Bye Bye Barrow?
 

[url]http://www.washingtontimes.com/sports/20050501-012615-2901r.htm[/url]

"[B]Meanwhile, Williams said he's eyeing "four or five" candidates to start at middle linebacker, and rehabilitating veteran Mike Barrow wasn't among them.[/B] Lemar Marshall, Brandon Barnes, Brian Allen, fifth-round draft pick Robert McCune and sixth-rounder Jared Newberry appear to be in the mix. "

So does that mean Barrow is a lock to be gone June 1? That must mean his rehab is going the way it should be right? I mean, are these other guys really that good to just let Barrow go?

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

Damn no love for Clifton Smith either :mad:

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

Not a big deal, let's get a LB of the future ready to go in McCune or Barnes!

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

How will this affect our cap?

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

Barrow got a 2.5 million dollar signing bonus in a 6 year deal.

So, .4 million was paid to him last year, and if we cut him after June 1st, then I believe we take a .4 million dollar hit on the 2005 cap, and about a 1.7 million dollar hit on the 2006 cap.

That's not so bad I think.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

I love the McCunes pick. I hope he is ready and given his age I think he might be ready faster than most think. I have read a couple of things saying the Gibbs really likes him... I agree with Daseal, Let's get younger and faster on D, with LaVar back in there I think McCunes will be fine...

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

Let's not forget about Marshall either. We have all SORTS of depth at linebacker.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

I had a feeling when they drafted those two LBs that Barrow wasnt going to be in the mix. Either way he only had a year or two left so might as well groom a new guy anyways. I trust Williams to get the most out of those four.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

But is Mcune or Barnes going to be mentally ready to play the position. Part of what made our D so good last year was pierce's mental game..getting people into position, relaying the plays, etc etc. middle linebacker is a really hard position to play.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

Yeah, I think that maybe Marshall could share reps with McCune. Williams said it in his interview: he doesn't just insert rookies into the starting lineup immediately. I'd love to see Marshall and McCune (if he does well in preseason) share some of the load.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

i would love to see mcune step it up...has anyone seen the clips on this guy? He is straight scary looking..the type of dude i want taking down bledsoe and dmac.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

Barrow is scheduled to count $2.157 million against our 2005 cap, and $3.417 million against our 2006 cap.

Cutting him after June 1 would reduce his 2005 cap figure from $2.157 million to $0.417 million, a cap savings of $1.74 million. By doing that, we would have to carry dead-cap money for him in 2006, totalling $1.688 million. That $1.688 million would represent a $1.479 million savings from his scheduled figure of $3.417 million in 2006. Of course, we would still have to pay a player to fill the roster spot he vacated, probably a young guy.

Given our current cap situation with how bad we need cap space (especially since it looks like Gardner is sticking around), I'd call it a 99.9% chance Barrow is a goner on June 1.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

I'm OK with that since we have the addition of a few young LBs. I'd much rather have that money now to sign other players and have another roster spot open for our rookies.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

Barrow's injury is not the type you can rehab back to normal. His meniscus' in his knees are probably all shot and used up.
He might rest it and take some drugs to the point where it might feel better for a a few weeks or month; but it will come back to bother him to the point where he will miss games this seasion if he stays.
We do not need to overpay a guy for that.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

I would rather cut Barrow now and take the cap hit this year as opposed to next year when we will have bigger cap bills coming due.

As for MLB in a perfect world, I would like to see Marshall start the year and McCunes groomed to eventually take over. That's assuming McCunes is as good as we all hope he is.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

[QUOTE=celts32]I would rather cut Barrow now and take the cap hit this year as opposed to next year when we will have bigger cap bills coming due.

As for MLB in a perfect world, I would like to see Marshall start the year and McCunes groomed to eventually take over. That's assuming McCunes is as good as we all hope he is.[/QUOTE]

We can't afford to take the cap hit this year. We only have about $2 million in cap room, and cutting Barrow now would eat up another $0.3 million in room this year. Given that we still need to sign our rookies, and Rod Gardner seems to be staying, cutting him now is not an option. We would have done it already if it were an option. They're forced to wait until June 1.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

[QUOTE=uhohjimoh]But is Mcune or Barnes going to be mentally ready to play the position. Part of what made our D so good last year was pierce's mental game..getting people into position, relaying the plays, etc etc. middle linebacker is a really hard position to play.[/QUOTE]

You hit the nail right on the head, uhohjimoh. I have no doubt that the new guys will be good players. Still, I'm concerned that the team's decision to suddenly cry "fiscal responsibility" and let Pierce go will prove to be perhaps the most imprudent move of this off-season. No matter what type of players the new guys become, it seems unrealistic to expect them to fill Pierce's shoes in the mental aspects that uhohjimoh identified.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

I like the Skins are stocking up all these candidates at middle linebacker. I wanted Pierce to stay like most but why pay him the money after one year? Maybe Lemar is the next Pierce. Even if there is a rotation in the middle, we've been down the road all having 3 high priced LB's....

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

I wouldn't be upset if Barrow was cut. Williams could turn a stadium hot dog vendor into a stud LB.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

I can't be upset over a player I haven't seen play for us yet...I agree with Daseal...might as well throw in the new guys and build our future at LB.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

lemar deserves to start the season at middle linebacker. especially after the way he stepped up when lavar went down. i think lemar will do a fine job, and he could be a starter for us for years to come. i don't get why we can't release all these players before june 1st, though. what is so important about that day.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

[QUOTE=mooby]lemar deserves to start the season at middle linebacker. especially after the way he stepped up when lavar went down. i think lemar will do a fine job, and he could be a starter for us for years to come. i don't get why we can't release all these players before june 1st, though. what is so important about that day.[/QUOTE]

That's the cutoff date for signing-bonus allocations. It's complicated, but basically if you cut them before June 1, the unallocated portion of the signing bonus hits the cap that year. If you cut them after June 1, the unallocated portion of the signing bonus hits the following year, thereby delaying the cap hit.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

I don't know, this kid Newberry doesn't look to promising, Williams likes speed at LB, and this kid runs a 4.72 not that fast, especially when we keep hearing that he is fast, he look's a little awkward as well.


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Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

I too, would like to see Lemar starting this year. Again, we were ranked in the top three minus Arrington, Daniels, Bowen AND we have a great CB coming in. I'd love to see someone like McCune become even better than Marshall, but right now Marshall has earned the job.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

I think Barrow should just retire. If he played this year, and got shots all the time, hes risking the rest of his life. He had a great carrer. No sense trying to prove somethign to skins fans and come out for one year, prevent us from giving our new guys a shot, and then have a worse limp for the rest of your life

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

yeah. that is true. barrow has had a great career, so why not retire now? we respect him and all he's done for the nfl, but he has to move on.

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

M C C U N E

Re: Bye Bye Barrow?
 

the one knock against Lemar filling in at MLB is that there's questions about whether he's got enough bulk. I don't know if he's bulked up any since last year but I wouldn't be suprised to see a big mix of Marshall and Mccune if Barrow isn't able to go until either one stands out from the other or an injury occurs.