How reporters are so quick to point fingers

[Redskins8588]

I was just reading articles by Wilbon and Jenkins on the Washingtonpost.com. And they both say how no other team in the league has troubles with players but the Redskins. Then they say how LC wants out but we may not be able to let him, and then how LaVar was told this and that happened.

Forgive me if I am wrong but wasnt it just last year around this time that Ty Law wanted out of, DARE I SAY IT, New England the Super Bowl Champs!!!! Or how our very own Clinton Portis wanted out of Denver or was going to hold out for more money. I get so sick of hearing about our troubles again and again. It's like telling a fat person that they are fat, they are already aware of that.

[FRPLG]

Honestly...I am going on the assumption that Gibbs is breaking some eggs to make an omlette this off-season. He can see that there are players in the league who care enough about winning to help their teams out by restructuring and want to stay on their team so much they sign below market deals. My guess is he wants to make sure these are the type of guys we have. At least I am hoping...

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by Redskins8588

I was just reading articles by Wilbon and Jenkins on the Washingtonpost.com. And they both say how no other team in the league has troubles with players but the Redskins. Then they say how LC wants out but we may not be able to let him, and then how LaVar was told this and that happened.

Forgive me if I am wrong but wasnt it just last year around this time that Ty Law wanted out of, DARE I SAY IT, New England the Super Bowl Champs!!!! Or how our very own Clinton Portis wanted out of Denver or was going to hold out for more money. I get so sick of hearing about our troubles again and again. It's like telling a fat person that they are fat, they are already aware of that.

If Wilbon and Jenkins said 'no other team in the league has the trouble with players but the Redskins...', that is absurd.
On a side note though, the two player examples (T. Law and C. Portis) you gave had legit issues with being under paid, in comparison to lesser player at their postions. If Denver and New England paid them their market value, they actually wanted to stay where they were.
L. Coles on the other hand is very well paid. He wanted out because of disagreements with the offensive coaches system. Very diffrent kind of situation. I can not blame Portis for wanting to secure his families financial future. Coles reasons are selfish.

[jdlea]

Why would any player who cares about winning come to Washington?

[TheMalcolmConnection]

I wouldn't say that your families would starve if you made ONLY 1 million dollars.

[saden1]

A million dollars isn't shit. It may seem like it is because you don't have it but the truth is a million dollars will run before you even realize.

[Daseal]

Not to mention the next day your career could be over. Good point FRPLG - when we start winning then we'll see more people restructuring to stay. Otherwise we're just a bad team stuck in a rut.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Yep, very good point. People are the Patriots are doing what it takes to stay on the team.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

I will also say a million "ain't shit" if you don't manage your money effectively, but that's beside the point. I mean a million is a 20 years salary of $50,000. If someone were to just "blow through" that type of money they don't deserve it in the first place. Investments alone would allow a person to live comfortably most, if not all, of their lives.

I just really wanted to put in perspective the amounts that people are asking for these days and about how that 1-2 million that's keeping Smoot from resigning should be a moot point considering the amount he would get anyway.

[RedskinRat]

Originally Posted by saden1

A million dollars isn't shit. It may seem like it is because you don't have it but the truth is a million dollars will run before you even realize.

I'll take that risk.

[BossHog]

I guess that's why they call it the 'runs'.

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by saden1

A million dollars isn't shit. It may seem like it is because you don't have it but the truth is a million dollars will run before you even realize.

Hmmm. It seems like it b/c I don't have it? No. It seems like it b/c there is no chance in hell (since I don't play the lottery) that I will EVER have it. LOL.
Quite frankly Saden, if you think it is insignificant, then by all means - send it my way. I could quit my current job, live in my current house and send my kids to private school and a state college and then retire quite nicely on 1M - so sh** that money my way please!

My own feeling on this is that when players say "show me the money" what they are really saying is "show me respect", "show me you want me more than anybody else does" "show me that you think I am as great as I think I am" (okay, I may be going a bit overboard but you get the picture.)

I guess I think the difference between 11 and 13 million is not the issue. It is that Smoot wants to be given the red carpet treatment by his own team. A team that goes out and, historically, blows UFA's away with an offer that says "We want you so much that will overpay just so you don't shop around". To some extent, I can't say as I blame him.

[Redskins8588]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

If Wilbon and Jenkins said 'no other team in the league has the trouble with players but the Redskins...', that is absurd.
On a side note though, the two player examples (T. Law and C. Portis) you gave had legit issues with being under paid, in comparison to lesser player at their postions. If Denver and New England paid them their market value, they actually wanted to stay where they were.
L. Coles on the other hand is very well paid. He wanted out because of disagreements with the offensive coaches system. Very diffrent kind of situation. I can not blame Portis for wanting to secure his families financial future. Coles reasons are selfish.

I understand that the gripes that Law and Portis had may not be the same as Coles and Arrington, but the point that I was trying to make was that, Yes, the Redskins have problems, but we are not the only team, and we do not need the reporters of the WASHINGTON post to keep pointing this out. The readers that follow the post to stay up with the skins know that the Redskins have problems.

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by Redskins8588

Forgive me if I am wrong but wasnt it just last year around this time that Ty Law wanted out of, DARE I SAY IT, New England the Super Bowl Champs!!!!

The LC and TL situations are remarkably similar in detail; however, I think there is a very crucial difference as to how they were handled by their respective clubs. New England, recognizing that both cutting and trading TL was cap prohibitive last year, basically told him tough you're playing. Now he was much more vitriolic in his words than LC was, calling the coach a liar publically and vowing never to play for the Pats again. However, the Pats organization stuck by their guns and made him honor his contract. Now that he is entering the downlside of his career, they finally cut him loose, maximizing his contribution and minimizing his cap hit. Smart.

The Skins on the other hand have entertained both cutting their best WR and trading him for a clearly inferior player (who they will of course sign to an overly lucrative contract-extension). Now after this entire debacle they are entertaining keeping him out of necessity. This has been an absolute debacle which has dominated what was otherwise supposed to be a quiet offseason. Both Wilbon and Pasquarelli are right as to what have been done. Show him the contract, tell him that's the deal, end of story. If you don't like it, sit out a year. Instead they have, unsprisingly, done everything wrong again.

[Daseal]

Please remind me - how many games did Law play last year? Think any of this might have to do with his not wanting to play a bit more than his injury?