Insider info on Smoot from ESPN

[70Chip]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I think Smoot played his best when he was hungry. He came into the league with a chip on his shoulder and he may have lost that in Minnesota once he got paid. I think he'll play hungry again for us, he's getting a second chance to prove himself and he can put his struggles in Minnesota behind him.

You have to remember too, that to someone from Mississippee, Minnesota is like a foreign country. It's cold and the people talk funny. Sometimes you just don't feel at home.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Off topic: mad props on the new avatar, Matty. Very nice.

[Counter-Tre]

Bottom line, are we better off now than we were before this signing? Yes. Case closed.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by irish

I couldnt agree more. Bly has like 10 years in the league and is looking for the Redskins to give him a comfortable retirement.

The Smoot signing was terrible. His best days are behind him and like someone else said he had Champ playing with him and covering the opposition's best WR. Smoot went to MN as THE MAN and ended up losing his job. Smoot was NFL trash blowing down the street and for some reason the Skins could not resist picking it up.

It's obvious why Bly wants to be a Redskin. If we give him a 3 year deal I would be okay with the trade. Plus, La Canfora said that if the trade does happen, we will get for our 6th pick: Bly, Denver's 1st rd pick (21), a 3rd round pick and possibly a 2nd round pick. That's definitely worth it. Then we could trade Springs for even more draft picks.

And I don't think the Smoot signing was terrible. His best days are behind him?? What? He's only 27!! Minnesota was a team in transition while he was there, and he played under multiple head coaches/coordinators and never fit in. It obviously affected his play. While with us he played at a pro bowl level, was a locker room favorite, and led the team in INT's a couple of times. Plus he could have gotten an even bigger contract than the one we gave him if he had played the market, but he just wanted to come home. I LOVE that Freddy is back, and I couldn't disagree more with what you say here...

[FRPLG]

In the past, when healthy, Springs was a top 5 CB. At his age now he is still a top 10-12 CB when healthy.

Smoot is a solid CB. Maybe top 40 but that is till good considering there are at least 96 of tme counting nicklebacks.

He can play #2s well and do a dcent job against #1s but he isn't as good as Springs by any stretch.

[irish]

Originally Posted by GMScud

It's obvious why Bly wants to be a Redskin. If we give him a 3 year deal I would be okay with the trade. Plus, La Canfora said that if the trade does happen, we will get for our 6th pick: Bly, Denver's 1st rd pick (21), a 3rd round pick and possibly a 2nd round pick. That's definitely worth it. Then we could trade Springs for even more draft picks.

And I don't think the Smoot signing was terrible. His best days are behind him?? What? He's only 27!! Minnesota was a team in transition while he was there, and he played under multiple head coaches/coordinators and never fit in. It obviously affected his play. While with us he played at a pro bowl level, was a locker room favorite, and led the team in INT's a couple of times. Plus he could have gotten an even bigger contract than the one we gave him if he had played the market, but he just wanted to come home. I LOVE that Freddy is back, and I couldn't disagree more with what you say here...

The Redskins are the ultimate "team in Transition" team. They are always in transition so if being on a transition team bothers Smoot he's really in trouble here. Anything having to do with Smoot's stats on theSkins was 3 seasons ago which is a lifetime in the NFL. They are essentially meaningless. God Bless You if you believe the coming home stuff, I'm not as easily fooled. I heard a lot about how Smoot could have gotten a lot of other higher offers (mostly from the Skins & Smoot) but never actually saw one of these offers. I dont think Smoot was the hot FA most in Redskins land want to think he was.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by irish

The Redskins are the ultimate "team in Transition" team. They are always in transition so if being on a transition team bothers Smoot he's really in trouble here. Anything having to do with Smoot's stats on theSkins was 3 seasons ago which is a lifetime in the NFL. They are essentially meaningless. God Bless You if you believe the coming home stuff, I'm not as easily fooled. I heard a lot about how Smoot could have gotten a lot of other higher offers (mostly from the Skins & Smoot) but never actually saw one of these offers. I dont think Smoot was the hot FA most in Redskins land want to think he was.

He's a definite upgrade from Mike friggin Rumph or Kenny Wright, he's better than Ade Jimoh, and Springs' health is waaaayyy too iffy and he's 5 years older than Smoot. I heard that Smoot could have gotten more money from Tom Boswell of the Wash Post, not Smoot himself or the Skins. Plus the deal we gave him isn't as rich as initially reported. Yes he got a $7M signing bonus, but after that it's essentially $11.5M over three years (according to LaCanfora). Plus Smoot has played for G.Williams before, and knows a lot of the guys on this team. I just don't believe at 27 his best days are behind him, and I don't think it was a "terrible" move.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

irish would drop kick this without a second's hesitation.

[RobH4413]

Originally Posted by irish

The Redskins are the ultimate "team in Transition" team. They are always in transition so if being on a transition team bothers Smoot he's really in trouble here. Anything having to do with Smoot's stats on theSkins was 3 seasons ago which is a lifetime in the NFL. They are essentially meaningless. God Bless You if you believe the coming home stuff, I'm not as easily fooled. I heard a lot about how Smoot could have gotten a lot of other higher offers (mostly from the Skins & Smoot) but never actually saw one of these offers. I dont think Smoot was the hot FA most in Redskins land want to think he was.

I understand your argument, but Smoot isn't asked to come back and be "The man" here. He's asked to play a #2 or #3 corner which I think it's pretty widely accepted that he's a #2,#3 caliber player.

He had a lot of off the field distraction over in Minn. and there is no question that it effected his game, so it's not unreasonable to think he will improve.

As far as us being in transition, I say look at what we're doing in the offseason. I really don't feel like this is a transition at all. We're keeping virtually the entire o line, bringing back campbell as the starter, holding on to all of our coaches minus lindsay, and we're coming off a late season rally.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

In the past, when healthy, Springs was a top 5 CB. At his age now he is still a top 10-12 CB when healthy.

Smoot is a solid CB. Maybe top 40 but that is till good considering there are at least 96 of tme counting nicklebacks.

He can play #2s well and do a dcent job against #1s but he isn't as good as Springs by any stretch.

At 32 years old and after being riddled with sooo many injuries, at what point does Springs lose a step?? There is a reason we want him to restructure and possibly move to safety.

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by CanadianSkin

Don Banks strikes again. Here is what he had to say about Bly and Smoot. Wow he has a mad on for us.

7. The Lions trading Dre' Bly -- It seems to me that Bly quickly showed his true colors by complaining that he wanted Detroit to trade him to Washington rather than Denver, because the Redskins were willing to give him a new contract and the Broncos aren't. Show me a guy who'd rather play for the perennially losing Redskins than the perennially winning Broncos and I'll show you the type of player that Lions coach Rod Marinelli is trying to weed out of his locker room. At the very least, Detroit got a potential starter at offensive tackle (George Foster) and running back (Tatum Bell) in the Bly trade, which gives them lots of options at No. 2 in the draft.

Minnesota cut its losses with the clueless Fred Smoot.

Here is the link: SI.com - Writers - Early reviews are in (cont.) - Tuesday March 6, 2007 12:57PM

I hope we don't bring Bly here. He's going to end up being the Brandon Lloyd on defense. Leave him alone.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Honestly, I don't even care if that meant we could attain some more picks. Hell, sit him on the bench and draft a CB with the second round pick for all I care.

[Stacks42]

The thing I’m worried about is, if we trade Springs for Bly, who is our #1 CB? None of the three (Smoot, Rogers, or Bly) has shown in their NFL careers that they can be a #1 CB. I like all 3, Rogers is going to have a great career (not ready to be a #1 CB), Smoot is a great #2 or nickel and I would say the same about Bly. But all 3 of them on the field together against a good offense could be trouble, for the skins.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Bly has shown that fairly consistently.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

irish would drop kick this without a second's hesitation.

he would probably shit on him first