2013 FA Thread (Updates on OP) New: Merling, Brace, Pashos, Trueblood, EJBig, Tapp, White, Williams, MATTHEWS; Re-up: Rex, Hall, Davis, Paulsen, DY, RJax, Lich, Sundberg, Baker, Sav, Golston, Kehl, Polumbus; Paycuts: Carriker, Moss, BMeri, J. Wilson

[JamesMadisonSkins]

Well to be fair, losing solid contributors and team leaders like Moss, Fletcher bringing in a high priced FA S and asking 5 players to restructure, your scenario seem much more drastic to me.

But, I like the Casey move. TE is an area I forgot to address. I would look at Delanie Walker depending on cost.
Would also look at the odd man out between NT/DE Ricky Jean Francois and Isaac Sopoaga

Okay, fair enough. That being said, we faced a similar situation last year and we managed to get far enough under/maneuver the cap enough to go get some decent free agents (Garcon, Morgan, Meriweather, T. Jackson, M. Williams, C. Griffin). Yes, Byrd will get a LOT of money, more likely than not. But the Redskins were able to dole out a $48 million deal to Garcon last year, and Byrd is the FS version of Garcon IMO. If the FO could pull that off last year, I imagine they could do the same this year. Yes, they were prevented from going "all out" but they were efficient and effective with their signings. I would expect them to get under and be pretty active this year and that would mean restructuring quite a few deals. I can't imagine the team will keep moss at $6 million when they can draft a WR in the 3rd and save $3.5 million in doing so plus get younger. I get the "report" Moss has with RGIII, but he's going to be 34 and at some point the training wheels come off for Griffin and he needs to be able to build a report with other guys, mainly ones closer to his age!

As for Fletch ... the guy is so banged up ... he wasn't even practicing for much of the year ... and he's a very smart guy ... he will know if it's time to hang it up ... and I'm sure a nice transitional position is there for his taking with the organization if he chooses to do so, as he can remain close to this rebuild that he was a part of ... he could fill in Phil's position.

The restructures seem drastic, but I would imagine you would see Cofield restructured before you see Bowen released. Bowen has been a very solid player for us and worth what we're paying him ... releasing him and drafting a DL in the 3rd/4th round just takes away a chance to fill one of the holes elsewhere on the team. Just my 2 cents though, I certainly value your opinions.

[VaK9Trainer]

I'm still holding out hope that we get at least SOME of our Cap Space back. Bruce seemed to allude to that as a possibility in his last interview.

[darrelgreenie]

Okay, fair enough. That being said, we faced a similar situation last year and we managed to get far enough under/maneuver the cap enough to go get some decent free agents (Garcon, Morgan, Meriweather, T. Jackson, M. Williams, C. Griffin).

But net-net was the FA haul that great? Other then Garcon it was very questionable.

I like Byrd but on the whole I think the team should use the draft to build. Therefore as a rule I'm against signing big name FA every offseason.

I can't imagine the team will keep moss at $6 million when they can draft a WR in the 3rd and save $3.5 million in doing so plus get younger. I get the "report" Moss has with RGIII, but he's going to be 34 and at some point the training wheels come off for Griffin and he needs to be able to build a report with other guys, mainly ones closer to his age!

To each their own. But, I'm not comfortable trading Moss production to gamble on a rookie or Hankerson or Morgan being able to fill the void. I don't want to take away any pieces of our offense.

As for Fletch ... the guy is so banged up ... he wasn't even practicing for much of the year ... and he's a very smart guy ...

139 tackles 5 INTS 1 FF 11 PD 3 Sacks
Team leader. Pro-Bowl alternate.

Bowen has been a very solid player for us and worth what we're paying him ... releasing him and drafting a DL in the 3rd/4th round just takes away a chance to fill one of the holes elsewhere on the team. Just my 2 cents though, I certainly value your opinions.

Bowen has been good, especially against the run. But, he's a non-factor in pass rush and imo his production is easily replaced by Jenkins, Carriker and maybe even upgraded with the addition of pass rushing DT in a DL deep draft. In effect my view of Bowen is like your view of Moss.

Good discussion though.
You pumped up for the combine yet?

[Momma There Goes That Man]

That all sounds too drastic ...
Starting Cap: $104.2 million ($1.3 million over)

Cuts: Santana Moss, Jamaal Brown --- saves $6 million
Retire: London Fletcher --- saves $4 million
Restructure: D. Hall, Trent Williams, Barry Cofield, Josh Wilson (extend), Brian Orakpo (extend) --- Saves $12.5 million

I really like both yours and DG's ideas for the offseason. It is pretty interesting to see the different ways to go about shaping up the team though for yours, instead of signing Byrd to a big deal I would rather just go after Lynch and use the extra money to keep Moss on board at a largely reduced rate. I would reduce his role in the offense and really let Morgan, Hank and rookie attempt to shine but we still have Moss on board if those guys aren't up to the challenge. It also might free up some money elsewhere.

Also you left off Merling from the DL section right? That makes 9 people in a 3-4 DL rotation so we will be freeing up some money somewhere in there too when we let people go. For starters I don't know that Gholston needs to be back. He's pretty much meh.

[HighOnHendrix]

I get the "report" Moss has with RGIII, but he's going to be 34 and at some point the training wheels come off for Griffin and he needs to be able to build a report with other guys, mainly ones closer to his age!

I think rapport is the word you're looking for.

I agree about Fletcher, he'll know when it's time. He's close to the end though, no question. I'm the same age as him and I work warehouse. Started as a picker stacking up heavy boxes all day (ok, nite) long, went to driving forklift for a few years, then back to picking at 35. My body wouldn't take it after the first few months back, I felt beat up all the time; even after a long weekend I wasn't recovered. I did that for two more years and found my way into a less physical job because I knew I just couldn't take it anymore; what had been easy when I was 25 was now grueling. Will probably be much the same for him. I just hope the organization has someone ready to fill that spot when it comes open; I'd hate to see a mad scramble when it's easily foreseeable.

---------- Post added February-18th-2013 at 03:24 PM ----------

For starters I don't know that Gholston needs to be back. He's pretty much meh.

Seems like Brace is going to be the "younger, better" him, no?

[Alcoholic Zebra]

Bowen is definitely not a non-factor with the pass rush. After Orakpo went down, I felt like Bowen was the most double teamed guy on passing downs. Kerrigan did not see a big double team increase from 2011 to 2012, the doubles went elsewhere. I see absolutely no reason to cut him in favor of not cutting other guys. We had a big d-line injury in 2011 (Jenkins), and a big one in 2012 (Carriker). If we cut Bowen then where is our much needed depth? Brace and Merling are not in the caliber we need, they may not even make the team.

It makes more sense to cut guys like Hall or Moss than it does Bowen.

[pjfootballer]

But net-net was the FA haul that great? Other then Garcon it was very questionable.

I like Byrd but on the whole I think the team should use the draft to build. Therefore as a rule I'm against signing big name FA every offseason.

To each their own. But, I'm not comfortable trading Moss production to gamble on a rookie or Hankerson or Morgan being able to fill the void. I don't want to take away any pieces of our offense.

Good discussion though.

I think we did the best we could with 18 million taken away. I think it will be much easier to sign guys knowing the penalty will be off the books in year 2 of any contract signed by free agents, whereas them signing last year, it would be the 3rd year before the penalties were taken away.

We have to use free agency in addition to the draft. Using free agency under Vinny was idiotic, but using free agency under Shanallen, has proven to be alot smarter. I'd be all for signing Byrd if he fits the criteria that the FO has unofiicially put out about signing guys in the 25-28 range, not taxing the cap in future years and making sure they fit our style of offense/defense.

I'd keep Moss, but not at the $6 million price tag. He has to restructure or find work elsewhere. Bowen is a classic 3-4 guy that fits in well with what we want to do. I'm not sure I'd want to bring in yet "another" rookie to fill his shoes. Next year will be the year in which Bowen could be a cap casualty or have to restructure.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Bowen is definitely not a non-factor with the pass rush. After Orakpo went down, I felt like Bowen was the most double teamed guy on passing downs. Kerrigan did not see a big double team increase from 2011 to 2012, the doubles went elsewhere. I see absolutely no reason to cut him in favor of not cutting other guys. We had a big d-line injury in 2011 (Jenkins), and a big one in 2012 (Carriker). If we cut Bowen then where is our much needed depth? Brace and Merling are not in the caliber we need, they may not even make the team.

It makes more sense to cut guys like Hall or Moss than it does Bowen.

In principal yes, but there is already a lot of money tied up in the D-line with Carriker and Cofield and Bowen. Hall will restucture down to where we need him so he is not really a concern and you can't cut him without a suitable replacement. Moss is debatable as well but we may have to let someone like Bowen go and trust the depth to step up so we have money to improve places that don't have the depth the DL does or even adequate starters.

[darrelgreenie]

Bowen is definitely not a non-factor with the pass rush. After Orakpo went down, I felt like Bowen was the most double teamed guy on passing downs. Kerrigan did not see a big double team increase from 2011 to 2012, the doubles went elsewhere. I see absolutely no reason to cut him in favor of not cutting other guys. We had a big d-line injury in 2011 (Jenkins), and a big one in 2012 (Carriker). If we cut Bowen then where is our much needed depth? Brace and Merling are not in the caliber we need, they may not even make the team.

It makes more sense to cut guys like Hall or Moss than it does Bowen.

Well we disagree right off the bat. I don't feel like Bowens gets doubled much at all. He hasn't proven himself a disruptive force when being single blocked so why would they double him and Cofield? I don't mean that as slight either most 34 DL aren't good pass rushers.
Cofield is our DL that gets doubled and can penetrate other then him all our DL are more or less interchangeable imo; Bowens just cost more. I don't see why not Jenkins and Carriker couldn't easily replace Bowen. And we may even be able to add a pass rushing DL in this draft because its deep at DL. All things being equal I would rather cut Carriker but the way I understand it the cap savings are greater if we cut Bowen.

[JamesMadisonSkins]

I think rapport is the word you're looking for.

Ugh, yes, ever since Colbert started using Report and pronouncing it rapport I've been all kinds of confused by the word. Thanks for the fix.

Brace and Merling may make Golston expendable, but I'm not sure those two are any more than camp bodies. Just won't know until you get some notes from mini camps to get a feel for who's stepping up, etc. Bottom line ... I can't see us addressing DL any time before the 6th round unless it's a NT like Kwame Geathers in the 5th. Just can't see another valuable pick being spent there. Next year, yes. When Bowen, Cofield and Carriker are a year further into their deals and candidates for restructure, I can certainly see going DE or NT in the 2nd or 3rd or both, but I think we can go another year before starting to fill the talent back into the DL ... we are just two off-seasons away from making it a priority.

Also, let's not forget that Cofield/Bowen/Carriker were all brought in at the beginning or the cusp of their prime. We did not sign them to deals to use them for 2 years then release them. I'm sure we'll look to inject more youth into the DL in next year's draft just to spell them as they "age" (push toward 30), but I think we are pretty well set on the DL. The only thing I could think of that we are missing is a pure meaty NT ... but Cofield has played very well in that role, and I think you can get by with him there until you get to a point where you can address it via the draft without sacrificing another position.

[UK SKINS FAN '74]

All things being equal I would rather cut Carriker but the way I understand it the cap savings are greater if we cut Bowen.

I'm not sure they are DG. Cutting Carriker will save ~$3m whilst cutting Bowen will save less than $1m per warpath. Bowen picked up a $7.5m signing bonus here with still 3 years left to run on that. Thats a $4.5m hit (3/5th) straight up on release. There's a bit more to add on for a sundry 2012 bonus with of 400k with 3/4's left to pro-rate. I understand that to be the $4.8m release fee per this data ;

http://www.thewarpath.net/WarpathRedskinsCap.htm

[darrelgreenie]

I'm not sure they are DG. Cutting Carriker will save ~$3m whilst cutting Bowen will save less than $1m per warpath. Bowen picked up a $7.5m signing bonus here with still 3 years left to run on that. Thats a $4.5m hit (3/5th) straight up on release. There's a bit more to add on for a sundry 2012 bonus with of 400k with 3/4's left to pro-rate. I understand that to be the $4.8m release fee per this data ;

http://www.thewarpath.net/WarpathRedskinsCap.htm

Thanks for the clarification, I was leaning towards cutting Carriker anyway because he's coming off injury but wasn't sure about the cap savings. If you're right an he saves 3 mil then the decision is easy for me.

---------- Post added February-18th-2013 at 04:36 PM ----------

CUTS:
Meriweather
Brown
Adam Carriker

Projected Savings - $12.+? million

Restructuring:Hall
Projected Savings - $3 million

Retiring:
none

Total Cap Room (adding the $4 million we are over): $17 million



Redskins free agents who re-sign:
Kehl
Polumbus
Jackson
Alexander

Total spent - $5.5 million


Redskins un-restricted free agents who we tender:
Baker
Paulsen

Total spent - $2 million


Total left for free agents and draft picks: $16.5 million


Free Agent Signings:
Corey Lynch 3 year 3-4 ?
Total - the above million

Money left to sign draft picks and un-drafted free agents: $8.5 million



NFL Draft:
2nd: Eric Reid S
3rd: Slyvester Williams DE
4th: Zaviar Gooden ILB
5th: Chris Harper WR
5th: Reid Fragel OT
6th: Cierre Wood RB
7th: Shamarko Thomas SAF

[RWJ]

DG, nice plan from above but what about the punter position?

[Laxpunk2006]

Redskins free agents who re-sign:
Kehl
Polumbus
Jackson
Alexander

Total spent - $5.5 million

Are you expecting Young to get an offer we can't afford to match or is he just not a priority? If I'm Mike/Bruce he's near the top of my list.

[DC9]

Are you expecting Young to get an offer we can't afford to match or is he just not a priority? If I'm Mike/Bruce he's near the top of my list.

He's restricted also. Kyle said he was the best fullback in the NFL, too. DY isn't going anywhere.