34th Overall Pick

[SirLK26]

Originally Posted by EARTHQUAKE2689

We drafted Crawford, who I felt would work his way into the starting lineup this year before he got hurt, with him and Thomas coming back I think it gives our secondary a boost, but we still need a FS, we don't have one on the roster. Whether it be Byrd or Ward or whomever, we will have to add one this off-season. You can't expect to strike god with every draft pick. Seattle spent this last off season signing a good bit of DL and it has helped them.

I agree with this. The thing about FAs is: you know they can play professionally. Drafting is such a gamble because you don't know how their skills will translate to the NFL, but adding Ward or Byrd would immediately improve our secondary. If we spend a pick on a safety, we don't know how he'll turn out, and we might have blown a pick we could have used for OL, when we could have clearly upgraded our safety corps by turning to FA.

But if those two are asking for much more than 10 million, we need to find a cheaper option. We shouldn't spend a lot of money upgrading just because we can.

[DynamiteRave]

You can't expect low draft picks to come in and immediately make an impact. We struck gold with Alfmo, but how often does it happen you get a 6th or 7th round pick to come in and immediately be a starter? After a few years? Definitely a possibility, but you can't expect to sign everyone to itty bitty contracts and then hope your late round picks come through.

[REDSKINS4ever]

Originally Posted by DynamiteRave

You can't expect low draft picks to come in and immediately make an impact. We struck gold with Alfmo, but how often does it happen you get a 6th or 7th round pick to come in and immediately be a starter? After a few years? Definitely a possibility, but you can't expect to sign everyone to itty bitty contracts and then hope your late round picks come through.

It happens.....just look at Donald Driver and Shannon Sharpe......

[mooby]

Originally Posted by REDSKINS4ever

It happens.....just look at Donald Driver and Shannon Sharpe......

It does, but players like those are the exception, not the rule.

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by REDSKINS4ever

It happens.....just look at Donald Driver and Shannon Sharpe......

It could happen, its just more probable that it won't. I'm also not a huge fan of the "if it worked for so and so then there's no reason we can't be able to do it" mindset.

It's just smarter and less risky to do as even of a 50/50 split between drafted players and FAs. It's not a bad thing to lean more towards drafted players, but I don't know how some people think you can build a strong team almost 100% through drafted players. And lets face it, the Redskins don't exactly pick the best project players in the later rounds.

All the, draft draft draft people realize that from the 2009 and 2010 drafts, we only have 3 people still on this team from those drafts, Orakpo and Trent Williams and Perry Riley. Out of 12 picks... 3 people. Only in the last 3 drafts have we started holding onto our draft picks, even the ones that probably need to be cut (I'm looking at you, Niles Paul and Evan Royster).

What I'm getting at is if you want to draft, draft, draft, there's going to be a lot of players that don't stick and a few that do and if you're willing to wait 3-5 years then maybe you can blare "started from the bottom now we're here", otherwise I think you do have to supplement in free agency as well. Nobody said you need to sign an Eric Decker type to a 4 year 50 million dollar deal. But if you can find a splashy sign for a steal, definitely do it.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Originally Posted by DynamiteRave

You can't expect low draft picks to come in and immediately make an impact. We struck gold with Alfmo, but how often does it happen you get a 6th or 7th round pick to come in and immediately be a starter? After a few years? Definitely a possibility, but you can't expect to sign everyone to itty bitty contracts and then hope your late round picks come through.

Not only that, but injuries played a huge part in that. Wasn't Helu/Royster supposed to start? Both got hurt in camp and the rest is history.

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

I remember when people said that Pierre Garçon was overpaid at 5 years 42 million, now that looks like a steal.

For example Eric Weddle signed a 5 year 40 million dollar contract, if you think Byrd isnt Worth that then I cant help you, but unless you are the OKC Thunder you aren't gonna build an entire team through the draft only. Gotta sprinkle some FA in there with some key players.

[donofriose]

Originally Posted by EARTHQUAKE2689

I remember when people said that Pierre Garçon was overpaid at 5 years 42 million, now that looks like a steal.

For example Eric Weddle signed a 5 year 40 million dollar contract, if you think Byrd isnt Worth that then I cant help you, but unless you are the OKC Thunder you aren't gonna build an entire team through the draft only. Gotta sprinkle some FA in there with some key players.

You can use free agency, in fact I think you have to.
You just don't have to break the bank.
Good teams get the bargains and deals, like the Seahawks with Avril or Michael Bennett. Hell I would rather the Skins go the extreme route and only build through the draft like the Packers or Steelers, than break the bank on a single player.
Garcon isn't a steal at 42 million. He is getting paid exactly the amount he should be, if not being overpaid just due to position. Receivers are constantly overpaid anyway. Just my personal opinion.

Byrd is going to get Polamalu money. He just got paid around 10 mil this past year I believe. That is how much Byrd's annual salary will be. He's a great player, but in my opinion, he isn't worth that much.

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

Originally Posted by donofriose

You can use free agency, in fact I think you have to.
You just don't have to break the bank.
Good teams get the bargains and deals, like the Seahawks with Avril or Michael Bennett. Hell I would rather the Skins go the extreme route and only build through the draft like the Packers or Steelers, than break the bank on a single player.
Garcon isn't a steal at 42 million. He is getting paid exactly the amount he should be, if not being overpaid just due to position. Receivers are constantly overpaid anyway. Just my personal opinion.

Byrd is going to get Polamalu money. He just got paid around 10 mil this past year I believe. That is how much Byrd's annual salary will be. He's a great player, but in my opinion, he isn't worth that much.

How long has it been since we "broke the bank?" And you really dont think Byrd is Worth 5 years 40-45 million or so?

[TheMalcolmConnection]

QUAKE, I would have been in the same boat when that deal was made. I was like, "Oh yay, another Peyton Manning product." but straight up, the dude can ball.

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

QUAKE, I would have been in the same boat when that deal was made. I was like, "Oh yay, another Peyton Manning product." but straight up, the dude can ball.

Yeah he definitely is no Jabar Gaffney.

[skinsfaninok]

Originally Posted by EARTHQUAKE2689

How long has it been since we "broke the bank?" And you really dont think Byrd is Worth 5 years 40-45 million or so?

Is Byrd better than ward? I haven't seen enough of ward yet but after spending time in buffalo over the last month bills fans really aren't too high on him.

[skinsfaninok]

Ok after looking at stats yes Byrd is better and they are the same age and I believe both played at Oregon? That's pretty cool if so.. overall I go with Byrd he's a playmaker

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

They both played at Oregon. Byrd is the better player, he plays FS and Ward plays SS perdominately.

[Skinzman]

Just one thing to point out with all the FA talk. The new TV contracts go into affect this year. So next year, we will see the cap start rising due to those. These new TV contracts are a fair amount bigger than the last ones, so its not going to be a small rise. Granted, some of that money was pulled forward to keep the cap from going down the last couple of years, but its still expected to be a decent rise on the cap.

Every FA signed now, even if overpaid, has a very good chance of being on a "cheap" contract in 2 or 3 years due to the cap going up. Even the Mike Wallace deal might look ok in a few years instead of how horrible it looks now.

Salaries of players are about to jump. And it may be a pretty significant jump with the expected rise of the cap each year.

It could hurt this year, but be a bargain contract by year 3 or 4. This is what is so odd about this FA and the next few coming up. Dont be surprised to see a team throw 12-15 mil per year at Byrd hoping its not a bad contract down the road.