Archuleta traded to Bears for 6th round pick

I wonder what this means for Mike Brown?

I may have missed it somewhere, but who will be the SS?

Wow! Talk about a relief! I'm feeling much better about this defense each day! I just hope we are able to keep Springs as well. With PP hopefully being healthy and the us getting OS back, I think we should be set in the secondary.

You don't typically get a third rounder for a bench player with a bad back.

This is as good as it gets for us.


I was joking. I should have said a second rounder to make it more clear.

I may have missed it somewhere, but who will be the SS?

Pierson Prioleau most likely, unless we pickup someone else.

Regarding Archuleta's contract, did you guys notice that his deal with Chicago will include $5 million in guarantees? So says the ESPN article.

$5 million is exactly what we owed him tomorrow when the second half of his guaranteed money was due to him.

I await the numbers from La Canfora, but I'd venture to guess that somehow the Skins managed to transfer that $5 million payment over to the Bears. If true, the 'Skins would be taking a $4 million dead cap hit this year on Archuleta, meaning making the trade only ate up $1.7 million of incremental cap space, meaning we'd be sitting here with about $8 million in 2007 cap space.

Maybe CC knows if such a transfer of guaranteed payments can be done under the new collective bargaining agreement?

It bears watching. But if I had to bet, I'd guess that we are not eating the full $9 million in dead cap money. I think we probably got out of some of that somehow.

Curious that all rumblings regarding Dre Bly have been silent to this point... if we've resolved Archuleta without taking a huge cap hit from him then the door is open for Mr. Bly.

ALL SPECULATION ON MY PART. But my speculation is probably more accurate than anything on PFT!

Sounds like the 5 mil we owed got passed on to them and they probably redid his deal so he still got it but in broken up bonuses over the next few years. This way he doesn't take a salary cut really and we don't take the 5 mil cap hit.

I am pretty sure this deal wouldn't have happened unless Snyder could avoid paying him the 5 mil. He'd be paying 5 mil to a guy he was getting rid of. If they HAD to pay the 5 mil there's just no way they get rid of him. They use him as a damn tackling dummy at the very least to get some value.

Pierson Prioleau most likely, unless we pickup someone else.

PP was supposed to start last year. The reason Arch looked so bad was that his role changed on the first play of the year. He became the every down safety when he was only supposed to be a deep LB for us.

Good riddance you loser!! You were the worst Redskins of all-time! I bet the loser will be riding the Bears sideline just like he did this past season.

PP was supposed to start last year. The reason Arch looked so bad was that his role changed on the first play of the year. He became the every down safety when he was only supposed to be a deep LB for us.

Which ultimately to me is the biggest cause for concern. I mean, why sign him to such a big deal to be a part-time LB? Doesn't add up

Either way, time to move on for both parties. Though now I'm guessing we will start enduring years of "Why did we let Arch go?" threads. He will now join the Ex-Redskins Hall of Fame along with Arrington and Ramsey I'm sure.

Does The Arch Trade Make Sense To You?
Sorry for the delayed post. I had to make a bunch of calls and write the story for the print edition of the paper and am just getting to this now. Okay, so what I have heard so far is that the Skins get rid of Arch Deluxe for a 6th round pick. They part with someone who, while he stunk last year along with just about everyone else on D, was someome that at least a few front office people in that building believed could have contributed to 2007 in a role more suited to his skillset.

They get back a pick that, judging by the Skins past drafting history, won't be here very long. It's also the third time in recent years they trade someone picked in the first round for a sixth round pick (Patrick Ramsey and Gardner, Rod, anyone?). As one member of the organization put it last night, "When are we ever going to win one of these trades?"

So, instead of The Snyder just cutting this guy a check for $5 million like he promised to do in the original deal (and $$$ is no object right, because Dan is willing to out-spend everyone else, right?) , keeping Arch Deluxe around for insurance, and having him count $2.4 million against the cap, they will likely have him count $4 million in dead cap money on the cap instead (barring any other pre-trade restructurings I am not aware of at this time).

So, in that case he'll count $1.6 million more in dead cap than he would have to simply play here? Interesting.

So, the Redskins gave him $5.6 million for one season, 2006, in which he started just seven games, but the Bears, in a system they know the guy has thrived in in the past, will likely have him counting $1.6 against their cap in 2007.

So the Skins would have him count more than twice against their cap this season NOT TO BE HERE than the Bears will to have him be on the field. Alrighty then.

Okay, the Redskins do get him off the books after 2007, but at what price? Would it have killed them to have kept him around for another year?


Yes, he would count much more against the cap to cut a year from now - so in that regard they save some 2008 cap space - but people in the building also thought he could contribute something in a revamped role and had planned on him being back. With Prioleau back as a cover corner and with the team's cornerback depth finally adequate (can you believe Speed-Rumph actually got another NFL contract?) Arch might have shown something if they could use him as originally planned.

Now, what the Redskins (and by Redskins I mean Snyder and Gibbs) would likely tell you in their defense if they could - and they won't because it would come off as airing dirty laundry - is that people in upper management were convinced that AD was the source for the ESPN article, that he didn't want to be here and that it was time for him to move on. There were also concerns after, sources said, Arch had minor surgery on his ankle in San Francisco this offseason by a specialist he found on his own. He had a bone spur removed and people in Arch's camp have told some they believe the player had an overlooked small stress fracture perhaps; the Redskins were unsure the surgery was necessary at first, if at all, and was just one of a bunch of issues the sides didn't seem to agree on (although that's often the case between players and teams in the NFL in 2007. That's the way it goes).

However, AD also handled the situation with class for much of the season during which he was humiliated and made to be the scapegoat for a defense that had serious issues well beyond him alone. He wasn't causing problems in the locker room and he didn't pout like he could have. His teammates weren't complaining about him and many were as puzzled and you and I about the entire affair.

Was it a perfect marriage? Far from it.

Does this trade make any sense? I don't know, you tell me how it makes them a better team.

Would another year of rebuilding fences and trying to rebuild his confidence in a role he is familiar with been a viable option? Seems like it wouldn't have been the worst idea in the world to me.

Does this trade - a move, like all with the Redskins is purely the domain of Coach Joe and The Snyder - have more to do with non-football issues than what would purely make the most sense from a depth and roster standpoint? Smells that way to me.

Regardless, Arch Deluxe will now undoubtedly go down as the poster boy for the 2006 Redskins and their silly spending, much like Deion did for the 2000 flops. But come on, did Lloyd really do anything more than Arch to merit his $5 million bonus getting picked up lickety split? And, should they actually end up getting Calvin Johnson in the draft, wouldn't Lloyd look much more like surplus to requirements (I love the Brits) than Arch Deluxe did to this safety corps?

Okay, that's a lot of questions I've thrown at ya. My guess is the team will merely put out a press release and move on. when we eventually get a chance to press Coach Joe on the trade he'll say that they did what they thought made sense for the team and for Adam and tried to accommodate the player. And that'll be the end of it.

But it seems awful strange to me. I just don't think The Snyder wanted to cut the dude the check. And that's certainly his prerogative. But that's not how it'll be spun.

Anyway, the Skins have been talking to Omar Stoutmire from what I hear and he got favorable reviews inside the organization and would come pretty cheap I imagine. He could sign here in the next few days providing depth at safety. As for the trade, they have some procedural matters to finalize and Arch will take a physical (may have already done it, not sure). Despite the business with his ankle he passed the Skins physical and I would imagine the Bears would have been fully informed of his offseason procedure before making the trade, so I can't foresee any problems with that.

By Jason La Canfora | March 20, 2007; 10:34 PM ET
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