Redskins trade for Jason Taylor (updated)

And if this happens Week 3, then he'd probably get that chance, but day 2 of training camp when there is a better option out there at a reasonable price, you take the better option.

If you're driving a '00 Jetta that breaks down and you have the option for a free '04 Dodge Neon or a '02 Mercedes for $1,000 that you have to spend, are you taking the '04 Dodge Neon? Sure it gets you from A to B, but it's a friggin Dodge Neon and the Benz is a better car than you had initially and is affordable. I know that's not a direct comparison but c'mon dude, wake up..

I'll take the Benz.

YES!!!!! Do you guys not comprehend the concept of backups? There's no team that has 30 starting caliber players! There are starters and backups. Like there are bosses and secretaries. Not everyone is at the level to be a starter in the NFL. For whatever reason-lack of strength, speed, stamina, whatever-Evans is NOT a starter in the NFL.

Of couse I do. Last year the back up QB for this team played better than the starter. Ryan Grant came in off the bench and played better than any the GB starters. Betts came in and played just as good as Portis did in 06. Willie Parker was undrafted FA and came in off the bench when Bettis got hurt. Tom Brady came in for Bledsoe. Need I go on???? Cause I could be here all day talking about back-ups who just needed a chance.

My point is every single year a back-up or an unknown player comes in and shocks everyone. Derek Anderson is another the perfect example.

And if this happens Week 3, then he'd probably get that chance, but day 2 of training camp when there is a better option out there at a reasonable price, you take the better option.

If you're driving a '00 Jetta that breaks down and you have the option for a free '04 Dodge Neon or a '02 Mercedes for $1,000 that you have to spend, are you taking the '04 Dodge Neon? Sure it gets you from A to B, but it's a friggin Dodge Neon and the Benz is a better car than you had initially and is affordable. I know that's not a direct comparison but c'mon dude, wake up..I just think the team is overvaluing it's chances of competing this season.

And yes, those chances just got significantly better. But I think we can agree that this move, in the long run, is probably costing the team a win or two (or perhaps less than a win, if you're optimistic about Taylor's abilities). But the NFC East is at it's all time high point this year. Anyone can take it, and there are three other teams around who are looking to make this 1-2 year rental of Jason Taylor a total waste for us, no matter how well he plays.

I'm not telling the team not to be competitive here, I think we have the talent to win the thing if everything breaks right, but I wish they'd be smarter about it, and not willingly offer something significant into a buyers market.

One thing I will point out is that Vinny Cerrato is confident that Jason Taylor will not only play out the contract, but probably even extended in Washington. If that happens, how will your opinion change?

NOTE: I do disagree with you on this issue, but this post is not an attack. I find your use of metric intriguing and would like to know your answer on this subject.

As an aside: are you a baseball fan at all? Just wondering because metrics are used heavily in player evaluation in baseball.Yeah, I'm a baseball fan. I'm very familiar with baseball metrics, and use them often, though I find that I don't learn from them in baseball nearly as much as football. Things tend to be more obvious in baseball.

I think we might be best off with Taylor retiring in a year or two. He's playing at a high level right now, but we don't want him to be playing that twilight stage of his career year, I'd rather see him go out at the top of his game, whenever that may be.

The only thing we are guaranteed is this season. Vinny seems pretty confident that Taylor will come back in 2009, but a lot can change between now and then.

IMO, keeping him beyond 2009 is a separate issue from trading for him. As long as he's producing, I'd like to see him stay, but when he stops producing, the team needs to cut it's losses and move on quickly.

I feel confident that he'll give us a good year this season. After that, I'm really not so sure. Steve McNair gave the Ravens only one good season, but the difference is that they didn't trade a second rounder for him (they gave up a 4th, i think).

Of couse I do. Last year the back up QB for this team played better than the starter. Ryan Grant came in off the bench and played better than any the GB starters. Betts came in and played just as good as Portis did in 06. Willie Parker was undrafted FA and came in off the bench when Bettis got hurt. Tom Brady came in for Bledsoe. Need I go on???? Cause I could be here all day talking about back-ups who just needed a chance.

My point is every single year a back-up or an unknown player comes in and shocks everyone. Derek Anderson is another the perfect example.

Brodie Croyle came in for Damon Huard. Andrew Walter came in for the Raiders a couple of years ago. Cedric Benson came in after the Thomas Jones trade. Gus Frerotte came in for Marc Bulger. Josh Beck came in for Cleo Lemon. Need I go on?

I'm not saying Evans couldn't have done anything, but let's not get carried away and act like every back up who stepped into a starting role became an All-Pro.

Interesting tidbit: Taylor has more career interceptions and passes defensed than Carlos Rogers. In fact, since Rogers came into the league (i.e. over the last three years), he only has 4 more passes defensed and one more interception than Taylor. I find that interesting for a DE.

If we make the playoffs this year, I think the move will justify itself. If we don't make the playoffs, then it probably wasn't a good idea.
Jim Zorn: Vinny, we just lost Daniels for the year and Buzbee is gone too. What do we do? We need a decision pretty quickly on the Jason Taylor thing because as other injuries pile up across the league the Fins will have other offers.

Vinny: Jim, if I get JT, can you tell me we'll make the playoffs? If you tell me we'll definitely make the playoffs, then OK. If not, then this may be a bad idea.

Jim Zorn: ?????

Nothing like hedging your bets. Unfortunately VC needs to make the best decision based on the information at hand and the current situation. If he has JT's word that he'll play at least two more seasons, there is no reason not to make this happen, based on our situation at DE.

Yeah, I'm a baseball fan. I'm very familiar with baseball metrics, and use them often, though I find that I don't learn from them in baseball nearly as much as football. Things tend to be more obvious in baseball.

I think we might be best off with Taylor retiring in a year or two. He's playing at a high level right now, but we don't want him to be playing that twilight stage of his career year, I'd rather see him go out at the top of his game, whenever that may be.

The only thing we are guaranteed is this season. Vinny seems pretty confident that Taylor will come back in 2009, but a lot can change between now and then.

IMO, keeping him beyond 2009 is a separate issue from trading for him. As long as he's producing, I'd like to see him stay, but when he stops producing, the team needs to cut it's losses and move on quickly.

I feel confident that he'll give us a good year this season. After that, I'm really not so sure. Steve McNair gave the Ravens only one good season, but the difference is that they didn't trade a second rounder for him (they gave up a 4th, i think).

I see what you're saying, I was mostly just interested in getting your opinion.

If we stay with an aggressive Cover 1 as our base D with the SS close to the LOS, this scheme should be fine against the run and will cover Taylor. We have needs to replace Griffen and with Rocky's knees, but the injury to Daniels did nothing to increase or decrease those needs.

We did? When?

Campbell - dislocated kneecap
Carlos Rogers - torn ACL & MCL
Thomas - torn tricep
Jansen - broken ankle
Washington - dislocated elbow
Daniels - foot
Moss - groin, heel
Thrash - ankle

The training staff couldn't do anything to prevent the above injuries. Moss has had injury issues with his hammy in the past. There were some guys with hammy issues, but none missed any significant time or more than one game. I'm sure we had no more of a problem with this than any other team. Since the training staff is not restricted by $$$ or cap, you can be sure the Skins have one of the best staffs in the NFL. Not a fair attack on the training staff IMO.

Good points about the defense. I'm sure Greg Blache will find a scheme to stop the run, much in the way GW had to find a scheme to generate a pass rushin years past. That Cover 1 should do the trick.

Very good point about the training staff. Snyder made the hamstring issues a point of emphasis and hired someone to take care of that. You did a great job of showing the various bad breaks we had last year, but ligaments and tendons can't be "trained" to prevent injury, beyond the stretching regimens they already do. As a victim of two achilles tears (basketball) I can tell you that there is no rhyme nor reason to these things, much like you can't prevent ACL tears. You can limit players exposure to injury, but at the end of the day these guys are doing things the human body just wasn't really designed to do, so these types of injuries will occur.

One thing's for sure. Football is back and we've got some great discussions going on right now.