Fixing the Secondary

[KI Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by whistler

Skins need to utilize the talent that they have:
cut/release: Merriweather
sign: FS
resign: Hall
Build with: Crawford, Amerson, Minnefield. Biggers, Thomas, Rambo

Improve the players that are here, give them an opportunity to get better, and put them in position to be good

Biggers has got to go. He is little more than a speed bump. I'm tired of DB's who can't tackle.

[Skins4L]

Nahhh Doughty people?? Lol let him walk. Its time. Do we wanna fix this or not??

Resign Hall, Meriweather.
Add Verner & Byrd... omg... we could rely on Kerrakpo to force qb mistakes and were dominant. Big Barry still fills our gap up the middle still. Let Riley do his thing. Ends would be our concern but theres some cheap options we could look at.

[NC_Skins]

Originally Posted by Skins4L

Nahhh Doughty people?? Lol let him walk. Its time. Do we wanna fix this or not??

Resign Hall, Meriweather.

Reed is a back up. Why do you guys keep referring to him as if we're talking about a starting position. I seriously doubt you'll find a better backup safety than RD.


Anybody who advocates re-signing BM should be laughed at.

[diehardskin2982]

I would like to keep Doughty for special teams and as a serviceable back up. We need a hard hitting strong safety and a knowledgeable ball hawking free safety.
I would not be opposed to signing a player like Ryan Clark to teach Phillip Thomas and Rambo the nuances of playing in the Steelers 3-4. That is the defense that our D is based on.

[KI Skins Fan]

I would go all out to sign Jairus Byrd. He is easily the best FS (and one of the best players) available in FA. Signing him would provide a huge upgrade to our secondary.

[Alvin Walton]

Originally Posted by NC_Skins

Reed is a back up. Why do you guys keep referring to him as if we're talking about a starting position. I seriously doubt you'll find a better backup safety than RD.


Anybody who advocates re-signing BM should be laughed at.

Exactly.....why would you want to release one of our best backups?
Hes also a class act, if his jersey ever goes on sale I'm grabbing one.

[diehardskin2982]

There is speculation that Byrd will be franchised again by the Bills. I do think he is one of the Redskins top 5 targets Free Agents not already on the team.

[SirLK26]

Originally Posted by KI Skins Fan

I would go all out to sign Jairus Byrd. He is easily the best FS (and one of the best players) available in FA. Signing him would provide a huge upgrade to our secondary.

There's a few problems with signing a big name FA like Bryd or Verner. If you sign one of those guys, plus resign Orakpo and Riley, that's a huge chunk of cap space gone. I'm no cap expert, but that would be well over half the available space. And you still have a lot of players to resign, and a lot of other units to upgrade. Now, I'm in favor of pursuing Verner, but I don't know how wise it would be.

The other thing is that in a few years we're going to need some cap space available to resign Griffin. We might not want to have multiple other huge contracts.

[Jayroc24]

Originally Posted by SirLK26

There's a few problems with signing a big name FA like Bryd or Verner. If you sign one of those guys, plus resign Orakpo and Riley, that's a huge chunk of cap space gone. I'm no cap expert, but that would be well over half the available space. And you still have a lot of players to resign, and a lot of other units to upgrade. Now, I'm in favor of pursuing Verner, but I don't know how wise it would be.

The other thing is that in a few years we're going to need some cap space available to resign Griffin. We might not want to have multiple other huge contracts.

I agree, while the secondary is a huge concern the primary focus has to be the o line. If we don't give RG3 some time we are only going to get worse.

[Jayroc24]

Originally Posted by SirLK26

There's a few problems with signing a big name FA like Bryd or Verner. If you sign one of those guys, plus resign Orakpo and Riley, that's a huge chunk of cap space gone. I'm no cap expert, but that would be well over half the available space. And you still have a lot of players to resign, and a lot of other units to upgrade. Now, I'm in favor of pursuing Verner, but I don't know how wise it would be.

The other thing is that in a few years we're going to need some cap space available to resign Griffin. We might not want to have multiple other huge contracts.

I agree, while the secondary is a huge concern the primary focus has to be the o line. If we don't give RG3 some time we are only going to get worse.

[Lotus]

Rather than signing Byrd, I'd rather sign TJ Ward and Mike Mitchell. Likely we could get both for the price of one Jairus Byrd. Then we have both two capable starting safeties and money left for other positions.

[SirLK26]

If I had a little more upstairs, or at least a little more cap-related knowledge, I would try to figure out just how many high-priced FAs we could sign.

Tandler had this to say in a January post: "The one "big name" the Redskins might sign is their own Brian Orakpo. With over a dozen holes to fill, there might not be any room for players like WR Eric Decker or S Jairus Byrd. The Redskins' situation is likely to push them in the direction of signing lesser-known players."

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by KI Skins Fan

I would go all out to sign Jairus Byrd. He is easily the best FS (and one of the best players) available in FA. Signing him would provide a huge upgrade to our secondary.

I would not sign Byrd. We have two guys that were drafted last year at the safety position. We have to give them a chance to develop. I would try and improve the pass rush so they don't have to cover as long.

[donofriose]

Originally Posted by SirLK26

If I had a little more upstairs, or at least a little more cap-related knowledge, I would try to figure out just how many high-priced FAs we could sign.

Tandler had this to say in a January post: "The one "big name" the Redskins might sign is their own Brian Orakpo. With over a dozen holes to fill, there might not be any room for players like WR Eric Decker or S Jairus Byrd. The Redskins' situation is likely to push them in the direction of signing lesser-known players."

So basically what Seattle has down the last 2 or three years. Would be nice to get value instead of names.

[KI Skins Fan]

Let me try to expalin why I'm so high on trying to sign Jairus Byrd. It's because I think that the thing we need most for our secondary is an inspirational veteran leader. The best spot for that leader to play is safety so he can see the entire field and "quarterback" the secondary.

OK, so now I need to explain what constitutes leadership on a football team, IMO. First of all, a team leader must be a very productive player. He must be able to make big plays at key moments in games. He must be a proven and respected player.

Secondly, he must be experienced so that he can recognize what's going to happen before it happens and help to position his teammates to make plays. He needs to be able to help his teammates become better players and so that they gain confidence in themselves and their teammates. Vocal encouragement is good too, but it is less important than production and experience as a leadership trait.

Jairus Byrd is far and away the best man for that job, IMO.

That said, even if the Redskins brain trust were to think the same way I do, Byrd may be Franchised or he may sign elsewhere. If that were to happen, my Plan B would be to move DHall to FS to fill the "quarterback" role. Hall has the traits I'm looking for in a leader but I would prefer him at CB. Nevertheless, if I couldn't get my first choice I'd move DHall to safety and then I would sign a solid veteran CB. I'm very comfortable that DHall could make that move and play well.

I would plan to go with Phillip Thomas at SS, David Amerson as a starting CB opposite the new veteran CB, and Richard Crawford as the third CB.

Any reserves in the secondary beyond those mentioned would need to be good on ST to make the roster.