The 2017 FA Thread - OP Updated with Signings (Sundberg, Galette, VD, Hood re-signed) *** Terrell McClain, Stacy McGee, DJ Swearinger, Terrelle Pryor, Chris Carter, Brian Quick, ZACH BROWN(!!)***

[goskins10]

40 minutes ago, BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93 said:

If we're trying to save money, why haven't they cut Hall's ass??
 

 

 

My understanding is that they are restructuring - for him it will be a pay cut, and probably sizable. I am OK either way. If they can keep him cheap, it's worth at least a training camp to see if he can provide some depth at FS. If they cut him, will not bother me either.

[TSO]

3 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Master Tesfatsion‏Verified account @MasterTes  4m4 minutes ago

More

Master Tesfatsion Retweeted Chris Kane

Basically, #Redskins are banking on Tomsula to get the most out of these youngins either on the roster or in the draft for depth.

Master Tesfatsion added,

 

 

Poor Tomsula.

 

If this doesn't get better personnel-wise, especially up front, I fully expect a fan onslaught of the defensive coaches once again. :/ 

 

Hopefully they kill the draft. 

[RWJ]

So are the Skins pinning their hopes on a 1 time 1st round pick NT Phil Taylor?  Please tell me their not.

[skins2victory]

So why do you guys think Hankins hasn't found a team yet?? Is there red flags?? Obviously we need D line help, and would be great to land him, but it is surprising that he is still on the market at this point.

[RWJ]

Just now, skins2victory said:

So why do you guys think Hankins hasn't found a team yet?? Is there red flags?? Obviously we need D line help, and would be great to land him, but it is surprising that he is still on the market at this point.

My guess he's waiting to see what Poe signs for and he's the youngest of the DTs and wants a lot of money (more than what's been offered).

[Califan007 The Constipated]

10 minutes ago, RWJ said:

So are the Skins pinning their hopes on a 1 time 1st round pick NT Phil Taylor?  Please tell me their not.

 

Feels more like they were gonna roll with RJF if they couldn't land one of the top FA DLinemen, but then maybe they feel a FA signing is eminent so their "plan B" of keeping RJF won't be needed anymore....but his salary/cap space will lol...

[RWJ]

1 minute ago, Califan007 said:

 

Feels more like they were gonna roll with RJF if they couldn't land one of the top FA DLinemen, but then maybe they feel a FA signing is eminent so their "plan B" of keeping RJF won't be needed anymore....but his salary/cap space will lol...

Who Cali?  You think Hankins? 

[bobandweave]

7 minutes ago, skins2victory said:

So why do you guys think Hankins hasn't found a team yet?? Is there red flags?? Obviously we need D line help, and would be great to land him, but it is surprising that he is still on the market at this point.

 

Idk guess is he's outpricing himself 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

5 minutes ago, RWJ said:

Who Cali?  You think Hankins? 

 

No freakin' clue lol...not even sure my theory is right. Just felt that way...

[bobandweave]

The 3 they just opened up helps free the cap to almost 8 left to use on players and have the rookie pool money with no more moves needed. Smart. I think it's going to Cousins

 

I'm not crazy about Hankins personally but definitely would be an upgrade. Evan Silvia ranked him 20th best in his top 100 free agents but described him as disappointing the past two seasons in the column 

[goskins10]

46 minutes ago, skins2victory said:

So why do you guys think Hankins hasn't found a team yet?? Is there red flags?? Obviously we need D line help, and would be great to land him, but it is surprising that he is still on the market at this point.

 

At least the Giants believe he is looking for a deal in the $10M/yr range. If that's true, it's a lot of money. 

 

For the Redskins, they may be looking at the draft. Not sure who they would like. Not much there after Johnathan Allen in the first. May have someone they like in the 2nd or 3rd. Brantley out of FL? Ogunjobi out of Charlotte, maybe Tomlinson AL?

[mojo]

I read a tweet by Adam Schefter about the Giants run defense last year. If you eliminated the plays that Hankins was playing, they would have had the worst rush defense in the league.  I hope we sign him.

[NickyJ]

1 hour ago, RWJ said:

So are the Skins pinning their hopes on a 1 time 1st round pick NT Phil Taylor?  Please tell me their not.

Oh yeah... I forgot he was still playing lol

[SkinsTillIDie]

Miami Herald reporting:

 

Quote

And he wants to get paid like a starting defensive tackle -- which means he wants a multi-year contract and wants to make $8M a year, at minimum... That’s what the Hankins camp is telling every team when they call... Even though no other team is jumping to attention to snap Hankins off the free agency market, the Hankins camp is holding firm on the idea he deserves and is going to get a multi-year deal.

 

Have to wonder why all 32 teams are as-of-yet reluctant to give Hankins a multi-year deal at $8m per.

 

Dontari Poe has also been sneaky-bad for a while. He was getting manhandled in the Steelers playoff game by single blockers. Our own Jarvis Jenkins was getting more penetration in the run game.

 

Bruce Allen was apoplectic that Scot drafted a wide receiver over defensive line in the 1st round. Now that Scot is gone, and with the cascade of negative press surrounding the team, it's safe to say his job is on the line with the moves he makes -- the target is squarely on his back. If he was Vinny Cerrato, he would've jumped at the chance for a splash signing (i.e. Poe), or traded a premium pick for a name veteran. If nothing else, at least BA is not that.

 

––––

 

Posted this earlier, but these were our defensive snap counts in 2016:

Chris Baker  –  782 (71.22%)
Rod Hood  –  660 (60.11%)
Ricky Jean-Francois  –  439 (39.98%)
Cullen Jenkins  – 307 (27.96%)
…
Matthew Ioannidis  –  102 (9.29%)
Anthony Lanier  – 48 (4.37%)
Kendall Reyes  – 37 (3.37%)
Kedric Golston  –  29 (2.64%)

 

 

I would bet that our brass considers McClain and McGee as upgrades over RJF and Cullen Jenkins, and hopeful they can take ~500 and ~400 snaps respectively.

 

The Panthers turned their defense around when they double dipped on linemen Star Lotulelei (13th) and Kawann Short (44th) at the top of the 2013 draft. Wouldn't surprise me at all if this is ultimately our FO's ambition to acquire our ~750 snap and ~600 snap linemen. With Lanier a sneaky high-upside prospect who could steal snaps on passing downs, Ioannidis a special teamer and depth, and Ziggy Hood the new Kedric Golston.

 

And still think it's likely we're going to see a lot more of Preston Smith rushing from the interior with Kerrigan and Galette / Murphy / (rookie?) on the edges in obvious passing downs. Hell, wouldn't be surprised at all if the team expected that Lanier could be more disruptive in the passing game than the two-down linemen Logan, Poe, et al

[Conn]

Allen was apoplectic that Scot took a WR over a DL? You telling me he hadn't seen the big board until draft day? lol yeah okay.

[SkinsTillIDie]

4 minutes ago, ConnSKINS26 said:

Allen was apoplectic that Scot took a WR over a DL? You telling me he hadn't seen the big board until draft day? lol yeah okay.

 

Maybe/probably it's revisionist history on Allen's part, but that's clearly a major part of the post-firing narrative from a football standpoint.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/football-insider/wp/2017/03/08/redskins-gm-scot-mccloughan-has-no-role-in-current-free-agency-decision-making/?tid=pm_sports_pop&utm_term=.6c43d4ef2c2a
 

Quote

 

McCloughan was said to have come under further scrutiny from Allen once wide receiver Josh Doctson — selected in the first round of the 2016 draft despite more pressing needs on defense — was placed on injured reserve midway through the season, having missed all of training camp and preseason while playing in just two regular season games because of perplexing Achilles’ tendon injuries.

 

Exacerbating the Doctson decision was the fact Washington’s defense struggled mightily, ranking near the bottom of the league in many key statistical categories. Those woes cost the team several close games, and Washington missed the playoffs by just one game.

 

 

[COWBOY-KILLA-]

The offseason has left many fans feeling disappointed and frustrated. FA has done little to soothe those concerns. The draft like it or not is a crapshoot. Cousins is still unsigned. 

 

Its baffling that there are still players available that would address many people's concerns, and nery a sniff from the Skins. I.e., Hankins, Brown, Minter.. 

 

IMO, The Skins have thereby reduced there margin for error this season. They better come correct or I can see a massive Witch Hunt the likes we haven't seen before in Ashburn.

 

 

[Conn]

Yeah it's crazy to me that more isn't being done to wipe the stench of this McCloughan situation away. You'd think they'd want to come out, kill the offseason, and have another winning season to put that in the past. Especially if Allen is intent on keeping his power.

[HTTRDynasty]

21 minutes ago, SkinsTillIDie said:

 

Maybe/probably it's revisionist history on Allen's part, but that's clearly a major part of the post-firing narrative from a football standpoint.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/football-insider/wp/2017/03/08/redskins-gm-scot-mccloughan-has-no-role-in-current-free-agency-decision-making/?tid=pm_sports_pop&utm_term=.6c43d4ef2c2a
 

 

 

If Doctson was really a top 10 player on their overall board, as has been reported, and we were able to get him with the 22nd pick, Allen has no legitimate reason to be angry at Scot for going BPA.  Especially since it synced up with our needs this so well this offseason.  If anything, Allen should be happy he is reaping the benefits of Scot's forward thinking.

[Thinking Skins]

12 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

I was trying to set up the point that digesting this further and putting this all on Scot's shopping list is a bigger indictment IMO on the current FO versus giving them an out -- because running with that logic, there were clearly some big names on the Scot list for D line.  But Bruce so far is successfully shopping on the cheaper aisle of that grocery list not the high end gourmet more ritzy aisle.   But clearly some gourmet aisle items are on the shopping list if indeed every move is predicated by a list. 

 

I doubt Scot said, Bruce I don't really want Logan but lets have a pretend FA list, too.  These are guys I don't really want but we will have fun with anyway.  Take Logan out for dinner and then meet with him in the morning the next day and then let him go and say Gotcha!   Lets just mess with Logan's mind and Jay can get a free dinner out of it, too.  And whatever the story is with Campbell, etc.  I think people are too focused on who they landed.  Clearly, Campbell and Logan were targets.  

 

To his credit, Bruce is good at times at getting bargains, the Pryor deal for example looks great.  But is he willing to do what for example the Giants did last year and that is land top targets by just paying more than the other teams do?  To land the top tier guys, its rarely a bargain, the spoils typically goes to the highest bidder.

What if the problem with 2016 wasn't that we didn't spend hard in free agency, or draft d line,  what if it's simply that we didn't let young guys get opportunities.  I like Lanier, but who else did we have that was young and developing?  Matt i. Otherwise, most of our snaps went to had bens and never was guys. 

 

I would love to see some big names on our defense simply because i hate seeing us have to score 30 to win.  At the same time though,  i don't want to lose sight of the future in hopes of one year.  I'm really torn, but since Bruce has taken over (2010), I've liked our free agent spending.  Since 2014, I've liked our dedication to our youth.  Last year i didn't think Barry did a good job with it and in hindsight it could have been him vying for his job.  

 

People talk about the depth or lack thereof along the d line in the draft, but every year undrafted players make it. We had Baker and Kearse make it and look good.  Hopefully we can do that again.

 

 We don't even need a powerhouse guy,  just a run stopping tackle. Not saying that's easy,  but i hear knocks against our new dTs because of sack numbers and i laugh because i want run stuffers first.  If they can do that were already ahead of last year.  

[Hail2theSkins24]

35 minutes ago, ConnSKINS26 said:

Yeah it's crazy to me that more isn't being done to wipe the stench of this McCloughan situation away. You'd think they'd want to come out, kill the offseason, and have another winning season to put that in the past. Especially if Allen is intent on keeping his power.

 

 I get what you're saying, but I'm honestly glad they've stuck to their plan and haven't gone off course to make a splash signing to wipe the stench off the Scot situation. I'm extremely concerned regarding our DL and ILbs but also realize there are still FA options and a lot of draft picks to make improvements. Remember, we did phone the NYJ about what the price for Sheldon was just before the trade deadline ?

[Conn]

9 minutes ago, Hail2theSkins24 said:

 

 I get what you're saying, but I'm honestly glad they've stuck to their plan and haven't gone off course to make a splash signing to wipe the stench off the Scot situation. I'm extremely concerned regarding our DL and ILbs but also realize there are still FA options and a lot of draft picks to make improvements. Remember, we did phone the NYJ about what the price for Sheldon was just before the trade deadline ?

 

My statement is contingent on us standing pat the rest of the offseason until the draft, in terms of DL and ILB. It's null and void if we end up signing remaining impact starter FA's. I realize it doesn't all happen in one week, although the lack of activity is concerning right now.

[TSO]

1 hour ago, Thinking Skins said:

What if the problem with 2016 wasn't that we didn't spend hard in free agency, or draft d line,  what if it's simply that we didn't let young guys get opportunities.  I like Lanier, but who else did we have that was young and developing?  Matt i. Otherwise, most of our snaps went to had bens and never was guys. 

 

I would love to see some big names on our defense simply because i hate seeing us have to score 30 to win.  At the same time though,  i don't want to lose sight of the future in hopes of one year.  I'm really torn, but since Bruce has taken over (2010), I've liked our free agent spending.  Since 2014, I've liked our dedication to our youth.  Last year i didn't think Barry did a good job with it and in hindsight it could have been him vying for his job.  

 

People talk about the depth or lack thereof along the d line in the draft, but every year undrafted players make it. We had Baker and Kearse make it and look good.  Hopefully we can do that again.

 

 We don't even need a powerhouse guy,  just a run stopping tackle. Not saying that's easy,  but i hear knocks against our new dTs because of sack numbers and i laugh because i want run stuffers first.  If they can do that were already ahead of last year.  

 

I think you make great points and as an over-arching philosophy this is the way to go.

 

But my contention going into this offseason was that when you're at a point where you're competitive game in and game out, where one of the three phases is excellent, another is good enough, but a third is really bad and you've got some clear weaknesses there that, if addressed, can really turn you into a contender... well, you do it. 

 

Basically, we've been building to something good and I believe we're right there. So it's incumbent upon the FO to ensure they "finish", so to speak. That's when you get a bit more aggressive. 

 

It's a fine line though, I'm with you. You don't want to hinder your youth from being able to develop. You don't want to build your team via FA.

 

But I feel like we're at a point now where, even if we were more aggressive and say we got Hankins, Logan, and Swearinger... we'd still be able to develop anyone we wanted as there'd be plenty of opportunities for playing time still available. And we'd have shored up a clear weakness up front that would actually help the young players behind them significantly.

 

That'd be only 4 starting spots out of 11 where you've got expensive vets penciled in (the above 3 plus Norman). Two of them on the Dline would be guys that come off the field a significant amount of the time for the others to have a chance to fill in. The cupboard may just be too bare on that side of the ball to not get a little more aggressive this offseason there. 

 

I'm not sure McClain and McGee don't end up costing us the same thing in terms of younger development than Hankins and Logan, for instance. Well, the former two are more rotational than the latter so, yeah, definitely more playing time for others I guess. But I'm not sure it's worth the lesser impact, you know? Not when the team is as close as it is. 

 

But this is all assuming you want to get to the draft with as much of a BPA approach as possible without having any immediate needs to address. If, like you say, their plan is to attack Dline there I guess that's fine... but then I'm worried if they'd be reaching to do so. Now, you can still target a position while drafting BPA, it's not impossible. You can maneuver around the draft with trades to land where a guy you want would be BPA, or you can be in love with enough guys at a position where you feel super confident you'll get at least one of them somewhere within a certain amount of rounds. 

 

But then you'd be taking more of a risk and leaving it more to chance than otherwise. 

[carex]

6 hours ago, ConnSKINS26 said:

Allen was apoplectic that Scot took a WR over a DL? You telling me he hadn't seen the big board until draft day? lol yeah okay.

 

or maybe he saw the rankings and didn't actually believe Scot would pick a WR over what DL were available

6 hours ago, HTTRDynasty said:

 

If Doctson was really a top 10 player on their overall board, as has been reported, and we were able to get him with the 22nd pick, Allen has no legitimate reason to be angry at Scot for going BPA.  Especially since it synced up with our needs this so well this offseason.  If anything, Allen should be happy he is reaping the benefits of Scot's forward thinking.

 

if we'd taken some more quality DL last offseason we wouldn't need to pay them this offseason or draft them and would have more money for FA or draft pick WR

[MEANDWARF]

8 hours ago, skins2victory said:

So why do you guys think Hankins hasn't found a team yet?? Is there red flags?? Obviously we need D line help, and would be great to land him, but it is surprising that he is still on the market at this point.

 

8 hours ago, RWJ said:

My guess he's waiting to see what Poe signs for and he's the youngest of the DTs and wants a lot of money (more than what's been offered).

Agree, which is more than likely the same reason Brown or Minter have not sign either. They were waiting to see what kind of money Hightower was getting. Something tells me within the next couple of days we'll see a couple of more guys sign. Which is frustrating considering we have no schedule visits.