MTK
02-26-2007, 12:50 PM
The latest from Trevor Walters:
2007 Redskins Off-Season Outlook – Internal Affairs
With the unexpectedly miserable 2006-07 season thankfully now just a painful memory, the Redskins join the other 31 NFL teams as they transition into the business season. This is the birthplace of the hope that springs eternal each fall, and also the time of year that signals the onslaught of jokes about how Washington seems to create the most such hope with their overly aggressive approach to player acquisition. As true as this may be, considering the abundance of salary cap room that exists in most NFL cities and the relative paucity of space under the Redskins’ cap will most likely cause Washington to be uncharacteristically reserved with respect to pitching woo to potential free agents.
The first step in this or any off-season plan is to address the in-house issues. By resigning stalwart right tackle Jon Jansen, the Redskins have made strides to do just that. As the longest tenured Redskin, Jansen is not only a staple of the Washington locker room, but also a key ingredient to an offensive line that was one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise dim season. The deal is both advantageous for the player as well as the team, both on the field an off with respect to the salary cap.
Resigning Jansen made good sense from a number of different aspects, but reaching a similar accord with his fellow lineman Derrick Dockery would be arguably just as important. Dockery is coming off of his best season as a pro (take with a grain of salt), and has demonstrated an impressive durability since taking over for an injured Dave Fiore as a rookie in 2003. Dockery has had his struggles to be sure and has appeared at times to lack a focus and concentration to match his obvious physical tools. However, given his improvement, his youth, and the cohesive unit that the line has become, resigning Dockery is a move that should be made.
Dockery also has an intangible value to the Redskins given that the club drafted him with their third round selection (#81 overall) in the 2003 draft. As one of a relative few original Redskin draftees on the roster, bringing the former Texas Longhorn back would also signal a renewed commitment to the core group of Redskins to which Joe Gibbs is constantly referring. Keeping in mind that a potential return would also further the cohesive spirit that the offensive line has fostered, resigning Dockery should be a priority, even though his performance hasn’t always been as consistent as one might like.
Should Dockery hit the market, recent history suggests that he may be gone for good. The biggest mistake Washington can make here is to let him test the free agency waters, agree to terms with another team, and then replace him with someone of equal or lesser talent. If his replacement were to be someone of equal ability, then his market value would logically be similar. In that case, then why not just bring Dockery back and have the added benefit of his having played with the team for all of his four NFL seasons? Other potential candidates that would be an upgrade over Dockery, such as Cincinnati’s Eric Steinbach or the Chargers’ Kris Dielman, would come with a corresponding increase in price that Washington’s cap constraints may not withstand.
Aside from Dockery, the Redskins do have the benefit of not having other critical free agents to address. Vernon Fox, who provided solid depth as a reserve safety, will likely hit the market but may return at a reasonable rate if for no other reason than a lack of demand for his services, as could offensive lineman Mike Pucillo. Tight End Todd Yoder, recipient of Jason Campbell’s first NFL touchdown pass, may be back given the wasteland that exists behind Chris Cooley on the depth chart.
Were Redskins fans in need of reasons for optimism, the simple fact that Kenny Wright and Warrick Holdman will not be back should at least spark the flames of hope. Wright, who checked receivers with the same tenacity as CBS checks facts, looked lost from day one in Washington and proved to be the weakest spot in a very puny defensive secondary. Holdman, on the other hand, chose the missed tackle as his means of contributing to the laughable state of the Redskins’ defensive affairs in 2006. Both could be replaced by a bag of toilet seats without so much as a whisper of decreased production, so Washington can go nowhere but up with their replacements.
But even Holdman and Wright look like Pro-Bowlers (not the Tony Romo kind, the deserving kind) compared to the trio of future former Redskins John Hall, David Patten, and Christian Fauria. Hall, who never met a quad he couldn’t pull, will save the Redskins just shy of $2 million when he is released sometime before next weekend. Patten has been the latest in an unfortunately long line of Redskins free agent busts, drawing only the occasional key pass interference as his means of pitching in. When not drawing costly penalties, Christian Fauria spent his year in D.C. injured, so the biggest impact he’ll have for the Redskins is the slightly more than $1 million in cap space his release will bring.
But it is the latest poster boy for Redskin opulence that remains the 500 lbs. gorilla in the room. Starting strong safety turned special teams staple Adam Archuleta will be a cap albatross for the foreseeable future. Having a relatively minimal cap figure in the $1 million neighborhood for the upcoming season, releasing Archuleta without some LaVar Arrington-esque type of bonus payback would hurt more than it would help. Archuleta is a problem that will have to be dealt with in subsequent off-seasons as is evident by the recent news that he will still be in the Burgundy and Gold in 2007.
Some of the most difficult decisions teams face in today’s NFL is whether or not to cut a veteran player whose cap figure has become more cumbersome than his on-field production can justify. Troy Vincent was the first to feel the cold blade of the salary cap’s ax when his three-year contract was terminated in order to generate more than $1 million in new cap space. Vincent, the president of the NFLPA, may head the player’s union, but his Redskin teammates Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn occupy the primary leadership roles among Redskins players. This may not spare Wynn and Daniels the same fate as was dealt to Vincent, however, due to the high cap number that both veteran defensive linemen carry.
So what exactly is the value of leadership in the sense that Wynn and Daniels provide it? In a perfect world, both men would stay on to promote a sense of harmony from within. Also, in a perfect world, whining and complaining for over a decade (Harry Carson) or having a criminal record that’s almost as large as his tie knot (Michael Irvin) wouldn’t get you into the Hall of Fame, whereas retiring as the NFL’s all-time leader in receptions (940, or 190 more than Irvin) would. But this isn’t a perfect world, and I digress.
A case can be made for Daniels that, as a starter, he still contributes on a regular basis, even if it is just to make sure the trainers stay busy. Wynn, on the other hand, was a sporadic reserve, whose 14 tackles could easily be replaced by someone much more economically feasible. Cutting Wynn and just restructuring with Daniels could save the Redskins nearly $6 million on this year’s cap. Couple this with reworked deals for veterans Shawn Springs and Mark Brunell and the cap savings climbs even further.
No matter how much smoke and mirror arithmetic the Redskins employ, they are still going to have to be uncharacteristically prudent with their free agency plans. Next week, we’ll delve into the Redskins free agency outlook, including my plan for action.
Check back for your Redskins football fix. Hail to the Redskins!
2007 Redskins Off-Season Outlook – Internal Affairs
With the unexpectedly miserable 2006-07 season thankfully now just a painful memory, the Redskins join the other 31 NFL teams as they transition into the business season. This is the birthplace of the hope that springs eternal each fall, and also the time of year that signals the onslaught of jokes about how Washington seems to create the most such hope with their overly aggressive approach to player acquisition. As true as this may be, considering the abundance of salary cap room that exists in most NFL cities and the relative paucity of space under the Redskins’ cap will most likely cause Washington to be uncharacteristically reserved with respect to pitching woo to potential free agents.
The first step in this or any off-season plan is to address the in-house issues. By resigning stalwart right tackle Jon Jansen, the Redskins have made strides to do just that. As the longest tenured Redskin, Jansen is not only a staple of the Washington locker room, but also a key ingredient to an offensive line that was one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise dim season. The deal is both advantageous for the player as well as the team, both on the field an off with respect to the salary cap.
Resigning Jansen made good sense from a number of different aspects, but reaching a similar accord with his fellow lineman Derrick Dockery would be arguably just as important. Dockery is coming off of his best season as a pro (take with a grain of salt), and has demonstrated an impressive durability since taking over for an injured Dave Fiore as a rookie in 2003. Dockery has had his struggles to be sure and has appeared at times to lack a focus and concentration to match his obvious physical tools. However, given his improvement, his youth, and the cohesive unit that the line has become, resigning Dockery is a move that should be made.
Dockery also has an intangible value to the Redskins given that the club drafted him with their third round selection (#81 overall) in the 2003 draft. As one of a relative few original Redskin draftees on the roster, bringing the former Texas Longhorn back would also signal a renewed commitment to the core group of Redskins to which Joe Gibbs is constantly referring. Keeping in mind that a potential return would also further the cohesive spirit that the offensive line has fostered, resigning Dockery should be a priority, even though his performance hasn’t always been as consistent as one might like.
Should Dockery hit the market, recent history suggests that he may be gone for good. The biggest mistake Washington can make here is to let him test the free agency waters, agree to terms with another team, and then replace him with someone of equal or lesser talent. If his replacement were to be someone of equal ability, then his market value would logically be similar. In that case, then why not just bring Dockery back and have the added benefit of his having played with the team for all of his four NFL seasons? Other potential candidates that would be an upgrade over Dockery, such as Cincinnati’s Eric Steinbach or the Chargers’ Kris Dielman, would come with a corresponding increase in price that Washington’s cap constraints may not withstand.
Aside from Dockery, the Redskins do have the benefit of not having other critical free agents to address. Vernon Fox, who provided solid depth as a reserve safety, will likely hit the market but may return at a reasonable rate if for no other reason than a lack of demand for his services, as could offensive lineman Mike Pucillo. Tight End Todd Yoder, recipient of Jason Campbell’s first NFL touchdown pass, may be back given the wasteland that exists behind Chris Cooley on the depth chart.
Were Redskins fans in need of reasons for optimism, the simple fact that Kenny Wright and Warrick Holdman will not be back should at least spark the flames of hope. Wright, who checked receivers with the same tenacity as CBS checks facts, looked lost from day one in Washington and proved to be the weakest spot in a very puny defensive secondary. Holdman, on the other hand, chose the missed tackle as his means of contributing to the laughable state of the Redskins’ defensive affairs in 2006. Both could be replaced by a bag of toilet seats without so much as a whisper of decreased production, so Washington can go nowhere but up with their replacements.
But even Holdman and Wright look like Pro-Bowlers (not the Tony Romo kind, the deserving kind) compared to the trio of future former Redskins John Hall, David Patten, and Christian Fauria. Hall, who never met a quad he couldn’t pull, will save the Redskins just shy of $2 million when he is released sometime before next weekend. Patten has been the latest in an unfortunately long line of Redskins free agent busts, drawing only the occasional key pass interference as his means of pitching in. When not drawing costly penalties, Christian Fauria spent his year in D.C. injured, so the biggest impact he’ll have for the Redskins is the slightly more than $1 million in cap space his release will bring.
But it is the latest poster boy for Redskin opulence that remains the 500 lbs. gorilla in the room. Starting strong safety turned special teams staple Adam Archuleta will be a cap albatross for the foreseeable future. Having a relatively minimal cap figure in the $1 million neighborhood for the upcoming season, releasing Archuleta without some LaVar Arrington-esque type of bonus payback would hurt more than it would help. Archuleta is a problem that will have to be dealt with in subsequent off-seasons as is evident by the recent news that he will still be in the Burgundy and Gold in 2007.
Some of the most difficult decisions teams face in today’s NFL is whether or not to cut a veteran player whose cap figure has become more cumbersome than his on-field production can justify. Troy Vincent was the first to feel the cold blade of the salary cap’s ax when his three-year contract was terminated in order to generate more than $1 million in new cap space. Vincent, the president of the NFLPA, may head the player’s union, but his Redskin teammates Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn occupy the primary leadership roles among Redskins players. This may not spare Wynn and Daniels the same fate as was dealt to Vincent, however, due to the high cap number that both veteran defensive linemen carry.
So what exactly is the value of leadership in the sense that Wynn and Daniels provide it? In a perfect world, both men would stay on to promote a sense of harmony from within. Also, in a perfect world, whining and complaining for over a decade (Harry Carson) or having a criminal record that’s almost as large as his tie knot (Michael Irvin) wouldn’t get you into the Hall of Fame, whereas retiring as the NFL’s all-time leader in receptions (940, or 190 more than Irvin) would. But this isn’t a perfect world, and I digress.
A case can be made for Daniels that, as a starter, he still contributes on a regular basis, even if it is just to make sure the trainers stay busy. Wynn, on the other hand, was a sporadic reserve, whose 14 tackles could easily be replaced by someone much more economically feasible. Cutting Wynn and just restructuring with Daniels could save the Redskins nearly $6 million on this year’s cap. Couple this with reworked deals for veterans Shawn Springs and Mark Brunell and the cap savings climbs even further.
No matter how much smoke and mirror arithmetic the Redskins employ, they are still going to have to be uncharacteristically prudent with their free agency plans. Next week, we’ll delve into the Redskins free agency outlook, including my plan for action.
Check back for your Redskins football fix. Hail to the Redskins!