JLC: Skins to Pursue CB Florence & WR Hackett; Can't Afford Briggs?

JLC is reporting (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/) that league insiders expect the Redskins to pursue Chargers CB Drayton Florence. My guess is that, if we go after Florence (who will likely assume nickel and dime duties), we will draft a D-lineman in the 1st round.

JLC is also reporting that the Redskins are targeting Seahawks WR D.J. Hackett. If we pursue Hackett, it's unlikely that the Redskins will use a 1st rounder on a wideout, unless they plan to demote ARE or Hackett to 4th WR spot.

JLC is also speculating that the Redskins may be unable to afford to sign Bears LB Lance Briggs, with cap-rich teams like the 49ers going after him. So, the people that hate to see the Redskins go after high-priced free agents may get their wish as we are unlikely to pursue marquee free agents like Briggs.

JLC is reporting (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/) that league insiders expect the Redskins to pursue Chargers CB Drayton Florence. My guess is that, if we go after Florence (who will likely assume nickel and dime duties), we will draft a D-lineman in the 1st round.

JLC is also speculating that the Redskins may be unable to afford to sign Bears LB Lance Briggs, with cap-rich teams like the 49ers going after him. So, the people that hate to see the Redskins go after high-priced free agents may get their wish as we are unlikely to pursue marquee free agents like Briggs.

Thats bad for Briggs. A few guys around the league have suggested that Briggs needs to stay in a 4-3 system and that he might struggle in 3-4. I like the Drayton Florance idea. Seems like a great nickle back and a solid plug to start if 2 out of our 3 main guys can't go. Scouts.com has him rated 4 stars so thats good.

As I said before the salary cap crunch is helping the Redskins become wise spenders. last years FA class was a lot better then the fab 4 class from the year before. And with this years class looking more and more like Florance and Hacket then that trend looks like its going to continue. Also the cap crunch will force us to focus on the draft which should help us out over the long haul.

Chicago and San Francisco discussed a trade in October that would have sent Briggs, a Northern California native, to the 49ers. However, the Bears’ grievance claims that San Francisco held contract talks with agent Drew Rosenhaus during the season, thus interfering with a player under contract.

49ers investigated for tampering with Briggs - NFL - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-49ersinvestigated022108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)

No secret that the 49ers are probably our biggest competitor for Briggs. If they're found guilty they'd be fined and/or possibly lose a pick. But what if part of the punishment is preventing the Niners from signing Briggs?

Hackett would be a very good pickup in our west coast offense. He will not cost us a draft pick and not a huge signing bonus. Zorn already knows what Hackett can bring when healthy. This will allow to use the first 2 picks on d lineman. Later on in the draft we can focus on our old o-line. We can use the free agency to tie up so lose ends. Go Zorn!!!

49ers investigated for tampering with Briggs - NFL - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-49ersinvestigated022108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)

No secret that the 49ers are probably our biggest competitor for Briggs. If they're found guilty they'd be fined and/or possibly lose a pick. But what if part of the punishment is preventing the Niners from signing Briggs?

Wow, I didn't realize they're under investigation. Thanks for the link.

Do you think the league would preclude the 49ers from signing Briggs? Wouldn't that punish both the 49ers AND Briggs?

JLC is reporting (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/) that league insiders expect the Redskins to pursue Chargers CB Drayton Florence. My guess is that, if we go after Florence (who will likely assume nickel and dime duties), we will draft a D-lineman in the 1st round.

JLC is also reporting that the Redskins are targeting Seahawks WR D.J. Hackett. If we pursue Hackett, it's unlikely that the Redskins will use a 1st rounder on a wideout, unless they plan to demote ARE or Hackett to 4th WR spot.

JLC is also speculating that the Redskins may be unable to afford to sign Bears LB Lance Briggs, with cap-rich teams like the 49ers going after him. So, the people that hate to see the Redskins go after high-priced free agents may get their wish as we are unlikely to pursue marquee free agents like Briggs.

We should probably be careful how we word things here. JLC isn't necessarily reporting that the Redskins are targeting Hackett, just that he could be an option. It's not to say he isn't being targeted, just that the Redskins themselves aren't saying that (at least not in that report by JLC)

Wow, I didn't realize they're under investigation. Thanks for the link.

Do you think the league would preclude the 49ers from signing Briggs? Wouldn't that punish both the 49ers AND Briggs?

Under Tagliabue, no there's no way they would have precluded the 49ers from signing Briggs. Under Goodell, it's a bit more plausible. Ultimately though, I think if Briggs wants to be a Niner and the Niners want him Goodell won't get in the way.

I doubt much will come of all this quite honestly. No one really wants to open up the can of "tampering" worms.

Florence & Hackett at reasonable contracts sound great. If Briggs is looking for $7M / yr. w/ $20M guaranteed, I say pass and we'll find help elsewhere (Calvin Pace, Brandon Chillar, K. Mitchell) or in the draft

Little info on Florence:
On Sunday, January 14 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_14), 2007 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007) in the AFC Divisional Playoff (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_playoffs%2C_2006-07#AFC:_New_England_Patriots_24.2C_San_Diego_Charg ers_21) game against the New England Patriots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Patriots) after a muffed punt by wide receiver Eric Parker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Parker_%28American_football%29) at the San Diego 31 yard line, Florence committed a personal foul, head-butting Patriot TE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tight_end) Daniel Graham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Graham) following a 3rd and long play.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drayton_Florence#_note-2) During the play, the Charger defense had stopped the Patriots for a 7 yard loss putting the ball at the Charger 37 yard line (apx. 53 yard field goal range). The result of the penalty was a Patriots first down on the Charger 18. The extension of the drive led to a Stephen Gostkowski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Gostkowski) 34 yard field goal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_goal_%28football%29). The Patriots went on to win the game 24-21.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drayton_Florence#_note-3)
The NFL fined San Diego Chargers cornerback Drayton Florence $15,000 for the illegal hit he put on Houston Texans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Texans) Quarterback Matt Schaub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Schaub) on Sunday October 28th. On an interception return, Florence drilled Schaub from the blind side, and he was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. The league ruled that on a change of possession, Florence unnecessarily made helmet-to-helmet contact with Schaub, who suffered a concussion and missed the rest of the game.

With a linebacker like Briggs asking for $7M per year and $20M guaranteed and CB Asante Samuel seeking $10M per year and $20M guaranteed, our 2006 free agent acquisitions don't look bad at all. I wonder what a defensive-end with double-digit sack totals like Andre Carter would cost in today's market?