Art Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16773-2003Feb28.html Redskins Off and Running Team Adds 3 Players, Plans To Sign Two More Today By Mark Maske Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, March 1, 2003; Page D01 In a frantic day of acquisitions, the Washington Redskins added three starters on offense and planned to get two more on defense today as the NFL's trading and free agent signing period opened. The Redskins first bolstered Coach Steve Spurrier's offense. They traded a fourth-round draft choice and guard David Loverne to the St. Louis Rams for speedster Trung Canidate and penciled in the former first-round draft pick as their starting tailback next season, ahead of Ladell Betts and Kenny Watson. The Redskins signed guard Dave Fiore, who was released by the San Francisco 49ers this week in a salary cap move, to a four-year contract worth about $8 million and agreed to a seven-year, $28 million deal with Randy Thomas, a starter for the New York Jets the past four seasons who was regarded by many scouts as the top guard available in the unrestricted free agent market. The team was on the verge last night of completing contract agreements with two free agent defensive linemen, end Regan Upshaw and tackle Brandon Noble, and planned to introduce them, along with Thomas, at a news conference today. Noble and Upshaw visited Redskins Park late yesterday and their representatives were in the final stages of contract negotiations with the team last night. Team officials remained hopeful of signing free agent wide receiver Raghib Ismail, who left town after spending a second consecutive day in the D.C. area, and are negotiating with free agent wideout Ike Hilliard. Washington is also interested in wide receiver Jermaine Lewis, a former University of Maryland standout who was released by the Houston Texans this week, as a prospective kick returner. The Redskins all but conceded that they will lose defensive tackle Daryl Gardener via free agency, perhaps to the Denver Broncos as soon as Monday. But the club's decision-makers were ecstatic to add some speed and bulk in the interior of the line to an offense that ranked 20th in the league last year in Spurrier's first season as an NFL head coach. "We've gotten off to what we think is a great start," Redskins offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said. Canidate, 25, was the final player selected in the first round of the 2000 draft from the University of Arizona, where he rushed for 3,824 yards. He played in only three games in an injury-filled rookie season but ran for 441 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, as Marshall Faulk's understudy in 2001. He rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns against the Jets in his first NFL start. He is one of the league's fastest players, being timed at 4.2 seconds in the 40-yard dash, and looked like a star in the making. But he fell into Coach Mike Martz's doghouse last season, rushing for only 48 yards on 17 carries while being surpassed on the depth chart by rookie Lamar Gordon. Still, the Redskins felt a fourth-round selection in April and Loverne, who was acquired from the Jets last offseason to be a backup but became a starter by necessity and often was overmatched, was a modest price to pay for a player capable of stardom. Jackson said Canidate will compete with Betts and Watson for playing time. But sources said the Redskins got Canidate to replace Stephen Davis, who was released Wednesday, as their starter. He is a good receiver out of the backfield and also can help the Redskins as a kickoff returner. "It means we have a home run hitter in the backfield," Jackson said. "We've just added another playmaker to our football team." The two guard spots were major problem areas last season when starters were rotated. But with Thomas and Fiore joining center Larry Moore and tackles Jon Jansen and Chris Samuels, the Redskins believe they have assembled one of the better offensive lines in the league. "I've never smoked anything in my life," said offensive line coach Kim Helton, "and I actually took a puff on a cigar [yesterday]. So I'm very excited, yes." Thomas, 27, agreed to a deal that includes a $7 million signing bonus and becomes one of the league's best-paid interior offensive linemen. He and Fiore visited the Redskins' training facility yesterday, and club officials persuaded Thomas to bypass trips to the six other teams chasing him. Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and Joe Mendes, the club's vice president of football operations, negotiated by telephone all day with Thomas's Memphis-based agent, Jimmy Sexton, and had a deal in place by late in the afternoon. The Jets were interested in re-signing Thomas, and some observers thought he might reunite with former Jets coach Bill Parcells in Dallas. Instead, he becomes the Redskins' starting right guard. He started each of his 61 games for the Jets after being picked in the second round of the 1999 draft from Mississippi State, and scouts say he is a polished player equally skilled at pass- and run-blocking. Fiore, 28, received a $1.5 million signing bonus and becomes the starter at left guard. He missed all but three games last season because of a knee injury, but said he is close to fully healthy and plans to participate in the entire offseason program of workouts and practices. The seven-year veteran has a reputation as one of the league's strongest players, and made 53 starts in 59 games for the 49ers. He broke into the league as a tight end and has played every spot along the offensive line, but received assurances from the Redskins that he will have a home at left guard. "Just by getting set in one position, he can solidify himself as one of the top guys in the league," said Vinny Cerrato, the Redskins' director of player personnel. Fiore grew up in New Jersey as a Redskins fan in a family of New York Giants followers, and said in an evening news conference: "It's a great day for me. I'm excited to play here. This team is on the way up, and I'm close to my family." The Redskins might release guard Brenden Stai to clear salary cap space. With Gardener apparently departing, they probably will rethink their plan to release defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson in June. They are about to sign Noble, who spent the past four seasons with the Cowboys, to replace Gardener. Agent Rick Smith said, "we should get something done" today. Cerrato, noting that Gardener reportedly is scheduled to visit the Broncos on Monday, said: "It looks like maybe he's going to Denver. We'll see." Upshaw, a seven-year veteran most recently with the Oakland Raiders, could be a starter at defensive end, with Bruce Smith's future with the team in doubt. Agent Drew Rosenhaus indicated he was close to completing a deal with the Redskins for Upshaw last night, and said "there is a good chance" the agreement will be done today. Cerrato said the Redskins want Ismail to mentor their younger wide receivers and are confident he's healthy after he underwent surgery in August for a neck injury and missed all of last season. Cerrato said the Redskins don't intend to pursue David Boston but have other free agent wideouts on their shopping list. Hilliard played for Spurrier at the University of Florida, but is coming off a shoulder injury suffered last season with the Giants. The Redskins planned to remain busy in the coming days. "We knew who we wanted, and we were ready to go right away," Cerrato said. "Our game plan was to strike quickly. . . . [snyder] was up all night long. He was making deals until 3 or 4 in the morning." © 2003 The Washington Post Company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted March 1, 2003 Author Share Posted March 1, 2003 This article kind of confirms we are likely to add Upshaw and Noble to the mix with Ismail and possibly Hilliard as guys we're looking seriously at. This is one heck of a start. And, the credit goes to Snyder, in terms of being the driving force behind selling the plan to the players we are going after. People here don't always like to admit it, but, this is the third offseason in three that Snyder has been in charge of that we have seen a very solid performance by the team. In 2000 he was able to solidify a weak defense and turn it into a strength. In 2002 he was able to sell the "top" defensive coordinator in the league on this team -- good or bad, who knows -- along with Spurrier of course, and some key acquisitions (acquisitions that actually surpassed the free agent spending of 2000 but no one seems to recognize it) that transformed the team from a bit of an older roster to a younger one. Injuries got in the way a little up front though, and the team needed more depth. As Mendes said last year, the team can't address every area of vulnerability in one offseason and a plan was in place. This seems to be a coherent plan building for the long term. It shows balance and competence in design. It's increasing our depth while not yet sapping from our future. We'll see how long that can be said. Snyder does a great job at this time of the year. No one can doubt that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Let's call him (Snyder) the Mark Cuban of the NFL! I would prefer they went after Dyson though rather than Hilliard, and that's not because Hilliard is a former Gator, but because Hilliard has never played a complete season. Another thing I would like to add. Does the signing of Noble mean we are going to a 3-4 because it's been said many times that he could be an excellent nose tackle playing out of a 3-4 defense. Just somehting to think about. Cowsette is also more suited for the 3-4 as well. Me thinks that the Skins will be playing a little more 3-4 next and Kevin Mitchell will be hanging around a little longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Great Post Art! I almost find it hard to imagine that we have gotten such a great start in free agency while continuing to exhibit discipline and restraint. I'll leave the specifics to the capologists, but I believe we're being rather fiscally responsible while adding starters and depth to perceived "need" positions. Fiore's $1.5mil signing bonus is nothing what I thought it would be. I guess him growing up a Redskin fan and wanting to come home to be close to his family solidified his decision and eased the "guaranteed" money. Thomas got was he was asking for, and I just can't help thinking we paid it to insure we nabbed the top guard in free agency. Had we squabbled over the negotiations....he would have walked without a deal. Rocket I'm fine with...but I'll hold judgement until we see the contract specifics. I don't know much about Noble, but I continue to read that if he's paired with a widebody than he can be disruptive due to sheer heart and motor. Regan Upshaw is the only questionable player right now in my eyes. I just never thought he was worth a first round pick, and felt he has underachieved most of his career. I certainly hope he comes to camp motivated and willing to put in the hard work. The Hilliard talk should certainly make the "Ike Bike" gleam a bit brighter. I'm still not convinced he can help us.... but... we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathByLinebacker Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Originally posted by Sphinx I would prefer they went after Dyson though rather than Hilliard, and that's not because Hilliard is a former Gator, but because Hilliard has never played a complete season. Dyson has missed 22 games in his 5 years in the NFL. Over those same 5 years Hilliard has missed 13. Hilliard did twice play a complete season, but not since 1999. Neither WR has ever cracked 1000 yards. Sign the one that comes cheapest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen-like Todd Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Yes Sphinx, I was thinking that when I saw Noble mentioned as well. What's that you say? Boss Bailey in a Redskins uniform? Sounds good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckydevil Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 "The team was on the verge last night of completing contract agreements with two free agent defensive linemen, end Regan Upshaw and tackle Brandon Noble, and planned to introduce them, along with Thomas, at a news conference today" more good news. Synder is getting the job done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Brown #43 Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Originally posted by Art This article kind of confirms we are likely to add Upshaw and Noble to the mix with Ismail and possibly Hilliard as guys we're looking seriously at. This is one heck of a start. And, the credit goes to Snyder, in terms of being the driving force behind selling the plan to the players we are going after. People here don't always like to admit it, but, this is the third offseason in three that Snyder has been in charge of that we have seen a very solid performance by the team. In 2000 he was able to solidify a weak defense and turn it into a strength. In 2002 he was able to sell the "top" defensive coordinator in the league on this team -- good or bad, who knows -- along with Spurrier of course, and some key acquisitions (acquisitions that actually surpassed the free agent spending of 2000 but no one seems to recognize it) that transformed the team from a bit of an older roster to a younger one. Injuries got in the way a little up front though, and the team needed more depth. As Mendes said last year, the team can't address every area of vulnerability in one offseason and a plan was in place. This seems to be a coherent plan building for the long term. It shows balance and competence in design. It's increasing our depth while not yet sapping from our future. We'll see how long that can be said. Snyder does a great job at this time of the year. No one can doubt that. Art, I agree that this is a terrific start to the free agent signing period. I am ecstatic. However, you really can't judge how successful an offseason is until AFTER the season. Personally, I think these moves, and the ones that are anticipated, will help our team immensely. But I thought the same thing in 2000. If we wind up missing the playoffs again this year, I don't think anyone will be able to say that this offseason was successful. People here often boast about improvement in defensive rankings and things of that nature, but unfortunately those rankings don't even count so much as a tiebreaker in terms of qualifying for the playoffs. I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here. I'm so excited about all these moves that I probably won't even sleep tonight. But like it or not, many people will be skeptical of Snyder until our W/L record improves and we start to make noise in the playoffs. Let's hope that happens this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted March 1, 2003 Author Share Posted March 1, 2003 Actually, LB, I disagree with that statement. You judge the strength of the moves being made based on the now, not the future. What happens in the future is, obviously, unknown. But, I'm still of the mind that Ramsey will be the key no matter what else we do and if that's correct, given that he's a second-year player, all of the moves we do now could make us stronger, and yet we could still fall short or well short of being a playoff team. If that's the case then this offseason wouldn't have been a failure for not predicting Ramsey's failure ahead of time and for not signing a better player. We have to let that play itself out. As with 2000, it can't be predicted that the offense would collapse with injury and career-years being in the past. You base the offseason on filling what you think you KNOW as weaknesses and how well you did in doing that. Once the games begin there's a lot of factors at play that can leave a season a disappointment and the offseason still a success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inmate running the asylum Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Well I love the start we got off to - especially Canidate and Randy Thomas. Dave Fiore is also versatile and solid. http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/players/playerpage/4024 Noble I am not as excited about unless he is signed as a backup or rotation DT. He has more starts then Carl Powell but had no sacks in 16 starts last year with the Cowpukes. He is however a bigger body though at 315 lbs, then the undersized Powell. I just thought we could probably do better here at DT if we were more patient. With Regan Upshaw it depends on what he costs us in dollars. He can give us 7 sacks or so and depth -- which we need -- but he had a bad habit of jumping offside too frequently with the Raiders and drawing too many penalties. Rocket would give us more speed and Hilliard I also like. Dyson I think has lost his top speed now and is not the player he was when he was drafted. All in all though, a great start. What can I say, Snyder is even more exciting and more of a wheeler-and-dealer then Bobby Beathard was. What I also like is with the exception of possibly the Rocker, this team is building with young veterans and getting younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Brown #43 Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Originally posted by Art Actually, LB, I disagree with that statement. You judge the strength of the moves being made based on the now, not the future. What happens in the future is, obviously, unknown. But, I'm still of the mind that Ramsey will be the key no matter what else we do and if that's correct, given that he's a second-year player, all of the moves we do now could make us stronger, and yet we could still fall short or well short of being a playoff team. If that's the case then this offseason wouldn't have been a failure for not predicting Ramsey's failure ahead of time and for not signing a better player. We have to let that play itself out. As with 2000, it can't be predicted that the offense would collapse with injury and career-years being in the past. You base the offseason on filling what you think you KNOW as weaknesses and how well you did in doing that. Once the games begin there's a lot of factors at play that can leave a season a disappointment and the offseason still a success. Good point about Ramsey being the key to our success or failure this year. I'll go along with that. But I still maintain that any GM is ultimately judged on wins, losses and playoffs success. The NFL is not a patient business. Fortunately or unfortunately, Snyder really doesn't have to worry about job security. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 I like the moves. We went after and signed two of the best guards available got rid of a guy who helped me get on a first name basis with the guys at circuit city when replacing remotes. When you replace a sack of sh!t with a pro bowl capable player its a successful move. The big IFs of course are will we avoid major iinjuries to our starting line? If we do we are a playoff team the guaranteed because the O line will have a full camp to get in sync Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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