him, however, he never played particularly well for the Redskins. In Oakland he had one very good year, but then I'm guessing he was benched the next season after 8 games because his numbers looked horrible, then he became the starter in MIN, played well and parlayed that into a contract with the Skins.

In his first season he played in 6 games, started 5, went 1-4 and threw 7 TDs to 6 INTs. Those are Patrick Ramsey numbers from a 33 year old, why this team (Dan Snyder) thought he was a better QB than Brad Johnson, I'll never know.

I can't even explain how happy I was when Marty released him, that guy was not good enough to have the attitude he did.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

I read my post now and saw where i messed up. It meant to say that year he was a backup. I'm referring to when he went 8-2 as a starter...But still it's hard to say why he played so bad here....

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=jdlea;708639]First of all, George was in OAK and MIN before coming here and he played pretty well at Minnesota before we signed him, however, he never played particularly well for the Redskins. In Oakland he had one very good year, but then I'm guessing he was benched the next season after 8 games because his numbers looked horrible, then he became the starter in MIN, played well and parlayed that into a contract with the Skins.

In his first season he played in 6 games, started 5, went 1-4 and threw 7 TDs to 6 INTs. Those are Patrick Ramsey numbers from a 33 year old, why this team (Dan Snyder) thought he was a better QB than Brad Johnson, I'll never know.

I can't even explain how happy I was when Marty released him, that guy was not good enough to have the attitude he did.[/quote]

I couldn't stand George. The way I feel about AH now reminds me of how I felt with George. I just wanted the guy off the team and when Marty cut him loose it was a huge relief.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

Did we even have a choice with Brad Johnson. I thought we lost him while the team was in limbo with ownership?

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=firstdown;708642]Did we even have a choice with Brad Johnson. I thought we lost him while the team was in limbo with ownership?[/quote]

That was Trent Green.

We had the chance to lock up BJ long term, but instead brought in George.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=SolidSnake84;708640]I read my post now and saw where i messed up. It meant to say that year he was a backup. I'm referring to when he went 8-2 as a starter...But still it's hard to say why he played so bad here....[/quote]

He was ok under Norv but a horrible fit under Marty's system. He clashed with Marty on a variety of levels as well.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=Mattyk;708628][URL="http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/15064/snyders-worst-free-agent-signing"]Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing - NFC East Blog - ESPN[/URL]

Let's try our own poll. Personally I went with George. At the time the move was completely unnecessary. Brad Johnson was coming off a great season and should have been our QB for the long term. George's signing rocked the boat and a year later BJ was gone, only to go on to win a SB with the Bucs.

Fat Al was 2nd for me. As Mosley points out AH was bitching about the scheme last year and didn't even give the new one a chance, so it seems that he's just a malcontent no matter what.[/quote]

I totally agree, JG is by far the worst most unnecessary move DS ever made.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

Here's one...
NEON DEON.
I HATED this guy...was he decent, yes...but he was an ARROGANT COWBOY....what the HELL are you thinking?

And then to bench the most beloved Redskin of all time for this arrogant jerk?
Are you kidding me?

This was not about talent...this move was about marketing....STUPID...I hated it....it also let to the departure of Champ Bailey...which was stupid..
Am I arguing Portis/Bailey trade?...no....but we could have gotten Portis another way and kept Bailey

Redskins rule #1 should be:
[B]NEVER hire a COWBOY!![/B]

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

So are we only talking free agents then, not trades right? So TJ Duckett doesn't count?

If we're only talking free agents I'm tempted to go with Adam Archuleta. When Joe Gibbs says you're uncoachable, that's like God kicking you out of Sunday school.

Michael Barrow was a huge bust for us as well, but that was largely due to an unexpected injury

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

I never fully understood the Deion hate. Yeah he was a Cowboy, but he was also a Falcon, 49er, and later on a Raven. The guy was a hired gun for his career. He went to whoever had the $$ and the chance to win. At least he wasn't a bust on the field for us.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=Mattyk;708652]I never fully understood the Deion hate. Yeah he was a Cowboy, but he was also a Falcon, 49er, and later on a Raven. The guy was a hired gun for his career. He went to whoever had the $$ and the chance to win. At least he wasn't a bust on the field for us.[/quote]

I agree, I never got it either. I mean, it's not like I loved the guy or thought he played great, but he wasn't bad while he was here. There were a lot of worse signings than that one IMO.

Hell, by comparison, he may have been the best signing from the early days.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

My gut reaction was Archuleta. To pay a guy more money than any other safety ever when he isn't even the best one on your team is insane.

Then again, there are some very valid points as to why George was the worst. Its hard to argue that the effect of dumping Brad Johnson for him isn't still being felt in Washington.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

George has a strong case. I never understood the George love when we already had Brad Johnson.

But I voted Arch Deluxe. You could argue that he was paid way too much even if he had been a great. But he was a mediocre player whose style did not fit our defense at all. He had no chance to succeed. He was a vastly overpaid square peg in a round hole from the start.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

This debate is not even close in my book, for the simple fact that we already had a winning QB here, and not to mention the fact that the last time we had a winning offensive team was with Brad Johnson at the healm. Signing Jeff G segt this team back offensively for years to come after wards. Brad johson was a good QB and the last good one we have had here. So for me the buck stops at Jeff George. He came in and completely f'ed our team.

All of the other guys can have a case made for them, but Jeff was a guy who came in and ruined it.

The others were positions of need at the time and were just busts.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=SmootSmack;708651]So are we only talking free agents then, not trades right? So TJ Duckett doesn't count?

If we're only talking free agents I'm tempted to go with Adam Archuleta. When Joe Gibbs says you're uncoachable, that's like [B]God kicking you out of Sunday school.[/B]

Michael Barrow was a huge bust for us as well, but that was largely due to an unexpected injury[/quote]

Been there!!!!!!

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

A good case could be made for everyone on the list, I'm going with a name not on the list. Brandon Lloyd, came from an organization Vinny was very familiar with. The word on him spread quickly among players, couldn't figure why Vinnie never got it.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=jdlea;708653]I agree, I never got it either. I mean, it's not like I loved the guy or thought he played great, but he wasn't bad while he was here. There were a lot of worse signings than that one IMO.

Hell, by comparison, he may have been the best signing from the early days.[/quote]

idk about all that. while i do hate deion for his cowboy career he was gosh awful at tackling. that year, watching him play for the skins it was so freakin frustrating to see him pull a matador and let the guy go by him. he was scared to death of contact. on top of that, i remember times when he would avoid contact or do a half ass attempt at tackle, then when the player is fartehr down the field and being tackled by real men, he would then try and get into the action by hitting the guy as he was already going down.

deions tackling and fear of contact was embarrassing.

my vote has to for jeff george for all the reasons stated previously. the year before we had a great team, we lost some close ones by field goals. that year, if i remember correctly, we lost games b/c of our kicker.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

Deion was never a good tackler, just wasn't his game. He was a pure cover corner and one of the best. I believe he only gave up 1 TD his year here.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=over the mountain;708679]idk about all that. while i do hate deion for his cowboy career he was gosh awful at tackling. that year, watching him play for the skins it was so freakin frustrating to see him pull a matador and let the guy go by him. he was scared to death of contact. on top of that, i remember times when he would avoid contact or do a half ass attempt at tackle, then when the player is fartehr down the field and being tackled by real men, he would then try and get into the action by hitting the guy as he was already going down.

deions tackling and fear of contact was embarrassing.

my vote has to for jeff george for all the reasons stated previously. the year before we had a great team, we lost some close ones by field goals. that year, if i remember correctly, we lost games b/c of our kicker.[/quote]

That's a very valid point, the last part was sort of thrown in because I chuckled to myself thinking of some of the other really bad signings. That said, you're totally right, his "tackling" was piss poor, however, he didn't cover too badly while he was here

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

George by a mile. Didn't need him and everyone knew it was bound to be a disaster. After that I go with Arch...but he gets a little bit of a pass since Grills really wanted him.

Deon was a dceent move..no reason to think he was going to be so crappy. AH was a great move...he's a top player...they knew the risk when they took and it isn't hurting us cap-wise since the cap doesn't exist.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

from wiki

[quote]After the 2005 season ended, he was one of the most sought after free agent safeties. [B]The Redskins made him the highest paid safety in the history of the NFL by signing Archuleta to a six-year, $30 million contract (with approximately $10 million guaranteed) [/B]on March 14, 2006 [1] Archuleta started at strong safety for 7 of 16 games played with the Redskins, registering 50 tackles and one sack to go along with career-high 17 special teams tackles. He appeared in all 16 regular season contests for third time in career, registering a sack for sixth consecutive season, the longest active streak for an NFL safety. [B]However, after struggles in the deep passing game for the Redskins, Archuleta was replaced at the strong safety position with Troy Vincent, and played only on special teams the last half of the season[/B]. On December 28, 2006, Archuleta expressed his displeasure with the way the Redskins were using him, and the lack of communication from the coaching staff.[/quote]

it has to be aa it was just an all around terrible move. the guy was beat out of his job by troy vincent, by the end of the season he was a f-ing special teams player that had 10 mil guaranteed, it just mind bottling. we should so put ah on special teams

edit: didn't realize we set records for contracts in the nfl with aa and ah :doh:

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

If we're talking just FA's... its got to be Arch. I mean that guy did NOTHING for us.... I could at least argue that the other guys contributed in some way in at least a couple games.

I mean Haynesworth has all this off the feild drama, but without him, Orakpo and Carter down combine for 22 sacks last year.

Sanders wasnt that bad, IMO... and he had that nice punt return to beat the Bucs in 2000.

I have to think that Jeff George threw at least one TD pass...

The only thing Arch was good for was blowing the coverage on Witten in 2006, to set up the Hands of God block/Taylor Return/Novack winner.....

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=Mattyk;708652]I never fully understood the Deion hate. Yeah he was a Cowboy, but he was also a Falcon, 49er, and later on a Raven. The guy was a hired gun for his career. He went to whoever had the $$ and the chance to win. [B][I]At least he wasn't a bust on the field for us[/I][/B].[/quote]

While I'm sure you'll come up with some impressive stats somewhere or something, I beg to differ with you on his "on the field" performance. I only remember "PrimeTime" as an underachiever during his brief stay with the 'Skins. I'm not speaking for anyone else but me, but I recall him rarely making tackles and he just appeared to sit back in coverage and wait for someone else to pursue the play. In addition, he too robbed the Redskins for $8 mil for what I considered a poor effort that one season. Ok, I'm ready to be disciplined :-)

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=mlmdub130;708692]from wiki



it has to be aa it was just an all around terrible move. the guy was beat out of his job by troy vincent, by the end of the season he was a f-ing special teams player that had 10 mil guaranteed,[B] it just mind bottling.[/B] we should so put ah on special teams

edit: didn't realize we set records for contracts in the nfl with aa and ah :doh:[/quote]I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

Archuleta.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

AH because of the amount of money he stole.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

2 things about the arch deluxe if i remember correctly.

before his benching, he lead the skins in tackles.

the nfl and individual teams chart their own stats of tackles, etc. arch deluxe was the only player i remember that had his own team crediting him with less tackles than the NFL.

to some degree, i think arch was made a scape goat. and he sucked in deep coverage which i thought everyone knew was not his strong suit.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

I went with Arch b/c Fat Al, George, and Sanders were established players. Archuleta was only average to slightly above average and we gave him a monster contract.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

Each bad in their own way. My list from bad to worstest:

[B]4. Deion:[/B] Eh. He played hired gun all his career and that's exactly what we got. Didn't really address a need or significantly improve the team, but he punched the clock played the game and went home. He came here for the money, gave a decent (but not outstanding) effort, and left. I don't think he was cancerous to the team or a liability on the field.

Ultimately, the problem with the signing was that Snyder paid prime time bucks for late night entertainment. Ohhhh, Snyder overpaid. shocker.

[B]3. Fat Al:[/B] Was okay with the signing at first, bought his act about wanting to succeed, be a HOF'er and Skin forever. He fed me the drug I love and I ate up. Shame on me. He lied. He's a malcontent and a player who's own team mates feel is unreliable during a game. Shame on him.

As for the signing itself, he was the top player in the UFA class, and we had a real need at DL for a playmaker. In hindsight, horrible signing. At the time of signing - obscene though the money was, it wasn't that bad a move.

[B]2. Archulleta:[/B] Snyder lowballed Ryan Clark in order to make a slow, injury prone safety the highest player at his position? A guy who's coverage skills are suspect at best?? Why, when we have a perfectly suitable home grown talent who is a mentor to our best defensive player? At the time of signing this was an idiotic move.

Then he gets here! Guess what, the boy can't play. He's a whiny little boy who feels he been treated badly and goes crying to the press (I am sure it was he who was behind the Tom Friend article blasting the Skin's defensive coaches). He is the NFL's answer to "Mr. Softey". In hindsight, it was an even worse signing than it appearred to be originally.

[B]1. Jeff George:[/B] I just don't know where to begin. A prima donna all his career, a guy with a rocket for an arm and rocks for a brain. Team? What team? I'm Jeff F'ing George and I can throw the ball through a wall so it doesn't matter that I don't give a sh** about the rest of you.

I don't remember the game - but my most memorable picture of George was in a game we were losing (shocker) and the O-Line was over matched (In part b/c "standing tall" was not one of George's better qualities - why bust your butt for a QB who isn't going to do the same for you). You could f'ing smell the fear radiating from George as he looked out over center. The announcers saw it, the opposing team saw it, and his own team mates saw it. The ball snapped, he took a 3 step drop and literally fell to the turf as an opponent grabbed his shoulder pad. You could see the disgust on his linemen's face (BTW - he had had a couple sacks but that game, but nothing like JC had to deal with on a regular basis this season).

All of Snyder's worst mistakes - paying too much for moderate talent, going for the splashy player rather than the better team player, being incredibly petty (Snyder wouldn't even shake Johnson's hand after a victory) and meddling in the management of the team at all levels were brought out in the George signing and in his time with the Skins.

He was diva, a coward and a loser. And b/c of him, we let a tough as nails, Super Bowl wining QB hit the road.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=Dlyne8r;708696]While I'm sure you'll come up with some impressive stats somewhere or something, I beg to differ with you on his "on the field" performance. I only remember "PrimeTime" as an underachiever during his brief stay with the 'Skins. I'm not speaking for anyone else but me, but I recall him rarely making tackles and he just appeared to sit back in coverage and wait for someone else to pursue the play. In addition, he too robbed the Redskins for $8 mil for what I considered a poor effort that one season. Ok, I'm ready to be disciplined :-)[/quote]

As I said in another post he only gave up 1 TD that year. That's off the top of my head, if someone can find the stat feel free. He also had a punt return for a score.

He was a little past his prime when he was here, but still a quality starting corner regardless of how much Danny overpaid for him. And you can't blame that on him, was he supposed to turn down the big money?

Give me Deion anyday over Fat Al.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

I said Archuleta although he may have been a scapegoat. The thing with Deion is he set the trend of stealing DS' money, and kinda led the way for future FA stealers, culminating with AH thinking he could take 21M and just walk away. I am very glad the FO now is trying to put an end to that specific image!

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

The thing with AA is, did he go on to do anything anywhere else?? If he did I would buy the scapegoat argument. He was a bad move no doubt but I think we have to point the finger more at Williams and Gibbs for that. I don't think Snyder was the one that roped that turd.

Deion, George, and Fat Al are all on Snyder.

Re: Dan Snyder's worst free-agent signing
 

[quote=Mattyk;708747]As I said in another post he only gave up 1 TD that year. That's off the top of my head, if someone can find the stat feel free. [B]He also had a punt return for a score.[/B]

He was a little past his prime when he was here, but still a quality starting corner regardless of how much Danny overpaid for him. And you can't blame that on him, was he supposed to turn down the big money?

Give me Deion anyday over Fat Al.[/quote]

i thought so too, but couldn't find anything. i hated him so much i completely forgot that he played in bmore for two years

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