Missing Champ Bailey...

You know, after reading the Post article on Champ in Denver, I can't help but feel a little anxious about how our pass defense will be this year. What kind of dropoff will we see with Springs? Rationally, even the most confident among us here at the Warpath must admit that Springs is at the very least, a significant downgrade. The Post has poll about which former Redskin would you like to see back, no questions asked. Bailey is by far the vote leader.

But reading that article, I thought to myself, "a 14.75 million dollar bonus?" What is so 'below market value' about that? Was that offer not the highest in the league for a cornerback? Now, I realize that there were stipulations and performance based options that reduced the guaranteed amount -- then I thought, why didn't we just offer as much as he wanted?

I just don't know. Every now and then, I feel like later on during the season, if the worst thing imaginable happens and either Smoot or Springs goes down to injury, we and the organization will be really kicking ourselves for not sucking it up to do everything possible to re-sign the unquestioned best cornerback in the league.

There's a small, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach about Champ Bailey no longer in a Redskin uniform. Can someone out there ease my feelings? I'd really appreciate it.

i can only make you feel worse. because our defensive line will give QBs even more time to place their passes this year. passes even Champ couldnt defend. its a serious concern.

Bailey is a great corner, no doubts about it. But I think he's being a little disingenuous when he says that he never wanted to go anywhere else. I think the fact that his agent never came up with a counter proposal showed that they wanted to test the free agent market. So in that regard they forced the Redskins hands. But I can't fault him for going out and getting as much bonus money as he can, that's his right. Guess that's the first guy that Snyder got outbidded for, although I'm positive that if Snyder really wanted to keep Bailey he would be here.

Smoot and Springs aren't Bailey, but Springs is a top-tier corner when he's healthy and he's healthy right now. There is a drop off, but Springs has had some success and really thrived before Holmgren came aboard and changed the tone of that defense. Cornerback is still a position of strength for us, and the back seven is actually better this year than they were a year ago. Sean Taylor is a serious upgrade at free safety, especially considering Bowen was basically playing out of position lately. Add in our starter last year is now a backup and you get instant depth at safety, another plus.

There's no doubt that I'm going to miss Bailey and I think he made some good points about the Front Office. In particular the statement he made about not being one of "their" guys. There's no doubt in my mind that our FO has placed a higher level of importance on acquiring free agents rather than keeping and cultivating the guys we've drafted. Some mistakes have been made, hopefully with Gibbs in charge fewer guys will be allowed to slip through the cracks, not just guys like Brad Johnson and Stephen Davis, but Kenard Lang, Shawn Barber, Derrick Smith, N.D. Kalu and other solid but not quite spectacular performers. I really think Gibbs is moving in that direction, establishing an identity for us again, giving these guys a reason to be proud of the team and really wanting to belong.

I never cease to be amazed at the amount of nervousness and negativism I see on this site. C'mon, guys!!! Springs is not a STIFF. We have DRAMATICALLY improved our LB corps. and safety position. The DL is marginally better, but still needs one good pass rusher. And that is not even touching on the HUGELY most important improvement. Defensive coaching can make much more difference to the performance of defense than ANY other factor. You guys should realize that if ANY NFL fans should. Look back at the dramatic ups and downs of our defense as Rhodes and Schott came and went. We now have a D/C that is as good as Rhodes. Stop worrying and join the excitement!! Get on the bandwagon early!!

Oh, yeah. And remember. Bailey did not want to be here. Gibbs doesn't want those kind of guys, and we don't need them.

I'm with Hogskins, I don't see that the loss of one player outweights the terrific gains made just by having Williams as D Co-ordinator. No more players out of position, no more half assed effort like last season.

The Redskins D will shock everyone for the first 4 games, then they will be feared.

I never cease to be amazed at the amount of nervousness and negativism I see on this site. C'mon, guys!!! Springs is not a STIFF. We have DRAMATICALLY improved our LB corps. and safety position. The DL is marginally better, but still needs one good pass rusher. And that is not even touching on the HUGELY most important improvement. Defensive coaching can make much more difference to the performance of defense than ANY other factor. You guys should realize that if ANY NFL fans should. Look back at the dramatic ups and downs of our defense as Rhodes and Schott came and went. We now have a D/C that is as good as Rhodes. Stop worrying and join the excitement!! Get on the bandwagon early!!

Oh, yeah. And remember. Bailey did not want to be here. Gibbs doesn't want those kind of guys, and we don't need them.

my thoughts exactly. Springs, if healthy, is a pretty damn good cb and with the other cbs we signed(Brown and Harris), we have a vastly deeper cb group than we did last year. And the biggest improvement on the defense overall is the coaches brought in. Last year the coaches obviously didn't know what they were doing and let the players run free, that ain't gonna happen this year and properly using corner backs and safeties is one of Williams strongest coaching abilities. Plus it's not like Bailey has had a very good year the last year or so.
Oh yeah and then their's some guy named taylor or something that we drafted ;).
So to those who worry over this, eat some tums and just relax cuz if we had kept Bailey, who didn't want to be here, we wouldn't have Portis for the next 5-10 years.

I think in the end Bailey is a little overrated, because while he is recognized as the best corner in the game, his passion has always been questionable at best. He is not a warrior, and I am glad considering the circumstances how the whole situation turned out, with us getting Portis

Ok sure we lost Bailey. But he wanted out. And in return we got one of the best HB in the NFL. I miss Champ but I love Portis! And lets just say Springs is no scrub.

Champ Bailey is overrated, plain and simple. Don't get me wrong, he's a great corner, but I don't even think he's the best in the league. Weren't you guys watching the games last year that he got burned for TD's?? A "shut down" corner he definitely is NOT. He get's no INT's, and he can't return punts without fumbling. But the best point made so far is HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE HERE. If he did, he would've taken our offer. I think Shawn Springs will have a great year, and we did add depth with Walt Harris and Ralph Brown. And we still have Rashaud Bauman, who is an excellent nickel back who could start if need be. I, for one, am ecstatic we traded Champ for Portis. The addition of Portis gives us one of the top 3 backs in the league, and probably the best at his age. His improvement to the offense will far outweigh any slight loss we experience from losing Champ, and I believe we'll come out better on this trade than the Broncos....

Raleighskinsfan, let me know if I'm understanding you right. Are you saying that because Champ gets no INTs that he's not a "shut-down" corner? Because I would say that he gets no INTs because he's such a good "shut-down" corner that the ball is hardly thrown his way.

Look, I think players like Champ are hard to find. And while he tends to take a rather lacksadaisical approach I think he's very competitive. Remember he played most of last season with a broken wrist, and he didn't even miss a single practice.

That being said though, I think we need to look at the bigger picture. And Springs, Portis is better than say Champ and Trung. And like Hogskins points out, let's not underestimate Gregg Williams. He'll make good things happen with this defense.