What do we need personnel wise to be great?

1. A good DE who is modest in run support and a beast as a pass rusher. It would take a lot of pressure off Arrington, Griffin, and company to put heat on the qb (like Dexter Manley).

2. A legitimate #2 WR, someone who excels on short and intermediate routes, but can occasionally haul in the long one (an Art Monk type).

3. Another one or two more OL in the middle rounds, to provide depth and possibly challenge for a starting job.

Well, I think we'll be able to address a number of things through free agency. See my post above, if the team is able to play its cards right, the cap space should be there.

This organization will never develop the consistency or depth of talent it needs through free agency. Free agency works good for plugging a hole or 2 but its no way (no matter how much cap space is available) to build a consistent winner.

This team needs to stop giving away draft picks.

I like your No. 6. Last year in the draft, I was screaming at the tv for the Skins to use No. 25 on Heath Miller. Can you imagine having Cooley in at H-back and Miller at TE, defenses wouldn't have any idea if we were running or throwing.

AMEN............. IT'S NOT HARD THE SKINS MAKE IT........

This organization will never develop the consistency or depth of talent it needs through free agency. Free agency works good for plugging a hole or 2 but its no way (no matter how much cap space is available) to build a consistent winner.

This team needs to stop giving away draft picks.

Agreed, though that mantra doesn't help us much for this year since we already gave away our first and third for Campbell. We have to work with the hand we're dealt right now, until we have a full complement of picks again. Hopefully one day Campbell justifies that trade, but until then, we have to plug some holes in free agency.

What the skins really need is at least one tall wide receiver. Not that Moss and co can't play, but we need at least one fast, tall guy to help out the QB in tough situations. We could also use both another impact DL and OL player.

And yeah, Ramsey should be traded as it simply hasn't worked out for him here. He has skill, but for whatever reason the coaching he's received isn't improving his game and may even be hurting it. Wish him GL and move him on.

5) Release Lennie Friedman. This will save $1 million in cap space.

you got your wish a bit early...he was released to make room for the re-signing of Antonio Brown.

Noble will most likely retire...and hopefully the Skins keep him on as an assistant coach, as he's filling a role like that this season while injured.

At this point, as others have said, it's best to ship Ramsey out for whatever we can get.

Depth on both lines is crucial. No 1st round pick most likely means no impact guys out of next year's draft...unless the Skins can find their own Ivy League miracle...

Quite honestly, the biggest thing for the Skins would be solid impact by Jason Campbell. Brunell is showing his age, and even though he's having a great year, he's not suited to take the Skins to the playoffs. Getting rid of Ramsey, we don't draft QB in the later rounds, and see who else is out there to sign as a 3rd stringer. QBs go undrafted all the time...

Agreed, though that mantra doesn't help us much for this year since we already gave away our first and third for Campbell. We have to work with the hand we're dealt right now, until we have a full complement of picks again. Hopefully one day Campbell justifies that trade, but until then, we have to plug some holes in free agency.

But thats the problem, the skins will never get a full compliment of picks because the coach and owner love to give them away like Xmas gifts. So they are constantly stuck plugging holes instead of building a strong foundation that will result in continued success. It this "plug the holes" philosophy that has created a franchise that has not sniffed the playoffs in 5 years. The skins were not dealt their hand, they created it all by themselves and now they are having to live with the consequences.

to me MLB is one of those positions that you don't overpay for (see Jeremiah Trotter). i think marshall is one of those guys that fits well with our defense. maybe not as good as pierce but i wouldn't pay pierce/trotter money when we have other, more gaping, holes

I wasn't suggesting a free agent pick up, a draft pick, 3rd or 4th round or even later. Maybe even move Mcune into the mix. I wouldn't overpay. However, Joe said he made a big mistake by letting trotter leave. He wasn't 100% when he came back from his knee injury. then we cut him , he gets healthy and was a probowler last year. He plays very physical, and is a beast against the run.

trotter is almost as overrated as champ is.he made the pro bowl after starting only 7 games last year.what a joke

But thats the problem, the skins will never get a full compliment of picks because the coach and owner love to give them away like Xmas gifts. So they are constantly stuck plugging holes instead of building a strong foundation that will result in continued success. It this "plug the holes" philosophy that has created a franchise that has not sniffed the playoffs in 5 years. The skins were not dealt their hand, they created it all by themselves and now they are having to live with the consequences.

Yeah you're right. I'm with you on this. But I think you're arguing in favor of a general philosophy instead of what should be done this year. We do need to stop trading away picks, but that doesn't help us for 2006. We don't have picks for 2006, so if we're going to stick to the topic of the thread, we've got to get free agents to fill personnel needs this year. And we have to avoid trading our 2007 draft picks in the process.