do we show our hand to soon (Barrow allowed to seek trade)

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

Folks, Im looking at the HISTORY of the front office over the last 5-8 years with Cerrato and Snyder at the helm. Now its Gibbs, Cerrato, and Snyder.

"I think we ought to implement a new rule that there can be no bitching and moaning unless there is proven reason to."

Well guess what jackass, Ive got a reason to! Look at the personell moves these idiots have made, that's why we are in the hole we are in. Thanks to Cerrato and Snyder, the following free agents and drafts have built our team (not).

No reason for us to be calling each other idiots, jackasses, meatheads, etc.

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

Stephen Alexander (2nd round 1998)
Skip Hicks (3rd round 1998)
Mark Fischer (5th round 1998)
Nate Stimson (4th round 1999)
Derek G. Smith (5th round 1999)
Lloyd Harrison (3rd round 2000)
Michael Moore (4th round 2000)
Quincy Sanders (5th round 2000)
Sage Rosenfels (4th Round 2001)

Michael Moore found his true calling making politically charged movies!

Our middle round picks SUCKED for years!!! This is partially the reason we can't build a team. Secondly, lets look at the free agents Danny Boy and Vinny Cerrato have brought in:

Mark Carrier
Deion Sanders
Bruce Smith
Marco Coleman
Irving Fryar
Jeff George
Andre Reed
Dana Stubblefield
Jerimiah Trotter

Trotter was a young, all-pro linebacker entering his prime when he got here. Who was to know he'd tear up his knee. I don't think Fryar or Reed had any sort of financial impact on the team really. Stubblefield was a bust. The rest were brought in here basically to be quick fixes, get us that elusive ring we fans had grown accustomed to but hadn't sniffed in years. It was a poorly planned quick fix solution by Snydato (Snyder and Cerrato) but also poor coaching factors in as does Eddie Murray and all those other kickers missing them damn field goals that year.

I'll bet we are still paying on some of those loser underachievers! Now, some of you have been saying, well, siging Barrow was a great move at the time because he had no history of injury. To that I say, he was freakin 34 years old, what the hell did you freakin expect? A middle linebacker is 34 years old and we sign him, not to the verteran minimum, but to a 6 year $13 million dollar contract with a 2.5 million dollar signing bonus! Give me a break, its not like he was a kicker, he was a freakin middle linebacker, one of the most physically demanding positions on the field and we signed a 34 year old and gave him a BIG contract for his age. Oh Ive got a reason to bitch and moan, all Redskin fans do.

I guess Crazy Canuck can respond to this portion and whether or not salary cap wise this was really that big a hit. I think they, understandably, expected 2 to 3 years of solid production from Barrow based on his history. And who knows, it still might happen.

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

Show me a coach who has won a superbowl with complete say over personnell decisions. It hasn't happened. Gibbs, Snyder and Cerrato sold the farm for Brunnell, and traded a 3rd round pick. Then, when they couldve done the Ports/Bailey deal straight up, they threw in another pick. Then they signed a 34 year old free agent middle linebacker and overpaid for him. Then they mishandled the Rod Gardner situation AND the Laverneous Coles situation. So there is evidence that we need a GM.

Mike Shanahan? I'm actually not even positive about that one. Didn't know we could have done the Portis/Bailey deal straight up.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

Well guess what jackass, Ive got a reason to! Look at the personell moves these idiots have made, that's why we are in the hole we are in. Thanks to Cerrato and Snyder, the following free agents and drafts have built our team (not)...

Our middle round picks SUCKED for years!!! This is partially the reason we can't build a team. Secondly, lets look at the free agents Danny Boy and Vinny Cerrato have brought in...

It is well documented that Gibbs is the personell guy now so your points about the reign of Cerrato and Synder as the defacto GM are moot(although I'd agree they are well founded points in past seasons)

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

I'll bet we are still paying on some of those loser underachievers!

You'd lose that bet since we are not paying any them. Of course they WERE drags for a while but then again I already said I basically agree with your assesment of Snyderatto.

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

Now, some of you have been saying, well, siging Barrow was a great move at the time because he had no history of injury. To that I say, he was freakin 34 years old, what the hell did you freakin expect? A middle linebacker is 34 years old and we sign him, not to the verteran minimum, but to a 6 year $13 million dollar contract with a 2.5 million dollar signing bonus! Give me a break, its not like he was a kicker, he was a freakin middle linebacker, one of the most physically demanding positions on the field and we signed a 34 year old and gave him a BIG contract for his age. Oh Ive got a reason to bitch and moan, all Redskin fans do.

Well we'll just disagree on this I guess. I personally believe it was reasonable to expect him to remain relatively healthy for 3 years. The contract was not "BIG" for his age as you suggest though. It was a reasonable contract for a multiple time pro bowler with no injury history at all. In fact It was a bargain if he ends up playing near the level he played in his last year with the Giants for the three year life that the contract was meant for.

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

"If we make the damn super bowl will all you shut the f$%^ up? Actually if we make the super bowl will you apologize for being idiots? Not saying you are idiots but you could turn out to be totally wrong(making you and idot) or right(making you a genius) but unless you are psychic then stop proclaiming we need to fix a problem we don;t even knwo we if we have."

Nice. You disagree with me so you attack me instead of looking for a counter argument.

The heck??
-First:it wasn't directed solely at you. I thought it was pretty clear that it was a general statement towards those with certain unfounded pessimistic views. Of which you appear to be one in this case.
-Second:it wasn't an attack at all. No where did I call anyone a name. I implied that I thought you all were wrong and that if you were wrong I would feel justified in calling you all idiots but I was careful to state that you indeed could end up being right and therefore geniuses. I actually said 'Not saying you are idiots'.
-Third: I provided multiple arguments but apparently in your haste to reply you seemed to forget that. Funny how you spent most of your post attempting to debunk my arguments but during the typing of that one sentence you conviently ignored what you had been doing this since that wouldn't jive with your premise that I didn't provide 'counter aguments'.

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

Show me a coach who has won a superbowl with complete say over personnell decisions. It hasn't happened.

Stellar point and one scares me in its truthfulness. Hopefully Gibbs will turn the tide on this one.

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

Then, when they couldve done the Ports/Bailey deal straight up, they threw in another pick.

Huh? So they actually just GAVE denver another pick for no reason? I bet Denver was pretty happy when the contract showed up and there was a phantom pick included. This has been mentioned in some places but has never been substantiated that Denver would have done the deal without the pick. Pure rumor and is therefore much less relavant.

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

Then they mishandled the Rod Gardner situation AND the Laverneous Coles situation.

Still not one person has said how these situiations should have been handled differently in this whole thread. I am still waiting for someone to say what should have been done instead.

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

So there is evidence that we need a GM.

Not much of that is really evidence since it is hard to argue that any real personell mistakes were made outside of the Brunell decision.

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

This is not a site where we all drink the kool aid and say how great we are, we should be able to disagree without insulting one another.

It's also not a site where unrelenting pessimism goes unnoticed. There are a few of those here. I can't say whether you fall in this category but your post surely lumped in there at least temporarily(for the life of this thread). I personally get angry at those who purport to "keep it real" when all they do is propogate pessimistic views of the team the supposedly love. I wouldn't for a moment include you in this distinguished (and small) group but your views on the FO mirror their's so my frame of mind was probably somehwat skewed. I'll apologize if I said anything that could be construed as an insult. It was not meant in any way to be such. I in fact try incredibly hard NOT to insult people here and I feel like I honored that sentiment in my original post. I simply think you are incredibly wrong in much of your argument.

[jacobyfan]

This makes me think of Philly fans who will find ANY EXCUSE to boo. I remember watching a Eagles game where they were up 3 TDs in the third quarter and the punter shanked one about 25-30 yards. The whole place errupted in boos. Of course our situation isn't analogous, really. But it just makes me think of their tendency to try and find the absolute worst in the situation. I remember when they went down to the bucs in the championship game at home by a few points and the whole place went almost dead silent for the rest of the game. It was like everyone was just thinking, "well here we go again!"

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

It's also not a site where unrelenting pessimism goes unnoticed. There are a few of those here. I can't say whether you fall in this category but your post surely lumped in there at least temporarily(for the life of this thread). I personally get angry at those who purport to "keep it real" when all they do is propogate pessimistic views of the team the supposedly love. I wouldn't for a moment include you in this distinguished (and small) group but your views on the FO mirror their's so my frame of mind was probably somehwat skewed. I'll apologize if I said anything that could be construed as an insult. It was not meant in any way to be such. I in fact try incredibly hard NOT to insult people here and I feel like I honored that sentiment in my original post. I simply think you are incredibly wrong in much of your argument.

Self-proclaimed Pessimism Cop FRPLG-
Believe or not, not everybody agrees with all of your opinions, or all of the redskins moves. The great part about the Warpath is people have different opinions and we can all talk about it. We do not have all be company "Yes" men. To disagree with a Redskins player move or any other descion made by the Reedskins is not being a pessimist or a bad Redskins fan. I realize you are a huge Dan Snyder, Cerrato and Gibbs fan, that is great. I am huge Gibbs fan. But don't get mad if somebody disagrees with you. Because it sounds to me that you are questioning peoples (Redskins) patriotism if they do not agree with a Redskins move.
Describing someones post as "bitching and moaning" is going to piss people off. That started the name calling.

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

FINALLY! Yes, our front office IS to blame for the way they have bungled one situation after another! Why even sign Barrow, 35, to a 6 year 13 million dollar dealt to begin with! And why would you tell Lavernous Coles that you will trade him and suffer such a huge cap hit? This team needs a GM. Those of us that are old school remember when the GM was Bobby Beatherd and the team thrived with its personnell, now we flounder. Gibbs has proven he's a great coach, but he needs someone else to be the devil's advocate on personnell decisions, just like Beatherd was in the old days. Vinny Cerrato is NOT the answer, we need a GM that will work with the coach, and disagree with him when it is necessary. Yes, they have picked up a few good free agents in Marcus Washington and Cornelius, but for the most part our team is in disarray when it comes to the draft and free agency. Look at Darnerian McCants, signed him to a deal, gave him a nice sigining bonus, then sat his ass on the bench all of last season. We traded like a 3rd round pick for Brunnell who would've been cut anyway, then we trade Champ AND a draft pick for Portis. I know some of you guys don't like to criticize our team, but the fact of the matter is that our front office has made the Skins a laughing stock on most websites. We need a GM.

I couldn't agree more! We need a real G.M.
The Snyder/Cerrato duo has been mostly bad. As you point out they did some good, but mostly bad.
Talent evaluation is the main problem. Our lower round picks is where a G.M. makes his money and we have done terribly in that department.
Beathard/Casserly made great teams with lower round picks and cast offs.
On our current roster our only good players are the top pick/can't miss guys like Lavar Arrington, Chris Samuels, Sean Taylor, Patrick Ramsey, Clinton Portis and John Jansen were all first and second round picks. We have very few if any low round or undrafted players that that is playing great.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

I couldn't agree more! We need a real G.M.
The Snyder/Cerrato duo has been mostly bad. As you point out they did some good, but mostly bad.
Talent evaluation is the main problem. Our lower round picks is where a G.M. makes his money and we have done terribly in that department.
Beathard/Casserly made great teams with lower round picks and cast offs.
On our current roster our only good players are the top pick/can't miss guys like Lavar Arrington, Chris Samuels, Sean Taylor, Patrick Ramsey, Clinton Portis and John Jansen were all first and second round picks. We have very few if any low round or undrafted players that that is playing great.

Really Casserly/Beathard don't have many better lower round picks/cast-offs than Cerrato/Snyder/Gibbs.

Casserly/Beathard you're looking at guys like Clint Didier, Mark Rypien, Timmy Smith (one game...but what a game!), Kurt Gouveia, Raleigh McKenzie, Mark Schlereth, Joe Jacoby

Cerrato/Snyder/Gibbs you're talking about guys like Rock Cartwright, Darnerien McCants, Antonio Pierce, LeMar Marshall, Andre Lott, Ryan Clark, Robert Royal (and we'll see how McCune, Newberry, and Nemo pan out)

I know guys like Cartwright, McCants, and Royal haven't made a profound impact yet. But all have shown flashes and at the very least Royal seems to be in the long term plans of this team

All I'm saying is that I don't get this common perception that the Redskins teams of the 1980s were a bunch of late round picks and free agents. I don't think it was like that at all

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

Really Casserly/Beathard don't have many better lower round picks/cast-offs than Cerrato/Snyder/Gibbs.

Casserly/Beathard you're looking at guys like Clint Didier, Mark Rypien, Timmy Smith (one game...but what a game!), Kurt Gouveia, Raleigh McKenzie, Mark Schlereth, Joe Jacoby

Cerrato/Snyder/Gibbs you're talking about guys like Rock Cartwright, Darnerien McCants, Antonio Pierce, LeMar Marshall, Andre Lott, Ryan Clark, Robert Royal (and we'll see how McCune, Newberry, and Nemo pan out)

I know guys like Cartwright, McCants, and Royal haven't made a profound impact yet. But all have shown flashes and at the very least Royal seems to be in the long term plans of this team

All I'm saying is that I don't get this common perception that the Redskins teams of the 1980s were a bunch of late round picks and free agents. I don't think it was like that at all

Flashes...thats funny.

On your older players list, you are forgetting alot of solid players, not just flashes. All of these guys are late round pick:
Mark Rypien (pro Bowl), Gary Clark (pro Bowl), Charles Mann (pro Bowl), dexter manley (pro Bowl), Mark Murphy (pro Bowl), Mike Nelms (pro Bowl), Tony Peters (pro Bowl), Ricky Sanders (almost Pro Bowl), Don Warren, Jeff Bostic, Monte Coleman, Mel Kaufman, Darryl Grant, Charlie Brown, Curtis Jordan,....
I could go on but I do not have the time. There are more.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

Flashes...thats funny.

On your older players list, you are forgetting alot of solid players, not just flashes. All of these guys are late round pick:
Mark Rypien (pro Bowl), Gary Clark (pro Bowl), Charles Mann (pro Bowl), dexter manley (pro Bowl), Mark Murphy (pro Bowl), Mike Nelms (pro Bowl), Tony Peters (pro Bowl), Ricky Sanders (almost Pro Bowl), Don Warren, Jeff Bostic, Monte Coleman, Mel Kaufman, Darryl Grant, Charlie Brown, Curtis Jordan,....
I could go on but I do not have the time. There are more.

You're right I did leave several players out. I'll crawl back into my cave now...

But before I do, I'll just say that I think we need to give our players some time and that the Pro Bowl is a bit of a crap shoot. I mean, if our offense played up to our defense and we had a winning record then Griffin, Springs, Washington, Pierce, among others would have all been Pro Bowlers. It's like when the Skins were winning 11-12 games a year and we'd sent 10 or so players to the pro bowl each year.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by paulskinsfan

FINALLY! Yes, our front office IS to blame for the way they have bungled one situation after another! Why even sign Barrow, 35, to a 6 year 13 million dollar dealt to begin with! And why would you tell Lavernous Coles that you will trade him and suffer such a huge cap hit? This team needs a GM. Those of us that are old school remember when the GM was Bobby Beatherd and the team thrived with its personnell, now we flounder. Gibbs has proven he's a great coach, but he needs someone else to be the devil's advocate on personnell decisions, just like Beatherd was in the old days. Vinny Cerrato is NOT the answer, we need a GM that will work with the coach, and disagree with him when it is necessary. Yes, they have picked up a few good free agents in Marcus Washington and Cornelius, but for the most part our team is in disarray when it comes to the draft and free agency. Look at Darnerian McCants, signed him to a deal, gave him a nice sigining bonus, then sat his ass on the bench all of last season. We traded like a 3rd round pick for Brunnell who would've been cut anyway, then we trade Champ AND a draft pick for Portis. I know some of you guys don't like to criticize our team, but the fact of the matter is that our front office has made the Skins a laughing stock on most websites. We need a GM.

There are so many things wrong with this, it's not even funny.

1) At the time of his signing, Mike Barrow was a pillar of health. He led the Giants in tackles the previous year and hardly missed any games. 6 years and $13 million is a nice low price. Hence, cutting him now doesn't destroy our cap, even though he didn't work out due to bad-luck injuries.

1A) The decision to sign Barrow was not the point of this thread. The point is to discuss how to handle Barrow THIS YEAR.

2) Trading Coles was the best move we made this offseason. We were scheduled to be about $10 million over the 2006 salary cap. Now after trading him away and taking his hit this year, our 2006 looks a lot better. We now have a shot at keeping our core together for the long term, without having to cut key cogs like Jansen. And besides, Coles didn't want to be here. I'd rather let the "core player" who doesn't want to be here walk out the door now, instead of lose a core player next year who does want to be here.

3) Darnerian McCants was not signed to that contract under the Gibbs regime. I can see faulting the front office structure before Gibbs arrived, but you can't hold the current structure at fault on that one. McCants is Spurrier's boy. Spurrier who didn't give two craps about special teams play. Gibbs is making the RIGHT call on McCants; if you're not willing to put your time in on special teams, take a seat on the bench. Just who does he think he is, anyway?

4) Our team is in disarray in drafting and free agency? Again, if we're looking at the record of the GIBBS FRONT OFFICE, it looks pretty good:

Griffin - hit
Springs - hit
M Washington - hit
Portis - hit
C Cooley - hit
S Taylor - hit
Walt Harris - hit
Salavea - big hit for the money
Brunell - miss
Barrow - miss

You can't go holding the GIBBS FRONT OFFICE responsible for the Spurrier regime's horrendous moves. Joe Gibbs calls the shots now, at least judge the moves made UNDER HIM.

5) Did you see the year Champ Bailey had in Denver last year? Would you have been happy paying him $8 - $9 million a year? I sure wouldn't.

6) If you're going to say getting Portis was a mistake, you're just nuts. I don't know if that's what you're saying, so I won't put words in your mouth. But that trade with Denver was pure genius. Bailey got killed all year long. Portis ground out 1300 yards despite being in a misfit scheme. If you want to see how we made out, check him out this year in the zone blocking, stretched out scheme. And plus, look who the Broncos got with that 2nd round pick. Tatum Bell. They were so happy with him, that they felt the need to go sign Ron Dayne and draft Maurice Clarett this year.

The Gibbs front office is the best we've had in years. Count your blessings and actually think about what you're saying.

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

There are so many things wrong with this, it's not even funny......


2) Trading Coles was the best move we made this offseason. We were scheduled to be about $10 million over the 2006 salary cap. Now after trading him away and taking his hit this year, our 2006 looks a lot better. We now have a shot at keeping our core together for the long term, without having to cut key cogs like Jansen. And besides, Coles didn't want to be here. I'd rather let the "core player" who doesn't want to be here walk out the door now, instead of lose a core player next year who does want to be here....

We can agree to disagree, but we DID lose some core guys this year: CB Freddy Smoot and MLB Anotonio Pierce.
Plus we have to make more cuts because we are out of salary cap space to sign our rookies. We were $10M before the Coles for Moss trade. Now we are out of cap space.

[backrow]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

If we're looking at the record of the GIBBS FRONT OFFICE, it looks pretty good:

Griffin - hit
Springs - hit
M Washington - hit
Portis - hit
C Cooley - hit
S Taylor - hit
Walt Harris - hit
Salavea - big hit for the money
Brunell - miss
Barrow - miss

Best point made on this thread! Awsome job Schneed10! As to Barrow and 50/50, it makes not one dit of bifference to me how it's handled! We simply recoup the salary cap room!

[celts32]

6) If you're going to say getting Portis was a mistake, you're just nuts. I don't know if that's what you're saying, so I won't put words in your mouth. But that trade with Denver was pure genius. Bailey got killed all year long. Portis ground out 1300 yards despite being in a misfit scheme. If you want to see how we made out, check him out this year in the zone blocking, stretched out scheme. And plus, look who the Broncos got with that 2nd round pick. Tatum Bell. They were so happy with him, that they felt the need to go sign Ron Dayne and draft Maurice Clarett this year.

The Gibbs front office is the best we've had in years. Count your blessings and actually think about what you're saying.[/QUOTE]

First off I love Gibbs and would never call for his head under any circumstances. However, I do think the Portis trade was a mistake. Not that I think we needed Bailey. I just think the Redskins given the market overpaid for a RB. Edge & Alexander can not even bring a #3 pick back in trade right now, yet we traded Bailey and a #2 pick for Portis only 1 year ago. And to top it off he is not even a good fit for the offense that Gibbs wanted to run. Alexander would have been the perfect fit, but the Redskins can't get him becasue they already invested 50 million in Portis. Look maybe Portis will have a great year this year with the changes to the offense, but the fact is we still could have gotten a top 5 RB in the NFL for less than half of what we gave up for Portis. Does even the biggest Portis fan out there think he is worth over 2 times as much as Alexander or Edge?

[Redskins8588]

Originally Posted by celts32

First off I love Gibbs and would never call for his head under any circumstances. However, I do think the Portis trade was a mistake. Not that I think we needed Bailey. I just think the Redskins given the market overpaid for a RB. Edge & Alexander can not even bring a #3 pick back in trade right now, yet we traded Bailey and a #2 pick for Portis only 1 year ago. And to top it off he is not even a good fit for the offense that Gibbs wanted to run. Alexander would have been the perfect fit, but the Redskins can't get him becasue they already invested 50 million in Portis. Look maybe Portis will have a great year this year with the changes to the offense, but the fact is we still could have gotten a top 5 RB in the NFL for less than half of what we gave up for Portis. Does even the biggest Portis fan out there think he is worth over 2 times as much as Alexander or Edge?

Yeah, I do think that Portis is worth more than over 2 times as much as Alexander or Edge. Why, you may ask? Because Alexander and James are both 27 years old, and as stats show us in the NFL a RB hits his decline when he is around 30. So, that being said, and if the stats hold true, then that would mean that we would only get 3 good years before Alexander and James start to fall off. Where Portis is only 23 years old, and if you go by that rule of thumb we should get 7 good years out of Portis. I think that people forget that Portis is still so young. But that is my opinion.

[offiss]

I don't see how allowing a player to look for a trade is tipping your hand? How else do trades get done? If you just release him what's the difference? Except now you know for sure that you will recieve nothing for him, Gardner has been a big problem in all this he believes he's a TO talent, and regardless of whether or not teams know he will be released they think so highly of him that they refuse to give up a pick of any kind to secure his services for 1 year at a very reasonable price, that's Rod Gardner for you. A lot like Brunell, who was going to be released and we swooped in and gave up a fortune for him, now that was a joke!

As for Barrow, he was a good signing, how is the front office to know he would develope tendinitis in his knee? Obviously the coaches believe they have to finally cut ties with the guy, what is wrong with putting a feeler out there to see if we may get some kind of compensation back? Nothing gained, nothing lost.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by celts32

First off I love Gibbs and would never call for his head under any circumstances. However, I do think the Portis trade was a mistake. Not that I think we needed Bailey. I just think the Redskins given the market overpaid for a RB. Edge & Alexander can not even bring a #3 pick back in trade right now, yet we traded Bailey and a #2 pick for Portis only 1 year ago. And to top it off he is not even a good fit for the offense that Gibbs wanted to run. Alexander would have been the perfect fit, but the Redskins can't get him becasue they already invested 50 million in Portis. Look maybe Portis will have a great year this year with the changes to the offense, but the fact is we still could have gotten a top 5 RB in the NFL for less than half of what we gave up for Portis. Does even the biggest Portis fan out there think he is worth over 2 times as much as Alexander or Edge?

OK fair enough, Alexander would be a better fit for running the counter treys and pounding the ball inside. But I don't really understand your argument. If you didn't trade Bailey for Portis, what would you have done with Bailey? He was about to command a $9 million hit to our salary cap. If you had kept Bailey you wouldn't have the cap room to acquire an Alexander. And if you had traded Bailey for Alexander, you still would have been trading Bailey for a guy who you mention can't even fetch a 3rd rounder this year.

Secondly, where do you come up with this: "Does even the biggest Portis fan out there think he is worth over 2 times as much as Alexander or Edge?"

If we acquired Edge or Alexander, they would have demanded a new contract just like Portis did, just like Rod Gardner is, and just like Coles demanded from the Jets when we traded him for Moss. When players get traded, they want new contracts. So if we did trade Bailey for Edge or Alexander, we still would have ponied up $50 million for them, just like we did for Portis.

I honestly would rather have Sean Alexander than Portis, the guy is a machine. I'd be ecstatic giving up Bailey and a second rounder for Alexander, just as I am for Portis. Keep in mind, Bailey would have been a much bigger cap hit than Alexander. Trading Bailey freed up the room to fit Portis, Sean Springs, and Cornelius Griffin all into the cap space that Bailey would have occupied. You have to look at the whole picture.