My offseason changes.

[Daseal]

Okay, it's late and I can't sleep, so I figure I'd share with you my goals for the offseason so you can think I'm crazy!

Resignings
First we'll go with the resignings. Our number one priority should be Fred Smoot. I'm a fan of Pierce, and I certainly want to retain him if at all possible. However, we have a very capable backup in Barrow, and even LeMarr Marshall could probably play MLB. Smoot on the other hand is an emotional leader who's improved every year. Should we give Smoot the money he wants, certainly not. We need to deal him down, but in my mind the #1 priority is Smoot.

That said Pierce is a close #2. He played great ball, but he also played in a scheme that would help him look good. Not to take anything away from him, he was a great signal caller and seeing him moving D-linemen pre-snap, etc made me giggle like a little school girl!

We have two other big priorities. Restructuring Samuels and Wynn. This will free up a lot of cash and I think both parties may be willing to. The WP rumored that Brunell may too, but I'm not holding my breath.

Resign:
Lott - great in coverage, good safety especially for all the nickle/dime packages we like to run, helps free up Taylor/Bowen/Springs to blitz.
Killings - Sign him to a league minimum. He made a few plays in either pre-season or early season that looks like enough to keep him around as a body. Don't give him much.
Clemons - Give him a moderate contract. Since we know he'll be a special teamer and stuck behind some other great LBs he could come in and play DE or something. With his combination of size and speed he could be very dangerous. I could see us losing him to another team, unfortunately.
Evans - Like Killings. He played a small role, although slightly larger than Killings. Keep him around, let's see what Blache can do with him!
Albright - You rarely hear his name called. For a longsnapper, that's VERY important!
Salave'a - KEEP HIM! He played great football and I really feel our DT position is very strong if we can keep Griffen on one side and a constant rotation of Salave'a and Noble on the other. I thought they played well taking turns!
Marshall - A guy that could start for a lot of teams. I like him a lot, and hope someone doesn't poach him. He's probably more fundamentally sound than Arrington, but a completely different player. As I said, I think he can play all 3 positions. Sign him to a reasonable contract!
Dennis - He made a few mistakes, but I think he could be good. Worth another 1 year contract. Could be a pretty good player!
Brown - For his age played amazing at tackle. Keep him around as a backup and a mentor. Doubt he'll ask for much dough.
Royal - Liked him since last year. Good hands, good speed, just needs to work on his blocking some. Another player that could potentially be poached from us. We'll see how that goes.
Warner - Again showed flashes. We'll take any prospect we can take along the D-line. Give him another 1 yearer.
Hasselbeck - Good backup. Nothing more. Don't give him a ton of cash, but enough for him to sit there and look pretty on the bench. Every now and again make Brunell bring him a cup of gatorade or something.
Franz - Played some really good ball. I like how our safeties are looking. If Bowen can blitz like he did the first week (not that well all the time) but somewhat consistantly, leave him around. Otherwise, he's too much of a liability in coverage.
Drop:
Kozlowski - Not impressive at all, in my mind. Getting old, dump him. Not even worth vet min.
Lemons - Played well enough, unfortunately he's at a position we're loaded at. His roster spot better used elsewhere.
Doering - Not opposed to a bare minimum deal, but I also think his spot could be better utilized.
Chandler - He kicked well and should be #1 on our to call list, but hall is much better when healthy.
Simon - Nothing special. Backup running back, special teams player. Spot better suited for a younger UDFA type.
Sellers - He'll get a personal foul on the way out of the park. He made some big plays, but too many stupid mistakes. As a fullback he's not so great. Let him walk.
Cartwright - I hate to say it cause I love the little guy. I'll never forget asking Cpayne who the midget wearing #40 was at training camp! He's simply not built for this offense. I hope he finds a home elsewhere, I'll always root for him!

Free Agency
Most of you have tuned out by now, or just forwarded to this part. Free Agency is the time when you love to be a Redskins fan. It's like Christmas in March. All sorts of new toys to speculate about, this year will be different.

*In my utopia we'd deal Gardner if we could get a 3rd for him, otherwise keep him around.
*Justin Hartwig should be the #1 guy we have Redskin 1 in the air after on midnight. He's a beast of a center, the Titans probably don't have the cash to retain him, but he will be highly sought after. Center is the piece of our offense most critical in becoming stable. We need a guy we can plug into that whole and get started immediatly. Rookies not only take longer for you to draft, they aren't as experienced.
*Look at the WRs, but no one in the draft or in free agency sparks my fancy. Moss would be nice, but not worth what we'd have to give up. Burress I feel will be a peerless Price in an offense where he'll be asked to step it up. BMW is too slow and has a tendency to get lazy and fat, Williamson may be our best bet, Edwards will be gone. Clayton may be a good pick later in the draft.
*Look at prospective blocking TEs. I want a guy who's an extention of the offensive line, but has really strong hands. Good for picking up a few yards, but not exactly the breakaway threat a Winslow/Gonzolaz is. He'd be more to sneak underneath. A guy who can release well and make the easy catch for those crucial 3rd downs. This position could be filled through the draft. Guy coming out of USC, not Byrd, could do the trick. Good 7th round pickup.
*Look for the Marcus Washington type players. Carefully comb the rosters of cap strapped teams, and look for hidden gems and rising stars. Take some chances, but keep the contracts relatively low. Never know what you'll find!

The Draft
This is a really hard area to address before the combine and before free agency/resignings. I'm going on the assumption we keep Smoot, Pierce, but trade Gardner. Round one I trade down between picks 11 and 15 for a 2nd round pick. I then look at the picks available. If BMW or Williamson still on the board, take a serious look, depending on any recent developments try to trade down again and grab one of them there, draft one, or sell the whole 1st rounder and wait till next year (what I'm favoring to an extent.)

Package our newly acquired 2nd pick and our 3rd round pick to move up and grab David Pollack - if he slips farther than I think, package another pick than the 3rd. Either way, I think he'll go early in the 2nd round. If not, take the most talent at DE with that pick.

The rest of the draft, get a TE I mentioned before if we don't get one in free agency, and the rest get projects. Get a guy with nothing but speed, try to teach him to catch a ball, maybe some DBs, DL, etc.

I know it's vague, but I have very little information to work with.

Other Changes!
We're almost done!!
*Hold on to Blache, don't let another team steal him. I think he's really done wonders with our D line and our defense as a whole. Williams is great, but so are his helpeers!
*Joe Gibbs - please stop handcuffing our offense. When you have a great defense like ours, a turnover won't kill you. Not scoring will. I understand the first year, but it's time to open that playbook past the preseason pages now. Let's see what you have and prove people wrong who say you've lost it. You certainly didn't have it last year, but that doesn't mean it's not still somewhere.
*Joe Bugel - I expected more of you, but thanks to Jansens injury you get a pass. This line was supposedly built for runblocking and thus far it hasn't done that great of a job. I feel safer passing!
*It's time for continuity. We're close. We're really close. We just need to put some more points up, not even a lot. 3 TDs a game take us to the playoffs.
*Thanks for the hard work. Losing is a lot harder than winning. The coaches and the players went to the last minute and it was great for us fans not to see them give up against Minnesota.

What do you guys think of my rant? Any ideas? Suggestions?

[huntz]

I wouldn't be able to sleep either if I had all this going through my mind.

[jermus22]

I like most of your points, although I think we would do well to keep Sellers and Cartwright. I agree that Sellers should cut down on penalties, but he's a tremendous wedge buster on special teams and a decent blocker at H-Back. Cartwright can also contribute on special teams, and I think he'd make a better goal line/short yardage back than Portis and Betts. Overall, I think you had some pretty good points.

[MTK]

Sellers might stick because of his special teams play, Cartwright isn't anything special IMO, I'd rather see Betts take on a bigger role at the goal line.

[celts32]

My only real objection is that I think Pierce is a bigger priority than Smoot as far as the resignings go. MLB is the QB of the defense and Pierce did a great job last year. We also can't count on Barrow ever playing again let alone being the starter for 16 games.

Samuels extension could very well be the biggest priority of the entire offseason since they won't be able to do much else if his cap number is not lowered.

[Gmanc711]

Originally Posted by celts32

My only real objection is that I think Pierce is a bigger priority than Smoot as far as the resignings go. MLB is the QB of the defense and Pierce did a great job last year. We also can't count on Barrow ever playing again let alone being the starter for 16 games.

Samuels extension could very well be the biggest priority of the entire offseason since they won't be able to do much else if his cap number is not lowered.

I agree 100% with you about Samuels, that contract could be the difference in our organazation as a whole over the next 2-3 years. His cap number can will be a huge difference when it comes to brining in some guys over the next couple years.

I'm 100% in favor of Peirce being back, and I think its important, but if he asks for too much money, I still think its the system rather than the players. If we have to have another guy step into MLB; and play with Washington and ARrington on the outsides, I'll still feel pretty good. However, I still think we need Peirce back, and i've heard the talks are going alright, so thats very good news.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Poor Cartwright, I'll miss that guy. He was like the Little Engine that Could.

[SkinsRock]

Comments on a few...
Smoot: I think most, if not all of us agree that we want him here. If you take away the money factor, he wants to be here and the Redskins want him here. But the issue is his price. If both sides are willing to comprimise, he will stay a Redskin, but if one side won't budge, he's gone.
Pierce: The most important FA to re-sign. He is an extention of Williams on the field. He may be a "system player", but he is in the perfect system for him, much like Trotter is back in Philly.
Albright: Most important unsung FA that needs to be be re-signed. When was the last time we had a bad snap on a punt or FG? If I remember, correctly, we haven't had one since he's been here. Gibbs will recognize his value.
Sellers: A great ST player, despite the penalties, and I'm sure Gibbs will take care of that. He's very good as a lead blocker and with his I'd be curious to see him as a short yardage/goal-line back out of the H-back spot when lined up more like a FB. Also, it is good to have one or two "thugs" on each side of the ball to intimidate the other team (something I heard Doc Walker talking about after a game this past season).
Cartright: Sorry to disappoint everyone in "the Rock Cartright fan club", but he just doesn't have the size to get much playing time in this system. As for using him in short yardage, he dropped about 20 lbs to be more of a RB, so I don't know if he would still have the power he had in the 2003 season....I've always liked him, but if he stays, it will be a minimum contract and he will be for nothing more than special teams and an emergency back-up RB.

[MTK]

I also agree that Pierce is priority #1 as far as our re-signings go. We already have a capable replacement with Harris for Smoot, but with Pierce there's not much behind him with Barrow's situation still up in the air.

[SmootSmack]

Who here would have honestly thought last August that there would even be a debate over whether Pierce or Smoot should be the number one priority? Way to go Antonio!

A few of us have said before that Smoot and/or Gardner reuniting with Marty in SD is a possibility. But what about Pierce?

[diehardskin2982]

Question could Barrow play some reps at D end? I always like rotating players it makes them last longer

As for draft day I would like to see us take Mike Williams, he has something special and with the right coaching (Art Monk hired as a assistant) he could be awesome. He is a TO, Plaxico type player. I rather see us on draft day take a guy like that, because I'd like to see him here longer than 2 years. Which usually happens with our free agents.

We also need the following;
Blocking TE
offensive Guard/ center
Pass rushing D end

Smoot needs to get his head out of the clouds and stay here where he fits. If he continues to act stupid, I 'd franchise, and trade him to the Chiefs for the great blocking TE Jason Dunn and a third round this year, plus hopefully a 1st round next year. As for his replacement, Woodson will be avialable, so will Rolle, Mario edwards or we can move up Harris to start.

Guys I'd like to see brought in would be John Abraham, David Givens, Charles Woodson, and Mike Alstot.Okay let me explain my madness. I' d only pay the price for Abraham, and Givens. John is a beast and would only better our defense. Givens would fit nicely in our wr rotation and bring a winning presence in the locker room. I think coles, Thrash
and Givens would be a great presence on how to be a great team player for Mike Williams and an awesome reciever with the killer work ethic. as for Woodson I'd only offer him the same thing we are offering Smoot if he didn't take it o well, I would just move up harris and try to sign mario edwards to a vet min then wait for the next years draft to take a cb. Mike Alstot I'd would like to give the Jerome Bettis treatment meaning bring him here for cheap and ask him to play in on goal line situations. If its would out he could be a facter as the season draws longer and prove to be a gem.

I'd get rid of all the guys u stated plus McCants and Wynn 'they are the weakest links, goodbye'. Restructure Samuels and Brunnel and there u have it anwsome team. O yeah also Franz, we have to make roster numbers and with Bowen back he won't fit in.

[Daseal]

It would cost us 8.8M to franchise Smoot... so in short, ain't happening.

As far as Alstott he's way too injured for my like. His career is done and we can get a more versatile and reliable fullback than Alstott.

Abraham would be great, but I don't know if our cap can support him. Givens has bust written all over him, imo. Woodson is okay, but not as good as smoot.

I think McCants and Wynn are both very good players. McCants is in Gibbs doghouse. I hate to see us pay a player 2mil so he can not dress out for a majority of the games... As far as Wynn, has he ever had a BAD year? He's been a solid player his whole career, and he continues that here. For him to stick around, we need him to restructure too. I can see guys on the defensive side of the ball being more willing to restructure than guys on the offensive side. The defensive side of the ball gets a lot of credit and helps their careers out!

[diehardskin2982]

I wouldn't want to make givens a #1 threat we have one in Coles he would play a similar role that he did in New England #3 in rotation with Jacobs, and Thrash. Mike Williams would be drafted to play the #2 Wr.

We wouldn't pay the 8.8 mil if he were to be traded away to the chiefs, I don't think we paid the cost for Bailey after we traded him did we? Wynn cost like 20 mil in his contract and he not a playmaker just solid. McCants is done here we might as well send somewhere so he can get pt and we get some trade value. Mike Alstot wouldn't play full back anymore he would be a short yardage goal line player although he's been hurt he would be used as much, just to be a threat with the redzone. he still hard to bring down ya know.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Daseal:

Hope you got some sleep after all that...


I think a lot more of Evans than you do. I thought he was very good until he got hurt. He might require a bit more than the minimun to re-sign and I think he's worth it.

I think less of Royal than you do. I think the Redskins can find a player like Royal on the "cut lists" anytime after 15 August. Even so, they do need depth at TE and he ought ot know the offense by now so I'd keep him around for a tiny contract that had team incentives in it.

I have a hunch that other teams noticed Salave'a take a huge stpe forward in productivity and I suspect that he will get offers that will make him a lot more expensive next year than this year. I want the Skins to keep him as much as you do, but he isn't coming for a minimum number any more!

And you are on target in free agency with the idea that center is the top priority. The interior of the OL was "terrible" under Spurrier/Helton and advanced all the way up to "miserable" under Gibbs/Bugel. The issue is not the coaching; it's the talent.



diehardskin2982:

Barrow will be lucky to play anywhere next year. And if he can play, the last thing I'd want to try to do is to teach a guy who has been playing ILB/MLB in the league for about ten years a new position.

[diehardskin2982]

true sports crum, somewhat... but how can we use him effectively, right now he's a waste of money