Updated: Redskins Trade for Vikings DE Erasmus James

I just saw on Redskins.com that we TRADED for James. A conditional 7th round pick. Wasn't he cut? That's BS. Only the Redskins could trade for a player that was cut. Also, what does that mean for salary? Instead of picking him up as a FA and giving him a vet. minimum, are we now liable for the rookie 1st Round salary that he's supposed to get paid? Anyone know what that is? This doesn't smell right...

Redskins executive vice president Vinny Cerato called Vikings coach Brad Childress Tuesday and convinced him to trade James instead of releasing him. In exchange for James, the Vikings will receive a conditional seventh-round pick in 2009.

I wounder how much convincing it took? Otherwise the artical points out we wouldnt of got him as there was likely a team with a worse record that was attempting to sign him. Everything Ive read sounds like Vinny was real high on him when he came out and with Palermo on the staff it made James a must have for a 7th.

ESPN - Vikings send injured DE James to Redskins for conditional pick - NFL (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3414445)

A lot of articals are kinda vauge on his injuries, and I didnt know, but it sounds like he tore his ACL and sprained his MCL in September 2006. Then retore his ACL on Dec 2 2007, having surgury in early/mid December. But I keep hearing 3 knee surgeries, sounds like 3 injuries and 2 surgeries?

Dont know about his hip injury in college though. Maybe he just has bad joints? Hopefully just a case of bad luck ending in 2007.

I am a little iffy on this one....originally, I thought we should go after this guy....then I looked at his stats...and his injuries.
His injuries I can understand....and certainly for a conditional 7th...thats fine.
My concern was his minimal impact when he was playing.
The guy is rather small...so he is no more than a situational DE at best when healthy.

Ya never know...perhaps they can convert him to an OLB?
I know it sounds crazy...but we need a backup there too.

I really think we are trading a 7th for a name at this point.

The main risk is not the 7th....it is his salary...whatever that is.
Someone...please find out what we are gunna pay this dude to be a 4th or 5th DE.

Now, I would like to see them sign Schwiegert or Doss.

...how many sacks/tackles/hurries etc does James have to produce before ppl will be saying that this guy was "worth it"?

That, my friend, depends on how much we are paying him.
I say...1 sack for every 150k...for example, if we are paying him 600k...he better give us 4 sacks

To put some perspective on James rookie season, with four sacks, take a look at the sack leaders for 2007. This kid could be a steal. Many players have had this type of injury and came back.

Jared Allen 9 sacks
Patrick Kerney 2.5 sacks
Mario Williams 4.5 sacks
Demarcus Ware 8 sacks
Osi Umenyiora 1 sack
Last years super star pass rusher, Gaines Adams. Picked number 4 overall, had 6 sacks.

Courtney Penn is on our school board-see below, I got him mixed up w/courtney brown & misspelled his name cause the 'h' on my keyboard gets stuck a lot. Glad it brought some laughs! Also glad we got E. James, maybe he'll regain his form w/time.

Courtney A. Penn. Effective July 1, 2007, Mr. Penn began his second three-year term on the School Board. He is the Special Assistant to the President of Roanoke College. Mr. Penn is involved in a wide range of civic activities including the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Beta Phi Boule of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc., he serves as co-chairman of the United Way Community Engagement Program and is a member on the State Board of Juvenile Justice. Mr. Penn has served as a member of the Roanoke City Advisory Board for Human Development and the Roanoke City Arts Commission and was chair of the education committee of the Roanoke Branch NAACP. He has three children, and two who are school-age attend Roanoke City Public Schools.

Courtney Penn meet Norman Einstein ;)

Where's the "H" in Courtney Penn (or Courtney Brown for that matter)?

Glad you have a sense of humor :)

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let's recap:

If he doesn't make our 53 man roster, we don't give up any picks/compensation to the Vikings.

If he doesn't make our 53 man roster, we don't carry any salary cap charge. If he makes the team, we're only responsible for his $1 million base salary this season, which is non-guaranteed.

After signing rookies, we will have $4-5 million in cap space. So if he beats out a Ryan Boschetti or an Alex Buzbee and makes the team, salary cap space will not be an issue.

So... what exactly is the downside here? Nothing. You either got yourself some DE depth with upside, or you say bye bye to him and you've still got the same personnel (and draft picks) you had yesterday.

Will it change our season, almost certainly not. But there's no downside at all.

I'm still concerned about what we are paying this guy.
From everything I'm reading...he was due 1 million this year....which is probably why they are dumping him...and probably why no one offered a pick like the skins for a 4th DE....if thats the case...and we are picking that up....thats fine, but we are way overpaying for his value....but this could be overweighed by having leverage over him for future years if he does better than Chris Wilson or something.
If he does....and were all hoping that....expect an extension mid year so we don't lose him.

Erasmus James' career has been very similar to the beginning of Kyle Vanden Bosch's career, who is a pro bowler now. Vanden Bosch was a second round pick of the cardinals, who tore 2 ACLs and an MCL in his first 3 seasons and got cut after his 4th season(2004). Then in 2005, the Titans picked him up for the vet minimum and he started all 16 games and got 12.5 sacks.

James was a first round pick who tore 3 knee ligaments in his first three seasons and now he got traded to the Redskins to try to resurrect his career. It might take all of this year to get healthy, but it is definitely possible for him to come back and play very well. I'm not saying he is gonna be a pro bowler like Vanden Bosch, but it is possible. It has been done before.

Kyle Vanden Bosch (http://www.nfl.com/players/kylevandenbosch/profile?id=VAN378810)
Erasmus James (http://www.nfl.com/players/erasmusjames/profile?id=JAM188263)

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let's recap:

If he doesn't make our 53 man roster, we don't give up any picks/compensation to the Vikings.

If he doesn't make our 53 man roster, we don't carry any salary cap charge. If he makes the team, we're only responsible for his $1 million base salary this season, which is non-guaranteed.

After signing rookies, we will have $4-5 million in cap space. So if he beats out a Ryan Boschetti or an Alex Buzbee and makes the team, salary cap space will not be an issue.

So... what exactly is the downside here? Nothing. You either got yourself some DE depth with upside, or you say bye bye to him and you've still got the same personnel (and draft picks) you had yesterday.

Will it change our season, almost certainly not. But there's no downside at all.

Schneed, you never cease to amaze.
Excellent analysis on the cap...this makes me feel better...since I think this guy is only worth about 500k