Joeythetapeworm
April-21st-2005, 07:58 PM
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05111/492087.stm
NFL Draft: Washington Redskins
Thursday, April 21, 2005
By Joseph White, The Associated Press
ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Redskins' tempestuous offseason reached comical proportions this week when a front office official misspoke in own press release. Much will be forgotten if the team can hit the jackpot with its two first-round draft picks.
After a trade with the Denver Broncos, the Redskins have the ninth and 25th selections in Saturday's draft. Given that they have two pressing needs -- cornerback and receiver -- they now have the flexibility to pull off whatever trades are necessary to get the player or players they want.
"We have contacted every team in front of us and behind us about moving up, moving down," vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato said yesterday. "Now, because we have the 25th pick, we have numbers of options."
The top cornerbacks available are Miami's Antrel Rolle, West Virginia's Adam "Pacman" Jones and Auburn's Carlos Rogers. Rolle will probably be gone at No. 9, leaving Jones and Rogers as the most likely choices unless the Redskins trade up.
Gauging the 25th pick is tougher. Top receiver prospects Braylon Edwards of Michigan, Mike Williams of USC, Troy Williamson of South Carolina and Mark Clayton of Oklahoma aren't expected to last that long, although Reggie Brown of Georgia or Alabama-Birmingham's Roddy White could still be around.
The depth at the positions of need are why the Redskins on Tuesday traded their third-round selection (No. 76 overall) in this year's draft and picks in the first and fourth rounds in 2006 to the Broncos for the No. 25 spot. Although the price appeared steep, Gibbs pointed to a trade-value chart used by many teams that lists the No. 25 pick as worth 750 points, while the three selections that went to Denver total 715 points.
As far as whether the trade mortgages the future, Gibbs gave an answer reminiscent of former coach George Allen's "The Future Is Now" mantra.
"We're concerned about beating the people in our division right now," Gibbs said.
The Redskins need a cornerback to replace Fred Smoot, who departed during free agency. Receiver is a priority because both Laveranues Coles and Rod Gardner requested trades. Coles was sent to the New York Jets for Santana Moss, while Gardner is still on the market.
Recent speculation has the Redskins targeting quarterback Jason Campbell of Auburn. Gibbs wouldn't rule out selecting a quarterback, but he made it clear Patrick Ramsey is the starter.
"He knows where he stands with us," Gibbs said. "He's our starting quarterback. He's somebody we're counting on as the guy that takes us to the promised land."
Rather than discuss the particulars of players available this week, Gibbs, Cerrato and owner Dan Snyder spent much of their briefing talking about a string of offseason sagas that hit a new level when the team issued contradictory press releases concerning its draft plans.
On Tuesday, the Redskins were so eager to shoot down a newspaper report of a possible trade of their No. 9 selection that Cerrato issued a statement declaring: "We are not trading that pick."
Oops. That statement was misleading and might very well be wrong. Cerrato meant to say the team wasn't trading the pick to Oakland for cornerback Phillip Buchanon, who ended up going to Houston. Gibbs had to issue a new release later in the day clarifying the matter, and it gave the appearance the Redskins front office was either in disagreement or just didn't know what it was doing.
After initially blaming the media and citing the need for "fans to get the correct information," Gibbs and Cerrato on Wednesday acknowledged the team was in error.
"If some of that was confusing, I'm trying to clarify it here today," Gibbs said.
In effect, a winter of discontent has turned into a spring of disarray for the Redskins. Demands for trades from Coles and Gardner were followed by the loss of coveted players Smoot and linebacker Antonio Pierce. Then came a biting accusation against the coaching staff from star linebacker LaVar Arrington, who said his knee injury was mishandled.
In between, the team bowed to Coles and traded him to the Jets -- taking a $9.3 million salary cap hit in the process -- for receiver Santana Moss. The only trouble is that Moss and safety Sean Taylor are boycotting offseason workouts because they want new contracts.
Even so, Gibbs maintained that the Redskins' offseason dramas are par for the course among NFL teams.
"Which way are we going?" Snyder added. "We think we're going in the right direction."
edit: It would appear that...I scooped Bubba! :nana:
NFL Draft: Washington Redskins
Thursday, April 21, 2005
By Joseph White, The Associated Press
ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Redskins' tempestuous offseason reached comical proportions this week when a front office official misspoke in own press release. Much will be forgotten if the team can hit the jackpot with its two first-round draft picks.
After a trade with the Denver Broncos, the Redskins have the ninth and 25th selections in Saturday's draft. Given that they have two pressing needs -- cornerback and receiver -- they now have the flexibility to pull off whatever trades are necessary to get the player or players they want.
"We have contacted every team in front of us and behind us about moving up, moving down," vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato said yesterday. "Now, because we have the 25th pick, we have numbers of options."
The top cornerbacks available are Miami's Antrel Rolle, West Virginia's Adam "Pacman" Jones and Auburn's Carlos Rogers. Rolle will probably be gone at No. 9, leaving Jones and Rogers as the most likely choices unless the Redskins trade up.
Gauging the 25th pick is tougher. Top receiver prospects Braylon Edwards of Michigan, Mike Williams of USC, Troy Williamson of South Carolina and Mark Clayton of Oklahoma aren't expected to last that long, although Reggie Brown of Georgia or Alabama-Birmingham's Roddy White could still be around.
The depth at the positions of need are why the Redskins on Tuesday traded their third-round selection (No. 76 overall) in this year's draft and picks in the first and fourth rounds in 2006 to the Broncos for the No. 25 spot. Although the price appeared steep, Gibbs pointed to a trade-value chart used by many teams that lists the No. 25 pick as worth 750 points, while the three selections that went to Denver total 715 points.
As far as whether the trade mortgages the future, Gibbs gave an answer reminiscent of former coach George Allen's "The Future Is Now" mantra.
"We're concerned about beating the people in our division right now," Gibbs said.
The Redskins need a cornerback to replace Fred Smoot, who departed during free agency. Receiver is a priority because both Laveranues Coles and Rod Gardner requested trades. Coles was sent to the New York Jets for Santana Moss, while Gardner is still on the market.
Recent speculation has the Redskins targeting quarterback Jason Campbell of Auburn. Gibbs wouldn't rule out selecting a quarterback, but he made it clear Patrick Ramsey is the starter.
"He knows where he stands with us," Gibbs said. "He's our starting quarterback. He's somebody we're counting on as the guy that takes us to the promised land."
Rather than discuss the particulars of players available this week, Gibbs, Cerrato and owner Dan Snyder spent much of their briefing talking about a string of offseason sagas that hit a new level when the team issued contradictory press releases concerning its draft plans.
On Tuesday, the Redskins were so eager to shoot down a newspaper report of a possible trade of their No. 9 selection that Cerrato issued a statement declaring: "We are not trading that pick."
Oops. That statement was misleading and might very well be wrong. Cerrato meant to say the team wasn't trading the pick to Oakland for cornerback Phillip Buchanon, who ended up going to Houston. Gibbs had to issue a new release later in the day clarifying the matter, and it gave the appearance the Redskins front office was either in disagreement or just didn't know what it was doing.
After initially blaming the media and citing the need for "fans to get the correct information," Gibbs and Cerrato on Wednesday acknowledged the team was in error.
"If some of that was confusing, I'm trying to clarify it here today," Gibbs said.
In effect, a winter of discontent has turned into a spring of disarray for the Redskins. Demands for trades from Coles and Gardner were followed by the loss of coveted players Smoot and linebacker Antonio Pierce. Then came a biting accusation against the coaching staff from star linebacker LaVar Arrington, who said his knee injury was mishandled.
In between, the team bowed to Coles and traded him to the Jets -- taking a $9.3 million salary cap hit in the process -- for receiver Santana Moss. The only trouble is that Moss and safety Sean Taylor are boycotting offseason workouts because they want new contracts.
Even so, Gibbs maintained that the Redskins' offseason dramas are par for the course among NFL teams.
"Which way are we going?" Snyder added. "We think we're going in the right direction."
edit: It would appear that...I scooped Bubba! :nana: