Current 2014 Free Agents

Let's see how much Jason W. gets. As for R.Jax, good guy - he has how many sacks?

- Tagging Rak is not going to cost us any free agents we want.
- Rather overpay a homegrown guy than an import.
- Still not seeing anyone suggest a legitimate replacement who could step in and provide what Rak does.

How about not overpaying anyone.
In the era of a hard salary cap, overpaying anyone is always a bad idea.
If you only measure LB's by sacks, then you will have an incomplete evaluation and you have a player and a defense with holes in it. oh yeah we lareday have that. That is like paying a DB $11M that is great against the pass but is not so great against the run. BIg money should only go to players that are complete. No weakness'. Rak has several.

The worst reason I have heard to overpay for Rak? Because you are AFRAID he will sign with someone else. Weak.

Let's see how much Jason W. gets. As for R.Jax, good guy - he has how many sacks?

- Tagging Rak is not going to cost us any free agents we want.
- Rather overpay a homegrown guy than an import.
- Still not seeing anyone suggest a legitimate replacement who could step in and provide what Rak does.

How about not overpaying anyone.
In the era of a hard salary cap, overpaying anyone is always a bad idea.
If you only measure LB's by sacks, then you will have an incomplete evaluation and you have a player and a defense with holes in it. Oh yeah we already have that. That is like paying a DB $11M that is great against the pass but is not so great against the run. BIg money should only go to players that are complete. No weakness'. Rak has several.

The worst reason I have heard to overpay for Rak? Because you are AFRAID he will sign with someone else. Weak.

Im surprised the Rak tagging would cause such dissention.

I am not afraid Rak signs somewhere else, I would bet a solid $100 that he would. He is the player at whom someone will throw a bucket of money. If they don't tag him, consider him gone - which is fine if you have a back-up plan. Otherwise, you are just creating more problems. I have yet to see a legitimate back up plan that (1) is guaranteeing equal or better production; or (2) has any cost analysis that explains why a tag of Rak will create salary cap problems immediately or in the future.

Don't overpay?! We are filling the position with a UFA or Rak (a prospective UFA). Given the nature of free agency, and to guarantee equal or better production from the spot, we are either overpaying Rak a little OR overpaying someone else (or several someones else) a lot.

You think no one is going to throw buckets at Rak. Fine, you may be right - BUT, if you don't tag him and then EXPECT him to come back THAT is weak and stupid if you don't have a back-up plan. Either the plan is to fill ROLB with a premier UFA or take a risk on a cheap alternative. Tell me your plan to fill this spot and get a legitimate 10 sack production from it at a cost less than 11M/year. Very simply, we will be overpaying an import OR taking a risk that Rak's production can be replaced on the cheap.

The question is not whether someone else will pay him, it's whether or not we can guarantee a replacement that will equal the production from ROLB position with a less expensive option. If we cannot guarrantee equal or better production for less, than you have just created one more hole on a defense that has other more pressing needs AND - as an added detriment - increased the leverage of Riley and R.Jax. Unless, of course, you think we can rebuild the entire back 8 from UFA's and draft picks.

With Rak tagged, we now have to only replace/retain our ILB's rather than 3/4's of our entire LB corp.

Im surprised the Rak tagging would cause such dissention.

LOL ... not me. This crowd got tons o' crazy to go around.

- We need to develop our own players.
- Don't overpay anyone, but create roster spots that need to be filled by untested rookies or UFA's.
- Throw money at a roster spot of need (Byrd), but don't resign your own very good players at the most expensive position on the D (pass-rusher) if it is at a premium.
- In a year where D has many holes to fill, take a risk that you can fill its most important position with rookies or cheap UFA's.

In light of everything we need to accomplish through the draft and the UFA process, what he brings to the table, the position he plays and the regular demand for such players in free agency, and the opinion his teammates have of him, tagging Rak seemed like a no-brainer to me.

A couple of my buddies who are fans of other teams look at me like I have 3 heads when I tell them that some Skins fans don't think franchising Rak was a good idea.

Chargers released CB Derek Cox.
Cox inked a four-year, $20 million contract on the second day of free agency last year and received $10.25 million guaranteed for one season of utterly mediocre play. The Chargers save $4.25 million in cash but are eating $3.9 million in dead money against the cap. The move clears just $1.65 million in cap space. Cox was benched multiple times last season. He was deemed expendable for a team that really needs corner help. Cox is still just 27 years old.

This is a guy getting talk last year as a CB we were interested in...

The rationale behind the Orakpo thing is this:

You let him go, then what? You draft a DE with our first pick. Great, we STILL have a hole that could have been filled by that.

You keep him, we have less cap space, but that makes us make smart decisions in FA and build through the draft.

Alex Mack off the market, $10 million transition tag.

Pricey Center.

Im surprised the Rak tagging would cause such dissention.

You have not seen enough offseasons on the Warpath.