Commanders Post at The Warpath - View Single Post - You're the GM, map out your offseason plan

Paintrain · 12-28-2004, 11:51 PM

Obviously resign Smoot and Pierce and restructure Samuels.. Beyond that I would:
1) Try to trade Gardner for a 2nd, 3rd or 4th round pick. He was almost dealt a couple of years ago, there should be some market for him. If we have to package a future pick in order to move him (ex. Gardner and 2006 3rd round for a high 2nd this year) let's do it. McCants makes plays when he's in there, Jacobs needs to step up.

2) Trade down in the draft for multiple picks. We are not one impact player away from making a turnaround. We need multiple playmakers on both sides of the ball (preferably at DE and WR or TE) to make teams account for them. Other than Arrington and Portis, we don't have any players that teams need to gameplan for.

3) Keep free agent sigings to a minimum. The one player I would like to see us go hard after is Darren Howard of the Saints. He will be an unrestricted FA and the Saints will likely not go after him hard to keep him. He's relentless to the QB and a solid run defender. I think he'd be an excellent addition. If there is an upgrade at C then make that move, but I don't think they will. Other than that, I would build depth in the secondary and on both lines through FA.

4) Modernize the playbook. Unless you have a defense like the Ravens or Patriots that put points on the board, you cannot have an offensive philosophy that focuses on not losing the game. To paraphrase Herm Edwards, 'You have to play to win the game!' I get so tired of seeing other teams with receivers just running in wide open spaces and then see Coles run an 8 yd hook pattern with nowhere to run. If Ramsey is the QB, then let him be the QB, don't run this pennyannie dink and dunk game that keeps 8 defenders in the box. Portis did him damage with 3 wides in the game and on stretch plays, use the counter gap as a change up, not as the bread and butter.

12-28-2004, 11:51 PM	#22
Paintrain Pro Bowl Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL Age: 55 Posts: 5,006	Obviously resign Smoot and Pierce and restructure Samuels.. Beyond that I would: 1) Try to trade Gardner for a 2nd, 3rd or 4th round pick. He was almost dealt a couple of years ago, there should be some market for him. If we have to package a future pick in order to move him (ex. Gardner and 2006 3rd round for a high 2nd this year) let's do it. McCants makes plays when he's in there, Jacobs needs to step up. 2) Trade down in the draft for multiple picks. We are not one impact player away from making a turnaround. We need multiple playmakers on both sides of the ball (preferably at DE and WR or TE) to make teams account for them. Other than Arrington and Portis, we don't have any players that teams need to gameplan for. 3) Keep free agent sigings to a minimum. The one player I would like to see us go hard after is Darren Howard of the Saints. He will be an unrestricted FA and the Saints will likely not go after him hard to keep him. He's relentless to the QB and a solid run defender. I think he'd be an excellent addition. If there is an upgrade at C then make that move, but I don't think they will. Other than that, I would build depth in the secondary and on both lines through FA. 4) Modernize the playbook. Unless you have a defense like the Ravens or Patriots that put points on the board, you cannot have an offensive philosophy that focuses on not losing the game. To paraphrase Herm Edwards, 'You have to play to win the game!' I get so tired of seeing other teams with receivers just running in wide open spaces and then see Coles run an 8 yd hook pattern with nowhere to run. If Ramsey is the QB, then let him be the QB, don't run this pennyannie dink and dunk game that keeps 8 defenders in the box. Portis did him damage with 3 wides in the game and on stretch plays, use the counter gap as a change up, not as the bread and butter.