Casserly Keeping his options open

Like what?

I don't know, he's a lot more imaginative than I am.

I don't see the defense in need of a major overhaul. I'd call it a reloading if anything.

I don't know, he's a lot more imaginative than I am.

Listen - I am not trying to fight amongst all you guys in that we are all presumably diehard fans of the Redskins and want the team to win today and 5 years from now. I hope that I am totally wrong next year and the Skins run the table and Gibbs wins the executive of the year award.

I just get frustrated when these free agents come to Washington to collect the huge bonus paychecks and laugh all the way to the bank. Even though it is Synder's money and I could care less about Synder, I want players to come to Washington because it should be an honor to wear the burgundy and gold and because they want a chance to play for the chmapionship.

And we've talked about that term ad nauseum. Overpaying is a very relative term. If we paid Mark Brunell a million, billion, zillion dollars and we won the Super Bowl one year, I bet no one would be bitching about overpaying for free agents. Until we enter the ALWAYS upcoming cap-hell, no one has shown me that we've overpaid for anything. Sure, there are busts and gems along the way, but overpaying is way too relative to even factor it into the equation.

I'm not saying that we need a complete overhaul, as we do have talent and have made some good choices. Yes, this team could be a playoff contender in 2007.

Yes, I know the same things keep getting brought up and we're all tired of hearing it, but overpaying imo is not the best thing for team morale.

So let's step into the shoes of say, Sean Taylor. A "core" guy. You have been busting it here for three years or so and you are one of the top safeties in the league. You play every play like its your last risking injury on every play. A guy comes in (AA) and is paid alot more than you are when you've been here busting it. On top of that the guy isn't even on your level. It's only natural to feel a little cheap. I would. That's what i call overpaying. Guess what, Taylor at the very least will require more than AA. I don't mind overpaying a little for our guys.

Gibbs mentioned this when Smoot left saying that we couldn't pay him more than springs. I guess they changed their philosophy a little.

Maybe it doesn't matter to players on the field but it pays to keep your employees happy.

Since I had to leave the office for a while, I'll just respond in general to the others. Since hindsight is 20-20, can anyone say for sure that we'd be any worse for wear if we'd have RETAINED all those draft picks and/or money? It's not like there's been a year where we're like, "DAMMIT! If only we had the cap space to make that happen!!!" nor a year where we say, "Wow, if only we had that pick, we could have picked X player."

If we had a GM these previous years, we MIGHT not have Campbell, we'd either be dealing with Ramsey or some washed-up vet. There's a lot of choices and changes that would have been made. Would we even have selected Taylor in the draft?

Listen - I am not trying to fight amongst all you guys in that we are all presumably diehard fans of the Redskins and want the team to win today and 5 years from now. I hope that I am totally wrong next year and the Skins run the table and Gibbs wins the executive of the year award.

I just get frustrated when these free agents come to Washington to collect the huge bonus paychecks and laugh all the way to the bank. Even though it is Synder's money and I could care less about Synder, I want players to come to Washington because it should be an honor to wear the burgundy and gold and because they want a chance to play for the chmapionship.

Whoa, Bill! Keep it light. My intentions were for meant for humorous purposes only. Sorry for any misunderstandings.

If you're saying players are laughing all the way to the bank, the only one is AA. When Lloyd gets the ball thrown to him, he catches it 99% of the time.

If you're saying players are laughing all the way to the bank, the only one is AA. When Lloyd gets the ball thrown to him, he catches it 99% of the time.

I agree, i think LLoyd could be a monster in this offense (when given the chance).

Since I had to leave the office for a while, I'll just respond in general to the others. Since hindsight is 20-20, can anyone say for sure that we'd be any worse for wear if we'd have RETAINED all those draft picks and/or money? It's not like there's been a year where we're like, "DAMMIT! If only we had the cap space to make that happen!!!" nor a year where we say, "Wow, if only we had that pick, we could have picked X player."

If we had a GM these previous years, we MIGHT not have Campbell, we'd either be dealing with Ramsey or some washed-up vet. There's a lot of choices and changes that would have been made. Would we even have selected Taylor in the draft?


True points - all I am saying is if we kept those draft picks maybe at least some of them work out and what is nice is they come at a relatively cheap price compared to the major free agent.

You nailed it with the Sean Taylor comparison to AA - Sean is worth way more than AA, but the Redskins have Taylor locked up for a long time at a reasonable contract compared to AA because they were able to draft him as opposed to having to lure him with big money. This really is the case with lower round picks as they don't command huge signing bonuses. Plus if the Redskins are going to shell out major bucks for free agents doesn't it make more sense to keep your home grown talent who already are familar with your system than to bring in an outsider who will have to get adjusted (like Andre Carter or Brandon Llyod) and have to give up draft picks in the process?

With more draft picks you have a higher chance of getting some of them right because of you have more chips to play with.

Also signing cheaper rookie contracts compred to bring in expensive outside free agents allows your team to have the cap space to resign upcoming free agent players on your own team who are considered really good (i.e. Chris Cooley) plus you have space to sign valuable backups like a Todd Wade in case you get an injuries which almost every team in the NFL sustains.

I don't think you can chalk up the moves that were made to the "hindsight is 20/20" excuse. Many people around the league and fans at this website openly questioned the need for those moves. The skeptics were all right, and the kool-aid drinkers were all wrong -- just as they were about the preseason.

Look, the bottom line is that we are 21-25 since Gibbs came back with all the personnel decisions he's made. The same philosophy before Gibbs got here garnered the same results.

We know which strategy doesn't work. Why do we keep doing it?