Finally some good news!

SmootSmack

Pierce is saying all the right things-he wants to test the market but his first choice is Washington. That's completely understandable

All things considered, how bad has this offseason really been so far?

We've resigned Marshall. Wynn, Jansen, Thomas and it looks like Samuels have all restructured

True, Smoot may leave but Walt Harris is a proven starting CB in this league and the team is high on Garnell Wilds. We saw guys like Clark, Marshall, etc. seemingly come out of nowhere to excel in Williams' D so why not Wilds?

And yes, Coles and Gardner may both be gone but most everybody has wanted Gardner gone since week one (if not before) and let's say Coles and Gardner walk out but Mason and Mike Williams walk in? How bad would that be?

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Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I needed this...I was getting really, really down (as evidenced by my frantic posts).

Shane

I agree Smootsmack. Things are at a sensitive point right now, but I'm optimisitc. Coles could turn into John Abraham. Samuels could well resign. Gardner could turn into Troy Williamson. I don't know if we are going to be able to sign Mason, but I think we will get a free agent out there who will do good things for us. Pierce may yet resign, but we do have Barrow if he doesn't.

Then again we could lose Samuels, Pierce and Smoot. Barrow might not be able to make it back to full speed due to health. Coles could stay, and continue to have an enormously negative effect on the atmosphere of the locker room with his depression and anger.

However, I am optimistic.

Gmanc711

Maybe they can take me off life support now.... I really hope Pierce comes back here; I really dont see anyone in the market paying an amount we couldnt or wouldnt match. I still think he'll be back. Hopefully Samuels will come through again too.

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drew54

I really hope that Samuels does restructure. I actually might be able to sleep a little bit tonight as a result of this post.

I think it is also very understandable of Pierce wanting to find his true value, but just as long as his value elsewhere isnt a huge deal, and he comes back to us

Schneed10

On Samuels, I'm getting the sense that the Redskins feel they have no choice but to resign him. Samuels holds a lot of leverage:

1) Walter Jones just got 7 years, $50+ million.
2) The Coles situation figures to hit the cap a bit.
3) Keeping Pierce won't be cheap, and he will hit the market on March 2.
4) If any moves are going to be made, cap space needs to be cleared by March 2, so Samuels has the clock on his side right now.

I'm thinking the Skins know they've got to pay Samuels what he's worth and I'll bet they will end up paying a pretty penny. But they have no choice since there's only a week left to get things done, and they still have so much to deal with in Coles. Samuels will be worth a $7 or $8 million a year deal, if he gets healthy and fulfills his potential. I think the Skins will get him signed because they know they have to. Once they do that, the dominos will fall into place because signing Samuels will free up cap room, and then they'll be comfortable with signing Pierce. Then they'll see how much cap room they have left, and they can look into replacing Coles. Really, Samuels is the key, once they know how much cap room they'll save, everything else will start falling into place.

I have total faith it will all get done; I just hope Samuels justifies the big contract he's bound to get.

I'm ok with losing Smoot actually; I think Harris is better than average, and at a cap hit of $1.5 million I'd rather have him than Smoot at like $5 million. Even though I love Smoot. And smootsmack is right, Gregg Williams LOVES Garnell Wilds.

Mattyk

Everyone take a deep breathe, hold it, now release! LOL

The Coles situation has us all on edge and undertandably so, but there's alot of offseason to go, things can change from day to day, so let's just take it a day at a time.

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dirtbag2112

We absolutely need to bring Pierce back. I have confidence that Samuels will work a deal.

skinsttw

I'm thinking the Skins know they've got to pay Samuels what he's worth and I'll bet they will end up paying a pretty penny. But they have no choice since there's only a week left to get things done, and they still have so much to deal with in Coles. Samuels will be worth a $7 or $8 million a year deal, if he gets healthy and fulfills his potential. I think the Skins will get him signed because they know they have to. Once they do that, the dominos will fall into place because signing Samuels will free up cap room, and then they'll be comfortable with signing Pierce. Then they'll see how much cap room they have left, and they can look into replacing Coles. Really, Samuels is the key, once they know how much cap room they'll save, everything else will start falling into place.

I have total faith it will all get done; I just hope Samuels justifies the big contract he's bound to get.


I agree with Schneed10. Samuels will be back with a generous contract from financial necessity. Smoot will be gone. Pierce may be back-- 50/50 on him. Luckily, in Williams' scheme, you don't have to be a superstar to have success or impact.

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Daseal

Williams scheme relys on our corners being able to play man to man. If we lose Smoot - I think our defense drops 5-10 notches. Don't see the same effect without Pierce.

Mattyk

If the team absolutely needed Smoot back, I really think they would have pushed harder to get him back.

The fact that they've played hardball with him tells me Gregg Williams is comfortable with his post-Smoot plans.

There seems to be more of an emphasis on getting Pierce back and rightfully so. He's the QB of the defense and an extension of Williams.

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TheMalcolmConnection

After hearing that interview though, I definitely feel that Smoot wants to be back and what a good guy too. He says it won't take much and hopefully once these other fires are put out both sides "can sit down to the table and work it out" as he put it.

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Schneed10

Daseal, I disagree with you on the relative importance of Smoot. Walt Harris came in and did right nice when Springs went down. Don't forget, he was a starting CB for a while before he busted up his ACL in 2003. He started for the Bears and the Colts before that knee injury, and he was a first round pick of the Bears in 1996, 13th pick overall. The Redskins signed Harris to a deal with incentives based on playing time last year, knowing that they might lose Smoot. Harris is a hell of a corner, he's just been forgotten about because Peyton Manning overshadowed the D in Indy (had you heard much about Marcus Washington before the Redskins got him?) and because he had a busted knee.

Smoot is great and I love him to death, will be sorry to see him go. But Pierce is much more important on the D. Like Matty said, the dude is absolutely brilliant in football 101. You see him calling out adjustments before the snap all the time, running up and slapping the D-line's ass telling them to slide left, slide right. That's him recognizing formations and offensive tendencies thanks to film study and a diagnosing what he's seeing really quickly. You never saw Trotter doing that stuff with the Skins, and that likely was a big reason why the D was terrible. The Eagles have Dawkins to make those calls, that's why Trotter is successful in Philly, he doesn't have to think. We need Pierce to be the QB of the defense.

Now, Barrow filled that QB of the D role when he played for Williams previously. He is another real smart one. But Barrow's football intelligence doesn't do you much good if his knee won't let him on the field.

We need Pierce much more than Smoot.