Assuming he is injury free how long will Brunell play here

Personally, I don't think Brunell should even start this season. He doesn't have it anymore. Patrick Ramsey is the better quarterback right now and he's the future of the team. I believe the signing of Brunell was totally unnecessary and a total waste of money. He will probably start and see some success this year, but I hope not. I almost hope that if Patrick Ramsey isn't the starter they don't play that well. I'm not a fan of Mark Brunell and I don't think he can start in this league anymore, especially not in front of Patrick Ramsey. This is a stupid move, you don't see David Carr or Joey Harrington being benched, do you? No and he's better than both of them. W/E I just hope Pat beats him out this year.

I'm with jdlea. I think we need to let our young guys get experience. That's like saying we should have Trung Candidate start over Portis, because Trung has more experience.

Here's a look at Brunell's cap hits and "release fees" over the length of his contract. The release fee is the amount of prorated signing bonus remaining at the time.

So for instance, in 2008 the Skins can keep Brunell for a cap hit of $7.833M, or dump him and take a cap hit of $2.867M.

Of course the release fee changes if the player is cut/traded after June 1st, but for simplicity's sake let's assume Brunell would be cut/traded prior to June 1st. Also, I'm obviously assuming Brunell does not rework his contract.

Cap Hit Release Fee
2004 $2,193 $8,600
2005 $3,433 $7,167
2006 $5,433 $5,733
2007 $6,633 $4,300
2008 $7,833 $2,867
2009 $9,033 $1,433
2010 $8,800 $0

Based on the above I would think Brunell is here thru 2006, gone in 2008, with 2007 being a "decision year" based on his play and the team's situation.
Great work, Canuck!

Looks like you're right about 2007 being the decisive year in Brunell's contract. It seems like Brunell's contract was designed like that specifically because Ramsey's current contract expires after 2006. At that point, if Ramsey hasn't proven himself to Gibbs, the Redskins will likely have begun grooming another young QB behind him, and they could let Ramsey leave, keep Brunell on for 2007 (assuming he's still playing well), while preparing the other young QB to step in for 2008 and beyond.

On the other hand, if Gibbs feels comfortable with Ramsey after 2006, they would release Brunell, re-sign Ramsey to a long-term, starting QB contract, and go from there.

It looks to me like Ramsey is going to push Brunell extremely hard for the starting job this year, and it's possible Ramsey will get some significant playing time this year-- probably due to a Brunell injury. I do believe that Brunell was brought in here to start this season, and possibly next season, but that Gibbs anticipates that Ramsey will start within the next two years.

If Ramsey is the quarterback most of us believe he is, Brunell will be leaving after 2006, at which point his "release fee" will be less than what his cap hit would be if he were still on the roster. I think he'll probably be a post-June 1st cap cut in 2007, which will spread out his "release fee" even more.

I agree, Crisp and Canuck (and again, great cap work, Canuck!).

Of course, it's possible that Brunell can restructure, depending on how things are going. But that 2007 contract is too big for a vet backup.

Snyder basically doesnt give contract, he gives signing bonuses with minimum payments. The players get all their money up front and are happy, then he pays them the minimum then cuts them or makes them resign. It will be a big statement if he pays Samuels all the money this year.