DT Daryl Gardener becomes a FA
 

Washington Post says:
"Defensive tackle Daryl Gardener settled his dispute with the Denver Broncos yesterday,and secured an agreement that he will become a free agent. Under the terms of the settlement, the Broncos agreed to release Gardener in June and to allow Gardener and his representative to begin exploring deals with other teams immediately, NFL sources said last night.
Gardener's top choices likely will include the Washington Redskins, with whom he spent the 2002 season, and the Cincinnati Bengals. "

[url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47845-2004Mar10.html[/url]

Skins should sign him! He would immeadiately become the best DT on the team. I don't think Brandon Noble will be fully healed from such a bad knee injury. It takes a full year to recover from just an ACL injury. Brandon tore his ACL, MCL and dislocated his knee cap (which in all likelyhood tore his patella tendon). He is not going to be the same player this coming season. It will take more time. We should still keep Brandon Noble on the roster though.

I agree, but do we have the $$ to sign him? He is going to want a big pay day I'm sure.

I know there will be abundance of posts saying that he has character issues and will be disruptive in the locker room, etc... But I think he played great for us and would be the final building block on our D-Line. Now we can focus on Taylor or KWII...

Here's a question to you smart folks: Don't we have a cap hit on the books right now from when we released him? What happens to that hit if we resign him?? Does it go away? Or can it be merged with his new contract??

I'd be very interested to find out....

I have concerns about his back problems as well.

I think after his adventures in Denver he won't have much leverage in seeking a big money deal, he'll likely have to settle for a cheap one year deal.

I'd give him a look for a cheap, incentive filled deal.

I think concerns about his back pale in comparison to his off the field troubles and his behavior problems.

[QUOTE=Ade Jimoh Fan Club]I agree, but do we have the $$ to sign him? He is going to want a big pay day I'm sure.

I know there will be abundance of posts saying that he has character issues and will be disruptive in the locker room, etc... But I think he played great for us and would be the final building block on our D-Line. Now we can focus on Taylor or KWII...

Here's a question to you smart folks: Don't we have a cap hit on the books right now from when we released him? What happens to that hit if we resign him?? Does it go away? Or can it be merged with his new contract??

I'd be very interested to find out....[/QUOTE]

I don't think we took any cap hit for him, if I remember correctly he signed a one year deal with us and we simply chose to not re-sign him.

[QUOTE=Ade Jimoh Fan Club]Here's a question to you smart folks: Don't we have a cap hit on the books right now from when we released him? What happens to that hit if we resign him?? Does it go away? Or can it be merged with his new contract??

I'd be very interested to find out....[/QUOTE]

He only signed a one year contract with us two years ago. So there was no dead money cost to our cap in regards to D. Gardner.

OK - Thanks guys.

I think that him, Noble, and Griffin would be a nice interior rotation!

I definitely like him better than "Worn" Sapp!!

[QUOTE=cpayne5]I have concerns about his back problems as well.[/QUOTE]

He doesn't have to be a full time starter. With the other talented DT on the roster, Gardener could play on key plays like third and longs or third and short, like Jumpy Geathers did. This guy is great at smashing the pocket. Something we haven't had since he left.

If I could get Gardner for a real cheap deal i would sign him. But I think he's gonna go to the bongals.

It depends on whether he wants to play for Lewis or Williams. I agree that if he wants to be here and is talking a soft contract, then bring him in.

I remember reading a while back that the Skins FO said they would not be interested in pursuing Gardener if he became available, so we'll see.

I say he'll end up in Cincy. Gardener is a headache that Gibbs doesn't need.

If we don't trade down (and I doubt we will), then we will try to fill in the gaps on the d-line with undrafted rooks, cap casualties and problem guys like Gardner. All this will happen after the June 1st cut date. We'll also clear cap space for that (Moore, Trung, Trotter?), and to sign our 1st rounder.

Gardner is good, and he behaved last time he was here. Maybe DC calms him down? He's certainly gonna be on a relatively short list, but his character may send him to Cincy. Who else is there on the potential cap causalty list?

Matty!
 

Matty! My understanding is we tried to make an offer to Gardner after 2002, but he wanted to shop around and market his skills.

Now the question arrises about whether to take him back. I say yes! Definitely.

Is he a character guy? I say there is no one out there with more character except Ray Lewis and the banned drug offenders! LOL!

Is it a questionable character or good character? Now we narrow it down a little. He was good while here. The FO should know. They wined him and dined him the first go around.

Did he suddenly turn bad? Well, I submit that he shook hands with Coach Shanahan 3 times during the exit interview! That's not bad! Go for it cousinvinnie! Send the plane(s)! (We did use two during FA according to today's Post, I was right!)

How old is Gardner, anyway?

His back acts up after very little playing time sometime. Is a non-everydown player worth the amount of money that he'll be asking for?

If you give him another incentive based one-year deal like last time he could be motivated to play well. Meanwhile, the Broncos signed former Skin Marco Coleman

Gardner was a bad apple in Miami. That's why they ditched him even though he is talented.

He played well in Washington but no one rushed to resign him here.

He wore out his welcome in Denver in about six games.

I'd pass on Gardner. He isn't the answer here.

I think every athlete should have incentive filled contracts. Keeps them from getting lazy, but it also causes problems with ball distribution on offense, but nevermind that!

Anyhow, I think he'll be fine if we sign him for fairly cheap (which I think we can) and it's incentive based.

Bottom line, In my opinion, is we still need some more stability on our Defensive Line. It looks more and more like we arent going to be drafting a dlinemen, so I think if the price is right, we should take a chance on Gardner.

[QUOTE=Gmanc711]Bottom line, In my opinion, is we still need some more stability on our Defensive Line. It looks more and more like we arent going to be drafting a dlinemen, so I think if the price is right, we should take a chance on Gardner.[/QUOTE]

I second that. The D-line is far from improved over last season. If Gardener is willing to play for nickels, dust off his old #92.

If he doesn't sign with us, we still need help with the D-line.

I know there are several of us who are satisfied with Griffin, Haley, Holsey, and Noble (if he can even play) -- but I'm not one of them.

Yeah, I'd consider signing him for cheap with incentives. But the first time he does something stupid, he's gone.

Gardener can definitely play when he is healthy and wants to, but with all the talk of getting high character guys, I would be seriously disappointed if we signed him. When players in Gibbs old teams had problems (i.e. Manley), they were already part of the team, not players that were signed with the baggage.

True. But for some reason, his bad character never came out here. I think he did do a little complaining at the beginning of the season, but other than that, he was pretty quiet.

[QUOTE=cpayne5]True. But for some reason, his bad character never came out here. I think he did do a little complaining at the beginning of the season, but other than that, he was pretty quiet.[/QUOTE]

He was playing for a payday, which he got from Denver.

On the other hand, it could have been from playing under Lewis, which is why it wouldn't be surprising to see him go to Cincy. Williams is thought of similarly as a defensive mind, so maybe he would revert back to how he was in 2002 if he came back here...

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]I think concerns about his back pale in comparison to his off the field troubles and his behavior problems.[/QUOTE]
[FONT=Garamond]i agree,i think this guy is a huge looney bird.i say let him go on and become someone else's problem.[/FONT]
[IMG]http://www.banzibaby.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Pics/18.gif[/IMG]

ESPN's Page 2 on how Gibbs deals with "problem" players:


"I recall Joe Gibbs and Jumpy Geathers. Jumpy was a big D-lineman that no one seemed to be able to motivate, control or get much out of, so they'd resorted to screaming and hollering at him. That might have worked, if Jumpy was, say, another guy. But Jumpy's early childhood trauma had been a father figure screaming at him. He went into a shell if you did that. Blew you off. And Joe Gibbs instinctively realized this. I can still see and hear him now on the sidelines, when the physically-gifted Jumpy ran out on the field for the playoff games that led to one of those three Super Bowl wins.


"Way to go, Jump-pay!" hollered Joe Gibbs. And Jumpy looks over at him, smiles, and proceeds to eat the offensive line alive, then comes off the field and asks Joe if he has a toothpick on him."

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium]joe gibbs gets the best out of those who work for and around him.that is why he is so easy to like i think.remember when dexter manley had to be thrown out of the league for drugs?i remember seeing coach gibbs on tv and by the way he talked,you would have thought it was his fault because he could not stop dexter from taking drugs.[/FONT]
[IMG]http://www.banzibaby.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Pics/18.gif[/IMG]

Ghost,
Great post! Do you have the link to this article?
To say Gibbs only picks alter boy players is wrong. He has taken chances on talented troubled players in the past and is good at keeping them on the right track. Didn't he coach a QB right out of prison during the 83 strike portion of the season?
Another thing, given Gardner's short fuse, Washington D.C. is a more welcoming atmosphere for a troubled african-american player than Colorado. Colorado and Utah are not the most tolerant places in the US. I am not surprised that the beginning of Gardner's trouble was a fight at a restaurant in Colorado.

Yeah I love that story about "Jump-pay" ... I remember him tearing people up for a couple seasons but didn't know the background on him. I posted a link to that article in the News Wire area ... it's called "Page 2 on Gibbs."