Secondary Plans: Who to Cut/Who To Keep/Who would we want to Sign?

I couldn't specifically find a thread like this (mostly just complaining about our secondary).

My first question: Is Tanard Jackson still technically under contract with us next year since he was suspended? He is an intriguing player for next year. He is a talented safety in coverage, but was bad in the run, which is why I thought he and Meriweather were perfect compliments for each other.

I guess what I am saying is I would not mind having that safety duo for next season, if it meant saving money (not signing byrd to a big contract), and getting something on the offensive side (Vollmer or Bowe).

Players Who could be cut:

Hall (nothing guaranteed)

Wilson

Doughty

Meriweather

Gomes

Crawford

Players who are FAs

Williams (Thank you football Gods)

Griffin

Pugh (at least I think so)

Top Secondary FAs

Brent Grimes CB (Coming off an achilles injury)

Jason McCourty CB

Jairus Byrd FS

Kenny Phillips SS

DRC CB

Aquib Talib CB

Sam Shields CB

Note: I did not list Ed Reed because I believe he is either retiring or playing for the Ravens.

I'll post my thoughts later on in the thread. I know this is early, but we all know this is going to be the area of major focus going into the offseason

So Basically make your 2013 secondary by cutting whoever, resigning, and FA signings

Wilson's having a tough year but he doesn't have much behind him in the way of safety help, or much in front of him in the way of pass rush. Plus it's the final year of his contract and he's a better player than he's showing, keep him.

If it was just a matter of play, I'd keep Hall just because I'm not sure we can so quickly find a corner better than him. His contract is pretty big though, and if they can save a good amount of money by letting him go, I probably wouldn't raise hell about it.

I'd keep Doughty for special teams and because he's pretty good in run support.

Would love Jairus Byrd here but he might come pricier than we can afford with the cap penalties, depending on what else Shanahan wants to pick up in FA.

Aquib Talib CB

Picked up by the Patriots last week I believe.

Gomes and Crawford don't need to be cut. Wilson isn't worth 5 mil next year. If he isn't cut he needs to be reworked so he costs less.

---------- Post added November-6th-2012 at 05:58 PM ----------

Aquib Talib CB

Picked up by the Patriots last week I believe.

he hasn't signed an extension

---------- Post added November-6th-2012 at 05:58 PM ----------

Smh.. We just love these positions. We need two new starting corners. And at the very least a ball hawk at FS. Keep doughty for depth, and clean house.

No more Doughty please!he is a joke out there with those pathetic tackle attempts! special teams ..please he has had ST penalties this year more than anything.name another team he would make roster..........exactly

As far as I'm concerned there isn't a starter on our team in the secondary. Hall might be a number 2, but were paying him like a number 1. So in other words if he isn't going to take a pay cut. I say cut him and the rest of the secondary. I can't even watch them play defense the secondary is horrible and makes me sick. :puke:

---------- Post added November-6th-2012 at 06:21 PM ----------

Wow after looking at that list of free agent CBs. I've come up with the conclusion that we are screwed next year as well. :doh:

Jason McCourty also signed an extension at the beginning of the year with the titans

---------- Post added November-6th-2012 at 06:27 PM ----------

As far as I'm concerned there isn't a starter on our team in the secondary. Hall might be a number 2, but were paying him like a number 1. So in other words if he isn't going to take a pay cut. I say cut him and the rest of the secondary. I can't even watch them play defense the secondary is horrible and makes me sick. :puke:

---------- Post added November-6th-2012 at 06:21 PM ----------

Wow after looking at that list of free agent CBs. I've come up with the conclusion that we are screwed next year as well. :doh:

I think a competent FS will make the unit better....If Tanard wasnt suspended, I trully believe our secondary wouldn't have been as bad. Madieu should not be allowed anywhere near a football...dude is complete garbage.

Note: I said wouldnt be "AS" bad, I didn't say good. Just clarifying.

Jason McCourty also signed an extension at the beginning of the year with the titans

---------- Post added November-6th-2012 at 06:27 PM ----------

I think a competent FS will make the unit better....If Tanard wasnt suspended, I trully believe our secondary wouldn't have been as bad. Madieu should not be allowed anywhere near a football...dude is complete garbage.

Note: I said wouldnt be "AS" bad, I didn't say good. Just clarifying.

I understand what your saying, but who is it we add at FS, because Tanard wont be here next year.

Keep Wilson -- I think he's better than what he's shown.

Cut Hall -- terrible attitude, not worth the trouble.

Keep Jackson -- I want to see if he gets his act together, and he will be cheap

Sign:

Goldson from SF.

Shields from Mia

I really want to see what kind of production Tanard Jackson can come up with. I couldn't have been happier when i heard we signed him. I think he can become a pro-bowl caliber player if he gets his head right. Meriweather the same thing, we have already seen pro bowls out of him if he's playing in the right scheme. Our secondary has looked awful, but i think a big portion of it is because of our sub-par pass rush. Having Orakpo and carriker back healthy next year, imo, will also help the secondary. As far as future off season acquisitions go, Aquib Talib is a potential #1 corner in this league, but much like Jackson, Talib has off field trouble. They also both have experience under Morris, and have performed well when on the field. I also want to see us add some height in the secondary, it seems as though were very short(wilson 5 9" Hall 5 10" Gomes 5 11" Williams 6 1") With a league being dominated with guys like Calvin Johnson and Jimmy Graham, this gives us a massive disadvantage. We should find a way to acquire a cornerback like the Seahawks Brandon Browner(6 4") Or like Arizona Cardinals Saftey Adrian Wilson(6 3") Both these players have matched up very well against big receivers in the past.... but that's just my two cents.

Keep Wilson -- I think he's better than what he's shown.

Cut Hall -- terrible attitude, not worth the trouble.

Keep Jackson -- I want to see if he gets his act together, and he will be cheap

Sign:

Goldson from SF.

Shields from Mia

Your crazy if you think we should keep Wilson. The guy can't cover and is to short to play corner back.

I agree cut Hall hes not worth what hes getting paid and his attitude is bad.

Don't mind giving Jackson his 14 chance, but we better have a backup plan. He will get into trouble again.

Goldson from SF.

Shields from Mia

These guys would be a upgrade, but who says they will be available.

If you are talking Shields he's a RFA IIRC so he'll cost a pick. Goldson will be expensive and also will be 29 IIRC. If we're going to break the bank on a FS then I'm doing it for Jarius Byrd from Buffalo

well, we can look at CB in the draft so limited FA picks isn't terrible

Hall can't be kept. He costs too much, his numbers are terrible this year, and he's a me first player.

I sure hope Reed's tenure has finally ended.

Jackson, Meriweather, Wilson, Gomes should stay.

We need to draft at CB at pick #40 and also grab another one or two in FA.

Hall can't be kept. He costs too much, his numbers are terrible this year, and he's a me first player.

I sure hope Reed's tenure has finally ended.

Jackson, Meriweather, Wilson, Gomes should stay.

We need to draft at CB at pick #40 and also grab another one or two in FA.

Jackson and Merriweather were stopgaps signed in an emergency and have done nothing for us. I would rather take their money and use it on someone else

Hall can't be kept. He costs too much, his numbers are terrible this year, and he's a me first player.

I sure hope Reed's tenure has finally ended.

Jackson, Meriweather, Wilson, Gomes should stay.

We need to draft at CB at pick #40 and also grab another one or two in FA.

Agreed 100%. I'd like to see those moves, plus sign Byrd at a minimum. If we're able to lure DRC as well, then we could cut Wilson. Though I know that would likely be costly since we'd probably get outbid.

Me I am cutting Hall, and Doughty.

Id resign Tanard Jackson for cheap (again I do this if it means we can sign Bowe or Vollmer on the offensive side, save some money)

I would resign Cedric Griffin I like him as the 3rd CB

Sign DRC (he has graded out well this year for Pro football focus)

Keep Wilson, yea people hate him now, but 09-11 he graded out well on PFF (not sure how he has graded this year). Hall has never really graded out well over the last 3 years for them. Wilson is a nice 2 CB.

I would draft a FS with our 1st pick (you cannot just role out there with T-Jax

DRC/Wilson/Griffin/Crawford as our CBs

T-Jax/Draft Pick for our FS

Meriweather/Gomes for SS

Basically one big Signing for the Defense (DRC) with the hope that it saves money on this side of the ball and use it to sign Bowe and Vollmer (Our O would be so dirty if we got those 2 guys)

Plus you would head into the 2014 offseason with no cap Penalties, and Wilson would be an FA, where you either resign him (obviously if he earns that), or sign a better option

I like Wilson. Last year, he was one of the best CBs in the league according to Football Outsiders. I've seen first hand how a bad secondary in general and a lack of a pass rush can make even the good players on your team look bad. We Skins fans should know it well, too. Sean Taylor in 2006. That's all that needs to be said.

I could cut the following and seek quality upgrades ...

1/ Brandon Merriweather, DB

2/ Tanard Jackson, DB

3/ Reed Doughty, Safety

4/ Brandon Banks, KR/PR

5/ Chris Cooley, TE (love you for ALL you have done, but its time you to join the Skin's coaching staff)

6/ Jammal Brown, RT

7/ Roy Helu, RB

8/ Evan Royster, RB (just hasn't been productive. we need a GOOD backup to Albert Morris)

9/ Rex Grossman, QB

10/ Adam Carriker, DE

11/ Jeremy Jarmon, DE (niot sure is he is doing anything)

12/ S. Rocca, Punter

13/ Santana Moss, WR

14/ Aldrick Robinson, WR

^^ Jeremy Jarmon? WHAT??

Cut Wiiliams and Doughty, Keep TJackson and Meriweather, sign Byrd and DRC. Let's roll.

you mean Jenkins, not Jarmon right? Jenkins is hurt by the loss of the guy he'd be rotating with in Carriker and the loss of Orakpo.

Grossman is a free agent. I wouldn't change punters, wouldn't cut Robinson yet. Might cut Fletcher, would cut Hall. Don't know if I'd cut the back up RBs.

I could cut the following and seek quality upgrades ...

1/ Brandon Merriweather, DB

2/ Tanard Jackson, DB

3/ Reed Doughty, Safety

4/ Brandon Banks, KR/PR

5/ Chris Cooley, TE (love you for ALL you have done, but its time you to join the Skin's coaching staff)

6/ Jammal Brown, RT

7/ Roy Helu, RB

8/ Evan Royster, RB (just hasn't been productive. we need a GOOD backup to Albert Morris)

9/ Rex Grossman, QB

10/ Adam Carriker, DE

11/ Jeremy Jarmon, DE (niot sure is he is doing anything)

12/ S. Rocca, Punter

13/ Santana Moss, WR

14/ Aldrick Robinson, WR

Whoa there... Robinson? Carriker? Don't you want to at least see if Merriweather can play in this scheme? Jackson and Helu I can at least sort of understand. Jarmon was traded... last year, I believe?

Williams is one I'd add to your list, though (sacrilege alert!) I'd prefer him at backup FS to Doughty and possibly even Gomes.

I would keep Wilson because he has a pretty reasonable contract and has shown in the past that he can play if he has decent safety help behind him. I would also keep Crawford as depth and Doughty as depth at safety. Other than that I would clean house from a secondary that is going to set a record for most yardage alowed in a season. My number one target is Jairus Byrd FS from the Bills. He will be in demand and may get franchised but hopefully after all the money the Bills spent last off-season on defensive linemen they won't be able to afford keeping Byrd. Target number two would be CB Sean Smith from Miami. He is a 6-3 CB with good speed who is starting to come into his own this season after the Dolphins traded away #1 corner Vonta Davis. Smith will also be expensive if Miami lets him get away. Carey Williams from Baltimore would be my next option if Smith costs too much or Miami franchises him. Some other less expensive cornerbacks I would be after are : Tracy Porter (Denver), Kyle Arrington (NE), Talib (NE), Keenan Lewis (Pittsburgh) and (Joselio Hanson (Oakland) strictly as a nickle or dime CB). Other safties I like besides Byrd are: William Moore SS (Atlanta), Stevie Brown SS (NY Giants), Patrick Chung SS (NE) and Glover Quin FS (Houston). There will also be players released from other teams during the off-season to get under the cap that we don't know about yet.

I know the first thing people will say is how are they going to afford to spend on these player with the cap hit? Well I hope that from the combination of the cap limit going up, releasing some high priced/underperforming players and restructuring some contracts like Trent Williams(hopefully he gets an extesion and it brings his large hit next year down), they will free up alot of money to be active in free agency this year. I would also use our propably high second round pick on the best avalable DB. There are other needs though that the team will have to fill and I'm afraid if Orakpo has trouble comig back from injury a pass rusher might be as big of a need as DB.