Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattyk
Exactly.
And for those saying just pay him, what happens when you pay him and he goes off the edge of the cliff performance wise. At his age it's certainly a real possibility that his play could dramatically drop off at any time. Everyone loves the guy and of course we all want him back, but it's got to be a deal that makes sense for someone his age.
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The biggest problem with Fletcher is two-fold: the state of the roster behind him dictates that the Redskins should have handled his contract situation a while ago. They just made an assumption that they could handle it easily during the month of February, and they were wrong.
Looking forward though, the problem is "we need a linebacker" and the only thing we have to handle that need with is cap dollars. It's not a strong group of FA LBs, but there's starters out there beyond Fletcher, and it makes as much sense now for the team to start exploring other options as it does for Fletcher to keep all his options open. Signing Curtis Lofton, Erin Henderson, or David Hawthorne would be quite an alternative.
I think there is a lesson here about the Redskins struggling to improve their roster because they can't ever get out of their own way, but replacing about 80% of what Fletcher would offer in 2012 shouldn't really be that much of an issue. There's enough out there that $5 million of cap dollars should be able to bring in at least one player who can handle the rigors of the position. It's just that you typically don't want to enter the offseason with two needs (MLB and safety) that didn't need to be needs.