Updated: Redskins Trade for Vikings DE Erasmus James

[steveo395]

Erasmus James' career has been very similar to the beginning of Kyle Vanden Bosch's career, who is a pro bowler now. Vanden Bosch was a second round pick of the cardinals, who tore 2 ACLs and an MCL in his first 3 seasons and got cut after his 4th season(2004). Then in 2005, the Titans picked him up for the vet minimum and he started all 16 games and got 12.5 sacks.

James was a first round pick who tore 3 knee ligaments in his first three seasons and now he got traded to the Redskins to try to resurrect his career. It might take all of this year to get healthy, but it is definitely possible for him to come back and play very well. I'm not saying he is gonna be a pro bowler like Vanden Bosch, but it is possible. It has been done before.

Kyle Vanden Bosch
Erasmus James

[skinsnut]

Originally Posted by steveo395

Erasmus James' career has been very similar to the beginning of Kyle Vanden Bosch's career, who is a pro bowler now. Vanden Bosch was a second round pick of the cardinals, who tore 2 ACLs and an MCL in his first 3 seasons and got cut after his 4th season(2004). Then in 2005, the Titans picked him up for the vet minimum and he started all 16 games and got 12.5 sacks.

James was a first round pick who tore 3 knee ligaments in his first three seasons and now he got traded to the Redskins to try to resurrect his career. It might take all of this year to get healthy, but it is definitely possible for him to come back and play very well. I'm not saying he is gonna be a pro bowler like Vanden Bosch, but it is possible. It has been done before.

Kyle Vanden Bosch
Erasmus James

I hope youre right...one major difference is size though.
This dude is like 280....James is closer to 260.
That impacts whether he is situational or not

[J. Spanky]

Originally Posted by steveo395

Erasmus James' career has been very similar to the beginning of Kyle Vanden Bosch's career, who is a pro bowler now. Vanden Bosch was a second round pick of the cardinals, who tore 2 ACLs and an MCL in his first 3 seasons and got cut after his 4th season(2004). Then in 2005, the Titans picked him up for the vet minimum and he started all 16 games and got 12.5 sacks.

James was a first round pick who tore 3 knee ligaments in his first three seasons and now he got traded to the Redskins to try to resurrect his career. It might take all of this year to get healthy, but it is definitely possible for him to come back and play very well. I'm not saying he is gonna be a pro bowler like Vanden Bosch, but it is possible. It has been done before.

Kyle Vanden Bosch
Erasmus James

excellent post. i would only add that vanden bosch has one advantage that james, to all our dismay, does not - a highly disruptive force playing next to him.

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Courtney Penn meet Norman Einstein

Where's the "H" in Courtney Penn (or Courtney Brown for that matter)?

Glad you have a sense of humor

damn, this just ain't my thread! I guess I meant to say that the 't' on my keyboard is sticking.

As for other Penns, there was Schoonie (sp?) Penn, pretty good point guard at Ohio State some years back.

I remember now that C. Brown was taken #1 overall as has been pointed out, glad that he was. good point about Vanden Bosch that someone made. That would be sweet if James gets his game back in that fashion.

[724Skinsfan]

Where was it engraved that after the Rdskins traded for Erasmus James that we were done looking for depth at any position? We are deficient in pass rushing depth and the Skins saw an opportunity to grab a player who is very familiar with our D-Line coach. If they don't like him or he simply can't play at our anticipated level then he's cut. Just because we traded for him doesn't mean we are most certainly not keeping our eyes open for potential DB depth.

[redskinsskickazz]

I like this move a lot, all upside with virtually no downside.
Most seventh rounders dont make the team anyway and we only have to give one up if he makes the squad.

[wilsowilso]

Erasmus James is probably more washed out than washed up because he is still very young and while the luster on his first round shine has faded(washed out) his career might not be over(washed up) by a long shot. If his knee doesn't allow him to resume his career then James is both washed out and washed up, but we have no way of knowing that right now. Athletes can of course make comebacks from injury and this guy was a player.

Courney Penn is washed up. If he is who I think he is? If not then I have no opinion of Courney Penn.

[skinsnut]

I am a little iffy on this one....originally, I thought we should go after this guy....then I looked at his stats...and his injuries.
His injuries I can understand....and certainly for a conditional 7th...thats fine.
My concern was his minimal impact when he was playing.
The guy is rather small...so he is no more than a situational DE at best when healthy.

Ya never know...perhaps they can convert him to an OLB?
I know it sounds crazy...but we need a backup there too.

I really think we are trading a 7th for a name at this point.

The main risk is not the 7th....it is his salary...whatever that is.
Someone...please find out what we are gunna pay this dude to be a 4th or 5th DE.

[Schneed10]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let's recap:

If he doesn't make our 53 man roster, we don't give up any picks/compensation to the Vikings.

If he doesn't make our 53 man roster, we don't carry any salary cap charge. If he makes the team, we're only responsible for his $1 million base salary this season, which is non-guaranteed.

After signing rookies, we will have $4-5 million in cap space. So if he beats out a Ryan Boschetti or an Alex Buzbee and makes the team, salary cap space will not be an issue.

So... what exactly is the downside here? Nothing. You either got yourself some DE depth with upside, or you say bye bye to him and you've still got the same personnel (and draft picks) you had yesterday.

Will it change our season, almost certainly not. But there's no downside at all.

[skinsnut]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let's recap:

If he doesn't make our 53 man roster, we don't give up any picks/compensation to the Vikings.

If he doesn't make our 53 man roster, we don't carry any salary cap charge. If he makes the team, we're only responsible for his $1 million base salary this season, which is non-guaranteed.

After signing rookies, we will have $4-5 million in cap space. So if he beats out a Ryan Boschetti or an Alex Buzbee and makes the team, salary cap space will not be an issue.

So... what exactly is the downside here? Nothing. You either got yourself some DE depth with upside, or you say bye bye to him and you've still got the same personnel (and draft picks) you had yesterday.

Will it change our season, almost certainly not. But there's no downside at all.

Schneed, you never cease to amaze.
Excellent analysis on the cap...this makes me feel better...since I think this guy is only worth about 500k

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by skinsnut

Schneed, you never cease to amaze.
Excellent analysis on the cap...this makes me feel better...since I think this guy is only worth about 500k

Thanks for the kudos.

I'm thinking it honestly wouldn't matter if the guy makes $2.5 million this year (he doesn't, he makes $1.0). We're going to have plenty of cap space going into this season, he could make starting DE money and we'd have no problem carrying it. You would theoretically only lose out on the opportunity to sign someone else to an extension to make use of that space, or lose out on the opportunity to bolster next year's cap limit by playing with incentives for your current players. But other than that, the guy could make a buttoad and it wouldn't matter, as long as he fits under our cap. Which is no problem.

The way I see it, Vinny saw this as an opportunity to get a guy who played for one of the coaches who sees talent in the guy, with nothing to lose from a cap standpoint, with little to lose from a pick standpoint, and who could potentially add depth. It's not hard to understand from my perspective, the bottom line is:

- James is talented
- James is always injured
- Who knows how James will look in camp
- If he looks good and healthy, a 7th rounder and $1.0 million is a small price to pay for a young hungry talented DE
- If he looks hurt/crappy, you cut him and lose nothing

No brainer. Good move.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Thanks for the kudos.

I'm thinking it honestly wouldn't matter if the guy makes $2.5 million this year (he doesn't, he makes $1.0). We're going to have plenty of cap space going into this season, he could make starting DE money and we'd have no problem carrying it. You would theoretically only lose out on the opportunity to sign someone else to an extension to make use of that space, or lose out on the opportunity to bolster next year's cap limit by playing with incentives for your current players. But other than that, the guy could make a buttoad and it wouldn't matter, as long as he fits under our cap. Which is no problem.

The way I see it, Vinny saw this as an opportunity to get a guy who played for one of the coaches who sees talent in the guy, with nothing to lose from a cap standpoint, with little to lose from a pick standpoint, and who could potentially add depth. It's not hard to understand from my perspective, the bottom line is:

- James is talented
- James is always injured
- Who knows how James will look in camp
- If he looks good and healthy, a 7th rounder and $1.0 million is a small price to pay for a young hungry talented DE
- If he looks hurt/crappy, you cut him and lose nothing

No brainer. Good move.

Good points. Let's just hope that if he does look/get hurt that it happens in July and not in early October.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Good points. Let's just hope that if he does look/get hurt that it happens in July and not in early October.

Even if it does happen in October, I'm thinking we still haven't lost that much. If James makes the team, who's the last DL to get cut? Boschetti? Buzbee?

I'm thinking either one of those players are likely to be eagerly ready to answer the phone should we call in October, because I don't think either of them are likely to be picked up by other NFL teams.

Should that scenario come about, all we lose is the 7th round pick. And considering how hard it is for 7th round picks to make your team in the first place, it's still worth the shot (IMO), even in this October injury scenario.

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let's recap:

If he doesn't make our 53 man roster, we don't give up any picks/compensation to the Vikings.

If he doesn't make our 53 man roster, we don't carry any salary cap charge. If he makes the team, we're only responsible for his $1 million base salary this season, which is non-guaranteed.

After signing rookies, we will have $4-5 million in cap space. So if he beats out a Ryan Boschetti or an Alex Buzbee and makes the team, salary cap space will not be an issue.

So... what exactly is the downside here? Nothing. You either got yourself some DE depth with upside, or you say bye bye to him and you've still got the same personnel (and draft picks) you had yesterday.

Will it change our season, almost certainly not. But there's no downside at all.

Great post! Now everyone can calm down. Very good move by the FO IMO. The rewards totally outweighs the risk.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

Great post! Now everyone can calm down. Very good move by the FO IMO. The rewards totally outweighs the risk.

What changed your mind?

http://www.thewarpath.net/450221-post68.html

The "conditional" part?