Lance Briggs - Potential Free Agent

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

OK, somebody has to explain the math to me on why corner is a need. We have Carlos Rogers, who was injured like Rocky, but injured early enough in the year to actually play during 2008. Shawn Springs is still a very good corner in this league, and is Fred Smoot not playing like a quality starter?

I don't see salary cap forcing any of our three guys out the door next year. With Carlos hurt, I see the need for some depth, but Asamuwaghwaghwaghwagh will cost a buttload of money (he's very highly thought of).

Entering next season, we'll have 2 good starting CBs in this league, Springs and Smoot. We'll also have a 3rd very good young CB coming back from injury. That seems to cover 2 starting CB positions in my mind.

LB on the other hand, we'll have 2 good starting LBs in this league, Washington and Fletcher. If we stand pat, we'll have either old man Randall Godfrey manning the other spot, or a totally unproven youngster who was drafted with the intent to inherit the Mike position from Fletcher. So we've got two good answers for 3 starting spots. At corner, we have 2 good answers for 2 spots, and another that will get healthy halfway through 2008.

And let's not even talk about what we've got behind our 3rd LB. I just don't get how CB can be considered a greater need than LB.

there's a good chance springs won't take a pay cut and will be released... and rogers will be out at least 8 games next year from what i've heard, which leaves either the #3 or the #3 AND the #1/#2 (pick one) spot open for CB(s). that's the thinking there (and with the flood of CBs and a couple RFAs (det's wilson, den's foxworth), there might be a deal in there.

on CJ - can't have too many weapons, and he's a true lock at #1 with all the tools (and none of the hamstring issues).

on LB - briggs will be overpriced and a guy like dansy has a better chance as far as price/performance and letting the team address other needs. decent lbs are always available at vet min, and we've got two at high price tags (depth IS unproven though).

on OL/DL - upgrades to pete kendall, possibly jansen, but the real threat on our OL is age. our line isn't young and our realistic depth is stephon heyer and not-so-young todd wade... draft picks would be best there (2nd-3rd round). at DE, carter has played extremely well... he turned his game around as much as campbell. I mean, it's been shocking, though he stopped playing like crap late last year, he was never all that effective. He's fine, but daniels is ancient and the depth just ain't there. at DT we've got good depth, but the #2 DT isn't amazing, and griffin might go away sooner than later. Our depth is still learning the NFL and can very well get better, but it's never a bad idea to look at backup plans.


the cuts to guys like griffin wouldn't be forced due to cap issues per say, but adding flexibility down the road and making the roster younger might be a good idea, depending on availability and prices (of course). Right now we've got a LOT of old guys that get hurt (a lot).

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by That Guy

there's a good chance springs won't take a pay cut and will be released... and rogers will be out at least 8 games next year from what i've heard, which leaves either the #3 or the #3 AND the #1/#2 (pick one) spot open for CB(s). that's the thinking there (and with the flood of CBs and a couple RFAs (det's wilson, den's foxworth), there might be a deal in there.

I agree with most of what you said in that post, but I have to put this Shawn Springs might be cut notion to bed right now. In fact I should probably start a thread educating the public on his salary cap status so more people see it.

In 2008, his cap number is $7.5 million. His base salary that season is $5 million. We can cut him and save $2.5 mill, but the Skins can also reduce the cap number by $2.5 million by simply restructuring the guy. With the restructure, he wouldn't take one ounce of paycut, he'd simply get his money up front instead of in base salaries. He'd have no incentive to refuse that, and if you're the Skins, what would you prefer? Save $2.5 million with Springs off the roster, or save $2.5 million with Springs on the roster?

On top of that, there's still the chance that they extend his contract another 2 years or so to reduce the cap hit even further, a la Jon Jansen two years ago.

The only way it makes sense to cut the guy at this point is if you think he's going to be an ineffective CB next season. With the way he's playing now, I have absolutely no idea why anyone would think that.