Official Offseason thread.. Needs, Draft, FA, Etc...

[SkinsFan4Life71]

Well Clady played best in Shanahan's system and, correct me if I'm wrong, has given up more sacks every year without him. So I would assume he would be the one to move to RT by default but I don't think it would matter if we give him the money he wants.

Well that's not quite as simple as it sounds because there's a big difference between RT money and LT money. It often becomes an issue with players when their contracts are coming due and they get moved from LT to RT because the money is significantly less. I recall that that exact situation soured the relationship between Jared Gaither and the Ravens when his contract was coming up for extension and they had permanently moved him to LT from RT after Michael Oher had taken over his LT position at the end of the '09 season due to an injury to Gaither and played well. There were some lingering injury concerns with Gaither that also negatively contributed to trying to resign him, but I know the move to RT was a big issue because it meant his contract would be considerably less. Ironically, Oher struggled at LT as a starter and was moved back to RT.

So if another team is willing to pay Clady premium LT money, I think it would be hard for us to sign him for RT money unless he gives us a bit of a discount because he wants to reunite with Shanahan and doesn't like his other suitors much. But money talks and sometimes the extra zeros are hard to turn down.

We'd still have to probably overpay a bit for the the RT position, but I think it would still be worth it as long as it's not too outrageous. Having a high quality, young OL that can grow with RG3 would set us up beautifully to contend year in and year out.

[Shareeb_omac2]

Agreed.

[SkinsFan4Life71]

One positive I haven't really heard anyone say about what we gave up to get RG3 is that it will help us overcome our cap penalty. All of the discussion has always been focused on whether or not RG3 is going to prove himself to be worth giving up two additional 1st round picks and a 2nd round pick, but not having a 1st rounder the next two years also means not having to pay two 1st-round contracts.

The rookie wage scale minimizes that impact some, but it will still help our salary cap. Of course, if we go spending big in free agency to make up for the fact that we don't have those 1st round picks anymore, then all that goes out the window, but at least there's that possible silver lining. I just don't want the team to ever go back to that horrible formula of restructuring the contracts of older vets to make room for FA signings which then pretty much guarantees the players with the restructured contracts will remain on the team even when they're no longer a quality player because their restructured contract makes them too costly to cut because of cap acceleration. Thankfully, we're a very young team now so we're running out of old guys who can even have their contracts restructured anyway. ha

[IHateTheSkins]

Yeah, **** Cerrato.

[SkinsFan4Life71]

Man, this is a disconcerting stat:

The Redskins’ lineup is still in transition. The likelihood is that 19 of the 22 starters on offense and defense will be in either their first or second seasons in those roles with the team.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...X_story_1.html

It's hard to not get overly excited with RG3 in camp, but we'd be wise to temper our expectations. There are a LOT of new faces and faces in new places and it's going to take a while to come together.

[Hitman21]

this really doesnt worry me...yea we have alot of new faces, but how many of our starters besides RG3 are in their 1st year here:

Garcon
Merriweather
Jackson/Williams

Please excuse me if i forgot anyone.

The way i look at it, our rookies last season did that well without an actual offseason, so im not worried about them at all. Carriker, and Bowen did well without an offseason...Even tho everyone is really young, our overall depth is 10X better than it was at any point with cerrato in charge. At the Safety position, even tho our top 3 players are new, i think its still a more solid group than landry and atogwe, considering they couldnt stay on the field. Im not saying we are ready to make a superbowl run, but alot of people look at our team, and think we got a bunch young kids that arent ready, i look at our team, and for once, i see competition at every single position. I see young hungry players that are dying to crack the 53 man roster. For once i see everyone on this squad coming together, with no distractions. It seems like the unity amongst our players is on another level. I dont ever remember seeing this much depth with young players since snyder took over. I enjoy it, because my expectations arent as high for now, but i can see this team being something special in the next 3 years. Maybe im just being overly optimistic

[SkinsFan4Life71]

this really doesnt worry me...yea we have alot of new faces, but how many of our starters besides RG3 are in their 1st year here:

Garcon
Merriweather
Jackson/Williams

Please excuse me if i forgot anyone.

The way i look at it, our rookies last season did that well without an actual offseason, so im not worried about them at all. Carriker, and Bowen did well without an offseason...Even tho everyone is really young, our overall depth is 10X better than it was at any point with cerrato in charge. At the Safety position, even tho our top 3 players are new, i think its still a more solid group than landry and atogwe, considering they couldnt stay on the field. Im not saying we are ready to make a superbowl run, but alot of people look at our team, and think we got a bunch young kids that arent ready, i look at our team, and for once, i see competition at every single position. I see young hungry players that are dying to crack the 53 man roster. For once i see everyone on this squad coming together, with no distractions. It seems like the unity amongst our players is on another level. I dont ever remember seeing this much depth with young players since snyder took over. I enjoy it, because my expectations arent as high for now, but i can see this team being something special in the next 3 years. Maybe im just being overly optimistic

That's not overly optimistic. Understanding that we could take up a couple of years to hit our stride is realistic. Thinking we're going to contend for the division title this year, while not impossible, leans more to the unrealistic side.

The stat I quoted also includes guys that were here last year but didn't play much due to injury (Jenkins, Hankerson) as well as guys playing new positions, like Alexander moving to ILB, Moss moving to slot WR, DHall playing the slot instead of outside, and all the guys on the OL that are potentially getting shuffled around due to injuries to others. If Paul ends up starting over Cooley, you can add him to that list, too.

So we might have a lot more talent and depth than we've had in a loooooong time, but it often takes a while to come together when there are so many new pieces, whether they be new players or players playing a new position. It's especially true when we'll be facing teams that haven't undergone a lot of change and have managed to keep a solid corp of guys together. The good news, however, is that we're a young team with a solid defense, improving talent, and a franchise QB that can all grow together into something special.

[lajito64]

i like the WR core we have but if improvement can be made i'd love to see Bowe added. i know he's 29 and that isn't ideal. but i think he would be a nice addition. i'd love to see it happen. i couldn't imagine how explosive our offense would be with him and then having fred davis back. pretty hard for defenses to have to worry about the run, garcon and bowe and rg3. pretty nice imo.

[SoxFan101NlB]

lajito[/b]64;24795237]i like the wr core we have but if improvement can be made i'd love to see bowe added. I know he's 29 and that isn't ideal. But i think he would be a nice addition. I'd love to see it happen. I couldn't imagine how explosive our offense would be with him and then having fred davis back. Pretty hard for defenses to have to worry about the run, garcon and bowe and rg3. Pretty nice imo.

bo bo?....

[BullsFan_1]

We've beaten the eventual super bowl champ three consecutive years, and 4 times total over these past three years. :\

[InsaneBoost]

Yeah, by the reactions of some fans you'd think we'd get some sort of trophy for that.

[BullsFan_1]

Well why the **** don't we?

[InsaneBoost]

Well because John Mara hates us of course.

[jason17]

Defense should be all out in fa. we also need a big consistent physical WR like Bowe oe short gap in Boldin . We also need to re-sign Fred Davis and consider letting Dhall go to get more cap space . Alot of moves need to be made because the NFCE will be stronger no doubt.

[widow4523]

dont worry, we will be back in the super-bowl hunt... RG3 is the truth and he will be back 100%.. he said you can absolutely count on it...

imo, we get a good starting FS, and we will be a much better team... merriwether, orakpo, and carriker SHOULD be back to contribute which will help the defense significantly and take the pressure off the corners.