Insider info on Smoot from ESPN

[BangCartoon]

Who cares if a player plays for money.
Is anyone under the illusion that he'd somehow play less hard because he got paid?
Stupidest thing I ever heard,, somehow he's less motivated because a team coughed up the cash for him?
Someone should clue Don Banks in as to what a 'professional" is.



~Bang

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Right. Does he think he's going to get paid AGAIN if he decides to slack off? I would think not.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Not only that, teams can cut them without any guaranteed money besides the signing bonus. If you screw around, you get cut, no more money, game over.

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by irish

The Redskins are the ultimate "team in Transition" team. They are always in transition so if being on a transition team bothers Smoot he's really in trouble here. Anything having to do with Smoot's stats on theSkins was 3 seasons ago which is a lifetime in the NFL. They are essentially meaningless. God Bless You if you believe the coming home stuff, I'm not as easily fooled. I heard a lot about how Smoot could have gotten a lot of other higher offers (mostly from the Skins & Smoot) but never actually saw one of these offers. I dont think Smoot was the hot FA most in Redskins land want to think he was.

Yes. They are always team transition. - Oh except that its the same D-coordinator as when he left, and, oh yeah, the head coach is the same too.
They play the same defense, and, let's see, M. Washington, Shawn Taylor, C. Griffin - he played with several of the same starters.

As for not hearing of any other offers - we'll get the memo circulated that offers must first be submitted to Offiss for proper scrutiny.

[holmester]

Fred Smoot
When I first heard cornerback Fred Smoot was signing with Washington, I thought this might be another instance of the Redskins' front office overpaying for a player whose performance levels don't match his reputation.

For more see espn.com

[RMSkins]

Smoot is definitely not a #1 CB, but he is a great #2 or #3, therefore I think Smoot will do fine in his second stint as a Redskin.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by GiantsSuck703

Springs is done in my opinion. I think hes only going to get worse and worse, his health is really going downhill and his skills are dimishing rapidly. We need to get rid of him as soon as possible before other teams that are offering draft picks for him figure this out also.

Dang man from what you said he will be dead in a week or two.

[stu_nna]

Originally Posted by irish

I couldnt agree more. Bly has like 10 years in the league and is looking for the Redskins to give him a comfortable retirement.

The Smoot signing was terrible. His best days are behind him and like someone else said he had Champ playing with him and covering the opposition's best WR. Smoot went to MN as THE MAN and ended up losing his job. Smoot was NFL trash blowing down the street and for some reason the Skins could not resist picking it up.

NFL trash?? that's utterly ludicrous, this guy had more INT's for us than any of last years starters. Also, since when does a 27 yr old corner have his best days behind him? Minnesota misused Smoot. How else can u explain the drop off in play from when he was here to when he was a Viking. The man played with heart when he was here. He didn't even cost us a bundle! Are u saying that u would rather have Kenny Wright?? With a 23rd ranked passing defense, we did the right thing. Enough tearing the team down for the smart moves we make. Smoot was the second best corner available.

[RobH4413]

Originally Posted by stu_nna

NFL trash?? that's utterly ludicrous, this guy had more INT's for us than any of last years starters. Also, since when does a 27 yr old corner have his best days behind him? Minnesota misused Smoot. How else can u explain the drop off in play from when he was here to when he was a Viking. The man played with heart when he was here. He didn't even cost us a bundle! Are u saying that u would rather have Kenny Wright?? With a 23rd ranked passing defense, we did the right thing. Enough tearing the team down for the smart moves we make. Smoot was the second best corner available.

nice post, welcome to the board.

[offiss]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Yes. They are always team transition. - Oh except that its the same D-coordinator as when he left, and, oh yeah, the head coach is the same too.
They play the same defense, and, let's see, M. Washington, Shawn Taylor, C. Griffin - he played with several of the same starters.

As for not hearing of any other offers - we'll get the memo circulated that offers must first be submitted to Offiss for proper scrutiny.

A lot of guy's get mad because some of us seem to be knocking the Skins the majority of the time, I know it's more fun to root for your team than slam it, but the fact is the knocks are not unwarrented, the Skins constantly screw up thats why we are the laughing stock amoungst the NFL, so to point that out doesn't mean we are mean individuals, it just means we are pointing out our usual screw up with personel and venting our frustration. I personally don't have a prob with the Smoot signing, he's not a #1 CB but he's not paid like one either. The fact is management has not shown the ability to learn from thier mistakes, although I will give them big up's for not resigning Dock who was a big waste of space, a poor man's Big Daddy on the offensive side of the ball. I have alway's liked Fletcher but not at 10 and a half mil up front and at 32, all because we threw away our draft picks, Skins management doesn't believe you can find serious talent in the draft and look to short cut it with sub par talent with big price tags waving the proverbial flag of they have experience. Sorry but we could have built a perenial SB contender with the amount of talent we have passed up in the draft either through lowsey picks or trading away picks that could have brought back big time talent in the draft, and there doesn't seem to be an end!

[MTK]

I think this offseason so far has shown the front office is learning from past mistakes. It certainly hasn't been a typical Redskins offseason that's for sure.

[SkinEmAll]

I agree matty. This year is actually quite refreshing. I like everything we have done so far. I like the approach and effort from the front office to not screw up. I too believe they have learned valueable lessons from past mistakes and are willing to be patient and selective. I have to be honest though, I can see how people outside redskin nation have viewed us in the past, as I sit and watch all these other teams throw BIG money at undeserving players.

[70Chip]

Originally Posted by SkinEmAll

I agree matty. This year is actually quite refreshing. I like everything we have done so far. I like the approach and effort from the front office to not screw up. I too believe they have learned valueable lessons from past mistakes and are willing to be patient and selective. I have to be honest though, I can see how people outside redskin nation have viewed us in the past, as I sit and watch all these other teams throw BIG money at undeserving players.

I don't lose any more sleep over what non-Redskins fans think of the Redskins than I do over what other countries think of the United States. Who cares what ESPN or France think? Certainly not me.

There is only one team that had a successful season last year and that was the Colts. Do you think Chargers fans feel like they accomplished anything? Or Patriots fans? The Philadelphia Eagles, who are treated in the press like the Yankees of the 1950s, have never won a Super Bowl. At the end of the day (and this is just me) the Eagles have been no more successful than the Skins over the last ten years because they haven't won anything.

Also, there are certain things you have to do well to win it all and on some of those things, the Redskins are miles ahead of teams that had better records last year or went to the playoffs. If we keep our heads in the draft and don't have any big injuries, I believe we will be a threat.

All of that to say I agree that we have been smarter this off-season, so far. If Ladell Betts ends up somewhere else, we'll be right back to square one.

This Shanahan fellow worries me. I'm not convinced a blockbuster deal would serve us that well. I think we can pick up draft picks without taking on Bly. I would prefer to pacify Springs and have him instead. If he's healthy, he's a great football player. Denver always seems to bleed that extra concession from us. They always get the extra little perk that swings the deal in their favor.

[Daseal]

I don't lose any more sleep over what non-Redskins fans think of the Redskins than I do over what other countries think of the United States. Who cares what ESPN or France think?

I find this a difficult stance to defend in the sports arena and most definitely in the political arena. You want to make yourself look like a place people want to go. Not just for the huge amounts of cash but for winning. A lot of that is portraying the image of a stable team with a good coaching staff and a chance to always be competing in the playoffs. Since we don't have any of the above, we substitute loads of money to attract free agents. Oh, and last I checked. France was right.

[70Chip]

Originally Posted by Daseal

I find this a difficult stance to defend in the sports arena and most definitely in the political arena. You want to make yourself look like a place people want to go. Not just for the huge amounts of cash but for winning. A lot of that is portraying the image of a stable team with a good coaching staff and a chance to always be competing in the playoffs. Since we don't have any of the above, we substitute loads of money to attract free agents. Oh, and last I checked. France was right.

Yet people flock here and not to France. But politics aside, losing in the playoffs every year is not winning. The Broncos were no more winners last year than we were. The point is we are making a move away from the marketing approach to a more sound football approach, I think. The draft will tell us more. At any rate, no matter what we do ESPN and the fans of other teams will see us how they see us. I don't care. We know from the Art Monk thing that their opinions can be quite absurd. I think the caricature of the Redskins is overdone and it grieves me that some fans have bought into it. It's masochistic self-loathing. But there seems to be a good deal of that abroad in the land.