ESPN: Nate Clements in Redskins' plans?

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I don't know the answer at this point - Rogers has quietly had a much better second half of the season.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Springs has played much of the second half of the season. I also imagine benching Archuleta factored into helping Rogers

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

I don't think it's a coincidence that Springs has played much of the second half of the season. I also imagine benching Archuleta factored into helping Rogers

Yeah this is a good point. The safeties have gotten their act together once Archuleta was benched and Taylor and Fox/Vincent had some time to get on the same page.

You wonder if GW and Jerry Gray were instructing Rogers to give a big cushion early on in the season because they knew with Prioleau out and Archuleta so crappy, they needed Carlos to guard against the deep ball. I certainly never saw GW get all pissed at Rogers on the sideline for giving a huge cushion. That's the great thing about football, it's such a team sport. When one link is weak (ahem, Archuleta) it makes the rest of the links look bad. Would Rogers have needed to give the huge cushion if Ryan Clark were retained? Would Rogers have looked that bad?

Of course that doesn't explain why Rogers would bite on all those double moves earlier in the year. And with Springs out, regardless of cushions, he did show that he can't cover a #1 WR yet. He did need to improve on some things, and I think he has to some extent. Plus the safeties are now playing better.

I can see Matty's point, I don't think we can be completely confident with just him and Springs. We need to bring someone in who can compete at the same level, if not better. Fox and Vincent have done an admirable fill-in job, but what we really need to focus on is improving the SS position. I'll bet Rogers and Springs will both look a ton better with a better SS in the fold with some range and the ability to communicate with ST. So maybe like Matty said, you bring in that new CB and let Springs play SS. That strengthens all the links in the secondary's chain, and all of a sudden they may all look better.

Or maybe you get serious about a SS in the draft, or poaching Michael Lewis from the Eagles.

[Bill B]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Yeah this is a good point. The safeties have gotten their act together once Archuleta was benched and Taylor and Fox/Vincent had some time to get on the same page.

You wonder if GW and Jerry Gray were instructing Rogers to give a big cushion early on in the season because they knew with Prioleau out and Archuleta so crappy, they needed Carlos to guard against the deep ball. I certainly never saw GW get all pissed at Rogers on the sideline for giving a huge cushion. That's the great thing about football, it's such a team sport. When one link is weak (ahem, Archuleta) it makes the rest of the links look bad. Would Rogers have needed to give the huge cushion if Ryan Clark were retained? Would Rogers have looked that bad?

Of course that doesn't explain why Rogers would bite on all those double moves earlier in the year. And with Springs out, regardless of cushions, he did show that he can't cover a #1 WR yet. He did need to improve on some things, and I think he has to some extent. Plus the safeties are now playing better.

I can see Matty's point, I don't think we can be completely confident with just him and Springs. We need to bring someone in who can compete at the same level, if not better. Fox and Vincent have done an admirable fill-in job, but what we really need to focus on is improving the SS position. I'll bet Rogers and Springs will both look a ton better with a better SS in the fold with some range and the ability to communicate with ST. So maybe like Matty said, you bring in that new CB and let Springs play SS. That strengthens all the links in the secondary's chain, and all of a sudden they may all look better.

Or maybe you get serious about a SS in the draft, or poaching Michael Lewis from the Eagles.

A move like getting Lewis reminds me of the Giants getting Pierce - making our backfeild better while dealing a blow to one of division rivals. Although how much is Lewis going to cost?

[theJBexperience]

We passed on Dyson because of that too. So, we sign Kenny Wright who does fit the GW bill. And how has that worked out for us? It's stupid to pass on these talented guys because they're not as sure tacklers. They're playmakers who get INTs. We need them especially since we may break the season record for least amount of picks.

[MTK]

Good post Schneed.

I think at this point we need to bring in a starting quality corner for two main reasons: Springs' age and injury concerns, and Rogers shaky career to date.

I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of moving Springs to safety.

Even if Springs doesn't move to safety, with how many DBs Williams likes to use, all three would still see plenty of playing time and would be very interchangeable.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Good post Schneed.

I think at this point we need to bring in a starting quality corner for two main reasons: Springs' age and injury concerns, and Rogers shaky career to date.

I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of moving Springs to safety.

Even if Springs doesn't move to safety, with how many DBs Williams likes to use, all three would still see plenty of playing time and would be very interchangeable.

Don't forget to factor Pierson into the equation for 2007.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

Don't forget to factor Pierson into the equation for 2007.

True.

Bye-bye Archuleta.

[MTK]

I really believe the cushion Rogers has played with is more scheme than it is his personal playing style. It makes sense when you think about it. When he was asked about this in a chat on ES he also said it was the scheme.

[MTK]

The one thing we can't do regarding the secondary is stand pat.

Springs is getting old and has been banged up, Rogers is still developing but nothing is certain, and forget about guys like Wright he's not even that great of a nickel.

At safety I really don't think Fox is the next Clark, and Vincent is in the same boat as Springs. Prioleau is coming off a significant injury, but at least it happened early so he should be able to return strong. As for Archuleta, do we even need to bother discussing it anymore? Dude is gone.

[MTK]

The rest of the league will probably ignore Archuleta's deal and conduct business as usual. They'll just brush it off as another wacky Snyder deal, one that was way outside the norm.

[Bill B]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

The rest of the league will probably ignore Archuleta's deal and conduct business as usual. They'll just brush it off as another wacky Snyder deal, one that was way outside the norm.

Why is Synder involved in the contract negotiations of our players anyways? Why can't he take the approach JKC took and let Gibbs do the talking since Gibbs is the team Prez?

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Originally Posted by Bill B

Why is Synder involved in the contract negotiations of our players anyways? Why can't he take the approach JKC took and let Gibbs do the talking since Gibbs is the team Prez?

HA. How much contract negotiation experience do you think Gibbs has?

[Bill B]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

HA. How much contract negotiation experience do you think Gibbs has?

Not sure - I know we used to have Joe Mendes who was the lone conservative voice and cap specialist back in 03 in the FO but he was let go for Vinny Cerrato.

I am wondering if Synder gave out huge bonuses when he owned the communication company before the Skins - I would have loved to collect some of those checks.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Bill B

Why is Synder involved in the contract negotiations of our players anyways? Why can't he take the approach JKC took and let Gibbs do the talking since Gibbs is the team Prez?

Gibbs used to lobby to Bobby Beathard and JKC to sign any player he liked to whatever it took to sign him. This was no problem because the salary cap wasn't an issue back then. Besides, it's Snyder's money, and salesmanship is what he does best.

Gibbs likes to try to distance himself from the actual back and forth contract negotiations. When you tell someone I'll give you x, but I won't pay as much as y, you're basically telling them they're not worth y. That's not a message you want to come across from your head coach, the player may not be willing to go the extra mile for that coach. Gibbs leaves that to Snyder, and sticks to the podium saying "I'm so proud of this group" and "these guys fight their guts out."

He's doing that on purpose, he needs them to want to play hard for him. If he's negotiating, it makes that hard.

[Citizens for 81]

The War Room had Clements the top rated free agent a score of 9.0.

They discuss his up coming free agency and the fact that Buffalo can't franchise him again b/c of the contract stipulations he got the Bills to agree to earlier this year when he signed his contract.

The article also goes on to say that Buffalo probably won't be able to afford him in a biding war.

SportingNews.com - Pro Football War Room