When the Redskins signed Larry Johnson last week, they went into the deal with their eyes wide open as evidenced by the three year deal that is short on salary ($3.5 million) and long on incentives (up to $8.5 million). Here’s my breakdown of the risks and rewards:
Hicks brings versatility to O-line
Artis Hicks came into the league as a left tackle and has started games there, at right guard and at right tackle. Is the the Redskins’ fallback plan at left tackle for the 2010 season?
CSN: Hicks Brings Versatility To Redskins’ O-line
Snyder hits back at Emmitt
Yesterday, to fill time while we were waiting for the Redskins to sign Julius Peppers, John Keim posted this article about Emmitt Smith getting great pleasure out of beating the Redskins because he didn’t like Dan Snyder. Here’s the money quote:
“I loved defeating the Redskins. I loved it, I loved it, I loved it with a passion. And I loved it more when Daniel Snyder got the team, for a number of reasons. I did. Because here is a guy who thought he could build a football team just because he has the money to buy players. There’s more to it than that. And he’s not a compassionate person, not a compassionate person at all from what I understand.
No big deal, just an ex player taking a gratuitous shot.
Well, evidently Snyder took it to be a big deal. He made a statement on the matter and He had his PR staff email it out. Here it is, in its entirety.
“I applaud Emmitt Smith’s induction into the NFL Hall of Fame and, from what I understand, he’s a heck of a dancer. I think we’ve only met once briefly at an NFL function in 2000. I will say, however, that I like to think of myself as being a compassionate person, except toward the Dallas Cowboys.”
Certainly a harmless statement but kind of dumb. The best way to handle something like what Emmitt said is to just ignore it. And if you’re going to try to be funny, get better comedy writers.
This comes in the wake of a more lengthy press release last week that was issues to deny a report that he had spent an obscene amount of money on a pair a alligator desks.
Well, perhaps the fact that Snyder’s mind is on minor PR flaps is a good thing. At least he’s not spending his time in the film room or with the coaching staff “helping” them to formulate their draft board and free agency plans.
Williams, Daniels, Alexander are back
A day after whacking 10 players off of the roster the Washington Redskins brought back a few other players who had become free agents due to natural causes. The team confirmed the signings of three players to multi-year contracts:
Lorenzo Alexander will move from the defensive line, where he played both tackle and end, to a spot as a reserve outside linebacker. He’s also a special teams demon and a good locker room presence. He signed a three-year contract. The Redskins had assigned him a free agent tender that would have given them the right of first refusal had the received a contract offer.
How the Redskins will fill the holes
In releasing 10 players on Thursday, the Redskins cleared their roster of some $30 million in 2010 salary. They also have some key contributors from last season still unsigned. As a result, there are some holes in the roster that will need to be filled either in free agency or in the April draft. Here are the players released and what the Redskins might do to replace them.
Update: Defensive end Phillip Daniels has agreed to a two-year contract, terms undisclosed.
Running backs Rock Cartwright, Ladell Betts, and Marcus Mason—This leaves the Redskins undermanned at running back, or so it appears. Clinton Portis, as Bruce Allen stated last night, is the starter. However, could be one concussion away from spending all of his days at South Beach and he may not have enough left in the tank to be a workhorse running back in any case. Quinton Ganther showed some flashes but at best he appears to be more of a complimentary back. Anthony Alridge’s upside appears to be a good third-down back. The Redskins will be looking for at least one, maybe two more backs. One could be a free agent such as Chester Taylor and another could come in the latter stages of the draft. Devin Thomas is likely to replace Cartwright as the kickoff returner.
Black Thursday for 10 Redskins
The ax is falling at Redskins Park and it’s falling hard and often. Here is a look at the players released to day with more to come:
Rock Cartwright
Cartwright was a seventh-round draft pick of the team in 2002. He wasn’t expected to make the team and he wasn’t expected to stick when he did. But he stuck around long enough to play in 123 games. He did it by doing whatever the coaches asked him to and they asked him to do a lot on special teams and, last year, he was a captain of that unit.
Cartwright is 30 and he was due to be paid $1.5 million in 2010. You can do the math and see why those numbers add up to him being released.
Before being released on Wednesday, he told the Washington Examiner, “If my career is over, I’ve enjoyed it and it’s time to move on.”
Is the ‘for sale’ sign up on No. 17?
Per Adam Schefter of NFL Network, the Washington Redskins have assigned a first-round tender offer to quarterback Jason Campbell. If he plays under the offer, he will earn about $3.1 million in 2010.
What is interesting is that the team chose not to add some $100,000 to the tender to bump it up on one that would give the Redskins first- and third-round picks as compensation should they choose not to match an offer sheet for Campbell. Movement for a first-round pick is rare, movement for a first and third is unheard of.
Since the tender had to be at least 100% of his 2009 salary, the tender offer is the minimum that they could pay him and still maintain his rights. Continue reading →
Redskins put road block on Highway 74
Stephon Heyer also received a second-round tender. That seems high but consider that if they had tendered him at the next-lowest level that would have meant compensation at the original round in which the player was drafted. Since Heyer was an undrafted free agent that would have meant that they had just right of first refusal.
Now one would ask why the Redskins would want to get in the way of Heyer’s departure. He was one of the worst pass-blocking guards tackles in the league last year (giving him the well-earned moniker “Highway 74″ after the path defenders took to Jason Campbell). At 6-6, 330 he’s not exactly suited for a zone-blocking scheme.
The only thing that I can think of is that the coaches still are evaluating the current roster and they haven’t gotten to the “H” file on offense.
Nonsense from SI’s Don Banks
The Washington Redskins have a reputation for being free spenders in free agency. That reputation is well justified. But sometimes reputation get blown to mythological proportions. At that point, people who know better such as Don Banks, a longtime writer at sports illustrated, say things that are both silly and false.
Consider the following that Banks banged out in an article on possible destinations for the top 10 free agents:
Julius Peppers, defensive end
Where he will sign: Washington — The Redskins are poised to come after the ex-Panthers franchise player with their go-to combination of Daniel Snyder’s private jet and a Brink’s truck, which seems to work every time. Washington has been signing the biggest available fish in free agency for so long now we really can’t remember when the Redskins weren’t the market setters.
Emphasis added because that’s the statement that we’re going to examine here. Take a look back over the past six years after the jump:
Two more defenders get 2nd round tenders
The Redskins have locked up two more defenders for the 2010 season by offering second-round tenders to safety Reid Doughty and linebacker Rocky McIntosh. That gives them the same $1.759 million salary for 2010 as Kedric Golston will get and it gives them the right to either match any offer they receive from another team or accept a second-round pick as compensation.
Here are the other Redskins who are awaiting tender offers. Any player with from three to five years of experience who is not offered a tender by midnight on Thursday will become an unrestricted free agent.
DT Lorenzo Alexander
QB Jason Campbell
OT Stephon Heyer
DT Anthony Montgomery
G Will Montgomery
CB Carlos Rogers
LB Chris Wilson
