Brandon Winey as a starter

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by joecrisp

Excellent points, Canuck.

I'm okay with dealing Samuels before the draft-- I just don't want to see him packaged with the #5 pick. The Skins have more leverage and value with that pick than with any player they might consider trading away. If they deal Samuels for more players or picks (preferably mid-first round at minimum for one pick), while retaining their #5 pick, that would be fine.
Don't get me wrong; it's not going to be easy to replace Samuels. I really believe he's going to return to Pro Bowl form under Bugel's guidance. But if he's not willing to restructure now, then the time to deal him is now.

I think Crisp pretty much hits the nail on the head here. But I don't think we should be jumping on the Winey bandwagon just yet. He's a solid player but I can't see him being better than a healthy Samuels. I think it's important to remember that Winey joined the lineup right around the time Dockery was starting to find his groove. Samuels had to help compensate for a lot of Dockery's early rookie mistakes.