London Fletcher leaning towards playing in 2013 (updated)

[MTK]

I'd love to see Fletcher back, just not with his current cap #. They'll obviously have to work that out.

[InsaneBoost]

Even coming back he takes up close to a mil. Vet min (assuming he gets that) is 940,000. Yes, better than 3.4, but still a lot. Assuming he can stay healthy. Him getting surgery makes this better sounding to me than before, but I'm still iffy on it.

[CultBrennan59]

I think one major reason fletch is coming back to play this year is because he wouldn't want to be in the same hall of fame class as ray Lewis. He wants to be in a different year then him, plus he wants to prove mike he isn't retiring.

[Chico23231]

Originally Posted by CultBrennan59

I think one major reason fletch is coming back to play this year is because he wouldn't want to be in the same hall of fame class as ray Lewis. He wants to be in a different year then him, plus he wants to prove mike he isn't retiring.

I actually thought that the other day with what Shanny said, it was a challenge to Fletch to come back. Tell ya, these coaches know how to motivate

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Chico23231

I actually thought that the other day with what Shanny said, it was a challenge to Fletch to come back. Tell ya, these coaches know how to motivate

Yeah I was thinking the same thing.

I can't see how anyone in the org. wouldn't want the guy back.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

I'm not the cap expert, but i dont see how cutting and re-signing Fletcher would work.

He's currently scheduled to make 6.2MM this year. If we cut him, we take a 2.8MM cap hit. So, unless Fletcher would be willing to come back for less than 3.4MM, it would be advantagous for the team to cut and resign him.

From Fletchers perspective, he's not having surgeries and planning to come back to make half of the 6.2MM he was scheduled to make this year. He certainly wouldnt be coming back to make the vet minimum.

Again, i just dont see cutting/resigning as a viable option. We either sacrifice other areas of the team and keep his contract as-is, restructure and push cap into future seasons (which would be stupid), or cut him and he plays somewhere else.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

I'm not the cap expert, but i dont see how cutting and re-signing Fletcher would work.

He's currently scheduled to make 6.2MM this year. If we cut him, we take a 2.8MM cap hit. So, unless Fletcher would be willing to come back for less than 3.4MM, it would be advantagous for the team to cut and resign him.

From Fletchers perspective, he's not having surgeries and planning to come back to make half of the 6.2MM he was scheduled to make this year. He certainly wouldnt be coming back to make the vet minimum.

Again, i just dont see cutting/resigning as a viable option. We either sacrifice other areas of the team and keep his contract as-is, restructure and push cap into future seasons (which would be stupid), or cut him and he plays somewhere else.

By cutting him the net savings is about $3.4M. Then they can work out a new deal. They can just give him a new 2-3 year deal that's structured so it looks nice on paper, when in reality it will probably just be a one year deal.

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

I'm not the cap expert, but i dont see how cutting and re-signing Fletcher would work.

He's currently scheduled to make 6.2MM this year. If we cut him, we take a 2.8MM cap hit. So, unless Fletcher would be willing to come back for less than 3.4MM, it would be advantagous for the team to cut and resign him.

From Fletchers perspective, he's not having surgeries and planning to come back to make half of the 6.2MM he was scheduled to make this year. He certainly wouldnt be coming back to make the vet minimum.

Again, i just dont see cutting/resigning as a viable option. We either sacrifice other areas of the team and keep his contract as-is, restructure and push cap into future seasons (which would be stupid), or cut him and he plays somewhere else.

In a normal year pushing half his cap hit off would be stupid, but two things make this not a normal year, and why I think the Skins ought to gain maybe 4-5million in cap space by doing the following with LF and maybe 2 others.
First, next year we will not have an 18Mil albatross on our cap number, so as long as we are smart we shouldn't be in nearly the bad shape that this year finds us, and second, in 2015, the cap should go up significantly as the new TV money comes in. With those two factors, I would sign LF to a 3 year deal, the last year voidable, with a 4Mil signing bonus, and vet min next 2 years. That would pay LF about 5Mil this year, while making a cap hit of 2-2.25 mil this year, and either a 3 million next year or if you make him a Jun 1st cut next year (or he retires after Jun 1st) the numbers would be dead money, but in the very palatable 1-2mil per year. Again, not ideal but worth it to keep LF, save a little cap space and get out from under the penalty this year.

I know pushing money back has pitfalls, and should not be the normal mode, but this year I think the Skins should push 9 mil of the penalty through the next 2 years through use of deadcap and extended contracts.

If they can't well then at least this will be behind us after this year, and we can move forward to signing Griff to a 6 year 123 mill contract.

[skinsfan69]

Glad he's coming back but I hope he's taken off the field on obvious passing downs.

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

Glad he's coming back but I hope he's taken off the field on obvious passing downs.

IMO asking a tackling machine who also does a great job creating pressure to cover on the outside is a scheme issue. Evidence wise, we saw the scheme change a bit toward the 2nd half of the season, London covered less, and the defense improved.

[CultBrennan59]

Maybe we can have a ray Lewis ravens type of run this year with fletch telling the team he's retiring at the end of the year to motivate the defense, and team.

[SirLK26]

Originally Posted by CultBrennan59

Maybe we can have a ray Lewis ravens type of run this year with fletch telling the team he's retiring at the end of the year to motivate the defense, and team.

Maybe Fletcher AND Moss should do this. Than if draft Teo, we could have another emotional booster. We might even go undefeated.

[warriorzpath]

I think Fletcher is getting a little disrespected. Fletcher is obviously a warrior in every sense of the word- that's a given and what everyone accepts. But what people seem to forget is - he's also a straight up baller. He's one of the few players that could go head to head with Brandon Jacobs and get the best of him. He's near top of the league every year in tackles. Even in coverage, he's made a bunch of picks at critical times. Is his physical attributes lessening? Yes. Does he have weaknesses in his game? Yes, but not many and probably only one obvious weakness - man coverage. In zone coverage - he's still a baller. And I don't know but one middle linebacker that plays man coverage exceptionally well - Urlacher.

But I think his production and contribution on the field is just as important as his leadership.

[MTK]

No doubt Fletcher is a baller. Is anyone really disputing that? I guess it's a sin to suggest that he's lost a step. He's still ballin' even with losing a step, but at 38 years old he's simply not the same guy he was 3-5 years ago.

[warriorzpath]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

No doubt Fletcher is a baller. Is anyone really disputing that? I guess it's a sin to suggest that he's lost a step. He's still ballin' even with losing a step, but at 38 years old he's simply not the same guy he was 3-5 years ago.

Yup, not disputing he's lost a step and declining but he makes the team much better by being on the field - noticeably raising the level of play.

Losing a step and strength, getting injured more easily,and feeling more pain for longer is all part of being older. But Fletcher should be on the field as much as possible. And even considering his weakness in coverage, he had the most interceptions on the team. Most of them at critical and turning points in games.