Why I didn't blame Smoot and won't blame Cooley.

[Art]

Cooley can be replaced. I am not sure why everyone talks about him so much. He is not a Tony Gonzo. He does not have the speed. And he is not a physical freak.

I know he is that fun loving white guy who is a little corky. So fans will love him.

But those are not the type of guys u bust the bank for.

Lacking speed and not being a physical freak is astounding for a tight end who has led his position in ALL of the NFL in yards after the catch the last two years. Look it up.

[Smurf85]

You in a bad mood today Smurf?

To tell you the truth i am.

[Smurf85]

Obviously over your head. Sorry.

Pats have had average to decent TEs perform well because they utilized them to their strengths in certain situations. Yet none of them are Tony Gonzalez, etc.

And if you are so unhappy with the way this franchise is and so certain they will be like your Tigers...Then maybe you need another bandwagon to hop on. I hear the Colts are a good team.

Not over my head point is.The Patriots have average players at most positions and they still win.Pretty much every player that leaves the Patroits sucks on other teams.

[Smurf85]

He is in Redskin football-withdrawl. It happens to us all.

Yeah that is part of it.I hate this time of year, i live football.

[IronMike]

Not that Art needs any help, but add to his argument: we did the same for Jansen and Samuels. Keep your core people. We made a big mistake with AP. Whether you think he was a Pro-Bowler or not, he was key to OUR defense. Look at how we suffered last year without a good MLB. Yes, LM played great his first year (or rather, our overall defense did), but opposing teams studied film and figured out his weaknesses. Then they exploited those weaknesses. Think of Trotter. He is very good within the limited role he plays with the Eagles. For us, he stank. But it was our system, not his talent level.

Let's sign Cooley to an extension. Would he sign? I do not know. Put good up-front signing bonus dollars today in his pocket ('bird in the hand'?), and he might sign instead of gambling on a career-threatening injury.

:helmet:

[#98QBKiller]

Cooley is not replaceable. In fact, he is one of our least replaceable players on the roster because we drafted and developed him. Cooley has a vested intrest in our program here. Any free agent we bring in to replace him doesnt have that same vested intrest in the Redskins, they have a vested intrest in getting paid.

Very good points. I highlighted the last one though because it's the most important. Cooley was drafted by the Redskins and he knows his value to the team and I think the team is valuable to him as well. Not because our organization is known for dishing out tons of money but because he's one of the most important building blocks to an offense that is progressing and has the potential to be one of the top in the NFL. He knows that he fits in this system and so does the team and I believe that the team knows that this isn't a player that they want to let go.

Art,

Do you not feel the same way about Sean Taylor as well? Isn't his contract coming up in the next few years?

[JoeGibbsThickandthin]

Lacking speed and not being a physical freak is astounding for a tight end who has led his position in ALL of the NFL in yards after the catch the last two years. Look it up.

I like him. I would not want any other tight end. But that is becausewe drafted him. He is not deserve to be paid a billion. Thats what i am trying to say.

Only a couple of TE i would rather have. Gonzo and Gates.

[terpfan]

Terp. I think you are forgetting the timing of the extension. Betts signed DURING the season, before he'd ever come off 1,000 yards. He signed after his, I think, third 100 yard game ever. He then ran off five more :0.

Ah, yeah that's true. He only had 650 yards at the time. But I still remember at the time not thinking we overpaid for him, and that Betts actually must have been happy to take less money to stay with the team. He would have gotten paid a lot more this offseason whether contract numbers had been inflated like they were or not.

[SkinsFTW]

This whole signing our own players thing at the right time has been the biggest issue with the team for years.

Betts is evidence that possibly they get it now. But we will see if they use all but a couple hundred thousand of the cap again and make it hard to resign anyone during the season.

I think they should have already resigned Cooley. Right now they need to be preparing to resign Taylor and Campbell and maybe Rogers before the next season is up.

Rogers will probably be pretty good, he's got rocks for hands right now though, which should make him cheaper for us. Resign him this year for 5-6 years with a 4-5M bonus or watch him leave for a 15M+ bonus in 09 because he finally figured out how to catch.

[ceviker]

Lock up Cooley and Taylor.

[DjKam1]

Thank you for bringing up this topic, it's something somebody in our front office needs to read. You need to give a player recognition for his hard work and performance and identify the core players and keep them locked in as soon as possible. Why is our front office so thick in the skull?

[Capt. Jack]

Lock up Cooley right now. Cooley needs to be a Redskin for the rest of his career.

[Killerbo]

If I was in the FO, I would look to drafting a TE in the later rounds of next years draft, just in case Cooley's agent decides to get stupid and demand a boatload of money. You can find good TE's in the later rounds and if Cooley doesn't take a decent offer, then let him walk. He is good but not that GOOD to break the bank for...sorry. You can always find good TE's in the 3rd or 4th rounds of any draft, just like we found Cooley. I won't hang on anybody's nuts just because he is my favorite player.

You can always find good players in the draft. The way I would pay him is take the average of the top ten TE contracts in the NFL (top ten money wise), and then give him that salary with a couple of millions more than the signing bonus. That's it he is good but not richest contract for a TE in the NFL good. The samething we did for a lame ass safety called Archuletta, I was quite mad he got that contract and voila!, was justified when he never lived up to his contract.

[TSO]

Cooley can be replaced. I am not sure why everyone talks about him so much. He is not a Tony Gonzo. He does not have the speed. And he is not a physical freak.

I know he is that fun loving white guy who is a little corky. So fans will love him.

But those are not the type of guys u bust the bank for.

While some people here do have the tendency to over value some of our players, I think it's important to understand what it is they see as so valuable. I don't think it's as much as Cooley being some freak TE who can do things better than other elite TEs in the league, it's just that he truly plays his heart out for us and fits well with how we do things. I do think he needs to get better at blocking(which he has this year), and do it more consistently... but no matter what he's one of our playmakers and comes up big for us plenty of times. Yes, he drops the ball too often. Yes, he draws a flag for false starts a lot of times too. But all those things would take away from a TE like Fauria or Robert Royal who aren't the guys we can count on to come up big for us consistently. We can gameplan our passing game around Cooley. He's always an option. One that works well.

He is someone who may be replaceable... but why replace someone that works well enough for us already? Why take that chance? He fits, he's good, and he loves being on our team. Bringing in a TE who is more talented than him doesn't mean any of those things will also be true. We should definitely keep Cooley, even if it's at the expense of other FA acquisitions. We got all our draft picks next year... we'll have options. Sign him up.

[Cdowwe]

Spot on Cooley

[Killerbo]

While some people here do have the tendency to over value some of our players, I think it's important to understand what it is they see as so valuable. I don't think it's as much as Cooley being some freak TE who can do things better than other elite TEs in the league, it's just that he truly plays his heart out for us and fits well with how we do things. I do think he needs to get better at blocking(which he has this year), and do it more consistently... but no matter what he's one of our playmakers and comes up big for us plenty of times. Yes, he drops the ball too often. Yes, he draws a flag for false starts a lot of times too. But all those things would take away from a TE like Fauria or Robert Royal who aren't the guys we can count on to come up big for us consistently. We can gameplan our passing game around Cooley. He's always an option. One that works well.

He is someone who may be replaceable... but why replace someone that works well enough for us already? Why take that chance? He fits, he's good, and he loves being on our team. Bringing in a TE who is more talented than him doesn't mean any of those things will also be true. We should definitely keep Cooley, even if it's at the expense of other FA acquisitions. We got all our draft picks next year... we'll have options. Sign him up.

Nobody wants to replace him, but the fact is any FO worth a lick would have drafted another TE and heck let him develop and improve or battle it out with Cooley for play time, so in the event Cooley or his agent decide to get stupid and want top TE money, then we at least have a fall back option. Colley is a good TE, but I will say again you can find good TE's in the draft as well. The only person I will consider breaking the bank for would be Ben Watson because he is a true top 5 TE, who can block, run and catch and run as well.

[flexxskins]

OMG I hope that our FO reads this thread.

Nice post Art. :applause: I feel the same way about needing to sign Cooley sooner than later.

Also, do you worry about us losing Taylor like I do from time to time? For some reason, when his time comes, I just see us screwing that whole thing up. (Hopefully not)

[The Sisko]

I hate to say this but, I agree with Art on this one. Cooley isn't some workout warrior with perfect measureables. After all, that's why he was available for us in the 3rd round. However, he does know how to play the game and he's got a great feel for finding voids in coverage. I'll take that over a physical freak any day. I suppose some of you would prefer K. Winslow though.

Taylor is another player that I think we could (and should) lock up long term at reasonable cost this offseason. He's coming off a down year and hopefully that plus re-upping him early might give us some leverage to keep the # reasonable.

I'm not accustomed to agreeing with Art, but when the man's right....

Besides, I can still take exception to the part about the "invalid worries of fools". However, that's another dead horse to be beaten another day.

[sleazye]

i hear you on your point about cooley, but as i recall i was surprised with us re-signing betts for such a small amount. i remember re-signing him after he started to put up great numbers this year, not before. my memory might not be serving me correctly though.

also- notably absent from this thread so far is talk of extending sean taylor's contract. talk about a fan favorite- start a thread with his name in it and watch it explode. he's had some off-field issues, but i see no reason why he should not be extended along with cooley.

edit- sorry i see the ST comments now- my fault

[Killerbo]

Hey, I guess worrying about anything on this team other than what Art considers worrisome is "invalid worries of fools" :rolleyes: . Spare us the I " I am mightier than thou " shtick. Everyone is allowed to worry about whatever they want.

[ChampSkinsFanatic]

I hope we somehow lock up Cooley and Taylor. I think its gonna be hard to keep Taylor though, but I hope we do.

[FuriousD]

Many people have problems with how our front office operates. Most of those complaints are simply invalid worries of fools. The most significant flaw we have as a football operation is not identifying the "core" player sooner in his contract, and locking him up at prices that, for the time of extension are more than the player deserves, but, that turn out to be far less than he'd get if his progression remains in line. QUOTE]

I count myself among the many who have problems with how our front office operates. However, I have never considered any of the complaints I've had (beyond player retention) to be invalid or foolish.

Talent evaluation, contract negotiations, draft philosophy, FA aquisitions or general team building? There's room for plenty of improvement across the board.

I could argue that the most significant flaw this football operation has is it's draft philosophy. After all, the very players we are talking about locking up, the cost effective homegrown core types, don't come from anywhere BUT the draft and not only that; they most often come from the early rounds 2 thru 4, like Betts and Cooley where talent and cost are most advantagous to the club. Why then do we constantly feel the need to squander these picks in deals that rarely ever pan out?

Signing core players is great. I would love to keep Cooley here for a long time. The truth is that todays player, regardless of where they were drafted or who drafted them, is FAR more likely to be looking for one big payday then playing for one club his entire career. Let's face it, the average career is short. They have to make hay while the sun shines and wouldn't it make sense to at least "test" the water if you're a FA? After all, they can always sign with the team that drafted them but wouldn't you want to see ALL the offers? Like you said; you can't blame them.

This would seem to make drafting wisely far more important then player retention in the long run. Odds are players are always going to leave for fatter contracts. Odds are some other team will always value your FA more than you.

Where is the young, cheap talent coming up through the ranks to cover departures if you are not drafting it? We've given up quite a few early round picks recently with little or nothing to show for it.

I regret that aspect of how or FO operates more than letting Pierce, Smoot or Doc walk, or.... is that foolish?

[Art]

Hey, I guess worrying about anything on this team other than what Art considers worrisome is "invalid worries of fools" :rolleyes: . Spare us the I " I am mightier than thou " shtick. Everyone is allowed to worry about whatever they want.

Indeed, all are allowed to worry about whatever they want as long as they have some mild comprehension most of the worries are invalid and foolish. But, don't let it stop you.

[The Consigliere]

Many fans have made comments about Smoot since his return that he left to "chase the money". He certainly did leave for more money than we paid, but, the measure of anger we, as fans, should work up for that in the case of Smoot and players like him is less anger than we should work up for other players we come across.

Here's why.

Smoot was a player who fell out of the first round. His rookie contract was modest in comparison to others. As fans, we identified Smoot, as we have Cooley, as a player who'd outperformed the value of his contract. As a player who deserved an early re-up. The team never did. And when his time came to be free, Smoot, having not made much money in four years, took as much as he could possibly make in Year 5. It was the mistake of the team, not a character flaw in the player, that led to the loss of Smoot.

Just as it will for Cooley if the team doesn't act soon. Just as it would have for Betts had the team not DRAMATICALLY overpaid Betts based on his performance to the point of his extension in his career, yet, what very quickly became an apparent bargain.

Many people have problems with how our front office operates. Most of those complaints are simply invalid worries of fools. The most significant flaw we have as a football operation is not identifying the "core" player sooner in his contract, and locking him up at prices that, for the time of extension are more than the player deserves, but, that turn out to be far less than he'd get if his progression remains in line.

This means players like Smoot then, Betts recently and Cooley now need to be resigned well before they enter a contract year. Players who drastically outplay their contract, who are young and popular and epitomize what we're about as a team, need to be identified more rapidly and solidified. You do that, and you find such players don't wind up being free until the end of their prime. At that point, they might take less to simply stay put. See Darrell Green as an example.

Right now there are few enough on the roster who deserve this consideration. Cooley needs money now. Do it NOW. We don't know enough about Rocky, yet, but, if the team believes he's the answer for the next four or five years, sign HIM NOW to a contract like Betts, which is more than he deserves, but far less than a contract for a consistent starter.

If we start doing this, while still enjoying the reasonably solid acquisition rate we have had in the past, we will start being able to really build on something. After this year will be too late to get a good deal on a guy like Cooley. But, Campbell might be the guy you identify next.

Brilliant piece on Smoot, prescient piece on Cooley, silly rip on fans who indict a largely incompetant FO (the sole area in which they've consistently excelled has been maneuvering around the cap, on draft day they've been at best subpar, though better than the Pre-Gibbs years, an in FA they've been successful in one of the first three years, and along the way made many a braindead pay through the nose signing (Boonell, Patten (admittedly not pay through the nose), ARE, Lloyd, Arch etc).

[The Consigliere]

Overpay for Betts are you serious what did he sign a 5 yr 13 mill extension and you say overpay!

This has already likely been addressed later in the thread, but to reemphasize, Betts was signed to a deal that was an overpayment based on his accomplishments from April '02 through October of '06 or thereabouts when he signed. Following the signing and the Portis injury, this overpayment transformed into a fantastic deal for us, not a very good deal for Betts, and the possibility that he/we or both may end up trading him and said contract (or Portis for that matter) before the '08 season, the latter of this is of course speculation (but it's hard to imagine a player that gained 1,000+ yards in barely half a season, signed to a very friendly deal, won't push for a starting job soon enough with us, or elsewhere).

To reemphasize, the deal was an overpayment based on his accomplishments up to the point of the signing, only after Portis went down, and Betts filled in so capably did the signing go from an overpayment, to a steal. Additionally Byner, I believe, should be credited, and the rest of the FO should be indicted, for seeing this ability in Betts all along. Byner supposedly pushed to stop the deal for Duckett, believing that Betts would be more than capable of filling in for Portis if he wasn't good to go in September but he was countermanded.