Portis expected to be back

Portis is staying unloess a better option falls in our laps. Which is not likely since Portis is still a top 10 back with a HOF skill set. I love the guy. He's a solid performer who leabes it all on the field on Sundays. Why should I give a shit if some of the "role players" on a 4-12 team don't like his attitude or his comments on our pedestrian QB?

You should give a shit because that kind of shit that portis does on a daily basis isnt good for the team or team building. I dont agree with you on the HOF skill set. I will however say that he used to possess that skillset, but age, and a lack of training and practice has robbed him of whatever he had left. A guy who has let himself go for the last 2 years and is 30 years old isnt just gonna morph back to his old form.

Did you see pictures of him recently? I'm not exaggerating but he has a gut on him and totally looks shot....He needs training camp at this point because he has no way to get in shape if he doesnt work out or practice...and we all know that he doesnt.

Either way we have to pay him, since economics have no bearing on him staying or going, we may as well see if we can get any more out of him. Even that is going to depend on how hard he's willing to work, to get in shape and be the ultimate team player.

If Shanahan decides to keep him here, he'll be a changed man.

Now that I agree with. He knows this is his last chance to start in the league, because if he is cut from here, he will be a 2nd or 3rd option at best..

i just read the article portis eager to return to skins in 2010 posted by matty. here is a comment from portis that i actually agree with 100% I think having a great coach like Coach [Joe] Gibbs, he installed all kinds of discipline and manhood in people, and he got the most out of them. But I think you talk about a genius in scheme, Coach Shanahan is one of the best you can find. gibbs is a excellent motivator of men but his scheme was a little out dated, i think shanny will install an up to date, effective scheme that hopefully our players will thrive in.

I do not see any reason why CP couldn't be just as effective as Thomas Jones was for the Jets, if not more. (provided we shore up the O-line).

The reason is mileage.

Jones had about 1300 carries under his belt when he signed with the Jets at age 29. Prior to joining them, he had only had one 300+ carry season in seven years in the league.

Portis will be 29 next season and has close to 2200 carries worth of mileage on him. He averaged 280 per year with Denver and has averaged close to 350 carries a season with us when he's actually played the entire season.

Maybe I'm wrong and we haven't (Earl) Campbell-ized the guy, but it's not hard to see that in the numbers, the injuries, and just in the way the guy hits the holes.

Either way we have to pay him, since economics have no bearing on him staying or going, we may as well see if we can get any more out of him. Even that is going to depend on how hard he's willing to work, to get in shape and be the ultimate team player.

If Shanahan decides to keep him here, he'll be a changed man.

this is what i dont understand. CP is set to make over 10 mil / year for the next 3 years. if we cut him this year, his guaranteed money owed for the next 3 years will be absorbed in 2010 and he will not effect our cap past 2010.

the only downside is that dan snyder is going to have to pay a ton of money to CP this year for a player not even on our team. thats what i think gtripp was referring to i think. the benefit is CP's contract will be cleared off the books after 2010, when there will be a cap.

dont confuse CP still getting paid by dan snyder and CP's pay effecting the cap. there are two options as i see it:

1) cut CP in uncapped year, have all of his future guaranteed money paid in 2010 and he is off the books after that. sucks for dan snyder to have to pay all that money in 2010 to a player not on your team but maybe dan snyder and vinny shouldnt have restructured CPs contract so many times by converting future salary (unguarnateed) into future guaranteed money but atleast we added some cap space in '07, right.

2) dont cut CP, pay him over 10 mil for the next 3 years. this wouldnt be a problem this year with no cap but if the cap comes back in 2011 and 2012, do you really want to pay portis over 10 mil 2-3 years from now? with it counting against the cap? when you could have just taken a large hit to dan snyders pocket in the uncapped year and be done with it?

this is what i dont understand. CP is set to make over 10 mil / year for the next 3 years. if we cut him this year, his guaranteed money owed for the next 3 years will be absorbed in 2010 and he will not effect our cap past 2010.

No problem, because we'll definitely be getting our money's (http://www.fantasyfootballxtreme.com/2009/05/17/thirty-year-old-running-backs-the-age-of-decline/) worth (http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=nfldk2k830rbs) from him in 2011.

@dgack:

Great post...i remember when that article first came out, and it is exactly right. After a certain age, usually 30, RB's take a massive plunge in terms of production.

Somebody else on here had a hypothesis that it wasn't so much age, as it was career carries....

Redskins Insider - Portis says he's a better fit for Shanahan's system (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/clinton-portis/portis-says-hes-a-better-fit-f.html#more)

another CP article, but this time he is able to talk football without having to blame specific players on our team. he does make a good point about how our O line was asked to hold their own and go 1 on 1 last year and that next year he sees the Oline and pocket moving around more with boots and play action, etc.

our Oline talent last year was not suited to go 1 on 1 and hold their own, i think i remember seeing alot of that last year = guys getting beat 1 on 1 with no help, chips or scheme to account for when a levi jones or a heyer get predicatably beat.

if CP could talk in this general football sense more, alot of "misunderstandings" and "thing taken out of context" wouldnt happen. how the hell do your words get taken out of context when they were said on the radio and you were talking for mins at a time non-stop with no new question posed? but i digress. . . .

CP just isnt a guy that a team is going to win with because he's a me first type player who expects a lot from others but doesnt want to give when it doesnt suit him. I think its time for the Skins to move on because he's getting older and not any better.