Report: Darren Sproles will not receive a RFA tender

[SkinsMaster88]

It would be surprising if the Chargers let him walk after letting LT go. He's a great change-of-pace back, but you can't pay him as a #1. IMO, he won't last a full season with 300+ carries. Not like it would matter in our situation. We need a quick explosive back. Sproles does provide that, but I agree that Shanahan will probably look at drafting his own back late in the draft or maybe work some magic with Alridge, who he was a fan of in Denver.

As to Bush, I think he and whatever team he goes to would benefit from having be a WR full-time. His set of skills works better as a slot WR type, rather than counting him to improve much at RB in his 5th season. Bush was overrated when he was drafted and he'll be still payed more than he's worth.

[Warhead36]

why do you as a fan care if we overpay? For years, we heard about the proverbial "cap hell" we were headed into over the last 10 years and did it ever happen? No, it didn't. Maybe our cap guys, accountants and lawyers need a raise because while you're dead on that we "overpay" time and time again it never haunted us.

And I don't see that happening to us further down the line either. so if we overpay for peppers, rolle, dansby, bush, sproles or whomever we get off that list of players does it really matter if we overpay?

Maybe in the future if Danny's pockets tighten then it's a better point but personally I could care less how much we pay a player. Bottom line is I want to win and I think using Free agency and maybe overpaying will make enough of a difference for us to get good once again.

I care because us fans constantly justifying and accepting Danny's spending is only going to make him keep doing it instead of focusing on doing things that actually build championship football teams, like the DRAFT.

I love when people say "well it's not my money so I don't care if we spend!" and then complain when we don't build properly through the draft and (insert big name veteran player here)ends up being a rip off.

[Destino]

San Diego is going to have who as a RB?

they might be looking to draft one. who knows. RB's aren't that hard to come by and last season they didn't really get a lot of production and did ok.

[jivelikenice]

I care because us fans constantly justifying and accepting Danny's spending is only going to make him keep doing it instead of focusing on doing things that actually build championship football teams, like the DRAFT.

I love when people say "well it's not my money so I don't care if we spend!" and then complain when we don't build properly through the draft and (insert big name veteran player here)ends up being a rip off.

I laugh when people say "build through the draft, build through the draft" like its a full proof formula and the only way to succeed. I'm in no way advocating doing what the Cerrato regime did and ignore the draft, but I think you must build through a combination of the draft and free agency. I have no issues spending money in free agency when it serves a purpose. The problem is when you let a Ryan Clark go and sign an Adam Archuleta or spending just to spend. That being said this is a new regime and you have to give them the opportunity to bring in players who fit the system they're looking to implement. You may have to bring in a few vets to put the system in place much like Rex did and NY with Bart Scott, Jim Leonard, and Co. Look at the Saints; Brees, Vilma, Sharper, Fujita, Shockey, Jabari Greer, Anthony Hargove....All were signed through free agency or traded to the Saints. They didn't build through the draft only.

If the Skins FO identifies players at positions of need that fit into what they're looking to accomplish then I have no problem with the spending. Sproles to me fits in on special teams, part of a running back committee, a 3rd down back, and a gamebreaker. I'd prefer McCluster in that role bbut I have no idea if we can get him in the draft and I would have no problem with Sproles coming here.

[veteranskinsfan]

Sproules is a game changer or as the 49ers marketing team says a "gamer". We can use him as a third down guy, a punt returner, and kick returner. Allen needs to get this guy. He has blazing speed. We have no speed at running back now. Leave it to San Diego to blow it with this guy.

[SkinsBoss]

I care because us fans constantly justifying and accepting Danny's spending is only going to make him keep doing it instead of focusing on doing things that actually build championship football teams, like the DRAFT.

I love when people say "well it's not my money so I don't care if we spend!" and then complain when we don't build properly through the draft and (insert big name veteran player here)ends up being a rip off.

well, that's where we disagree then because I believe now teams need to utilize FA more so than the draft. I'm not one to complain about FA signings when they go south if I supported them upfront. With Arch I complained because I never wanted him in the 1st place same goes for Deion and Carrier as well but with ARE and Carter and Haynesworth those were all good or bad I'll stand by because I agreed with them upfront.

I do believe we need to use the draft better than what we've done in the past but if you look at some of the better teams, NE, NO, they use FA along with the draft. That's my point we need to use both.

[TheLongshot]

I laugh when people say "build through the draft, build through the draft" like its a full proof formula and the only way to succeed. I'm in no way advocating doing what the Cerrato regime did and ignore the draft, but I think you must build through a combination of the draft and free agency.

Last I checked, Vinny had 16 picks (17 if you include Jarmon) in two years of being the head guy. I'd hardly call that ignoring the draft.

Now, if you replaced Vinny's name with Gibbs, I'd agree with you.

I have no issues spending money in free agency when it serves a purpose. The problem is when you let a Ryan Clark go and sign an Adam Archuleta or spending just to spend. That being said this is a new regime and you have to give them the opportunity to bring in players who fit the system they're looking to implement. You may have to bring in a few vets to put the system in place much like Rex did and NY with Bart Scott, Jim Leonard, and Co. Look at the Saints; Brees, Vilma, Sharper, Fujita, Shockey, Jabari Greer, Anthony Hargove....All were signed through free agency or traded to the Saints. They didn't build through the draft only.

Ironic you say that when it was Gregg Williams' call to not offer Clark a starter-style contract and to go after Arch.

[jivelikenice]

Last I checked, Vinny had 16 picks (17 if you include Jarmon) in two years of being the head guy. I'd hardly call that ignoring the draft.

Now, if you replaced Vinny's name with Gibbs, I'd agree with you.

Ironic you say that when it was Gregg Williams' call to not offer Clark a starter-style contract and to go after Arch.

1. You're right on Gibbs. He was as much of a problem in terms of building through the draft as Cerrato was.

I can't excuse Cerrato however. The last 2 years he had a good number of picks but that can't excuse his trading away of picks prior to Gibbs 2.0 and the other picks that he traded away for aging vets (i.e. Jason Taylor and Pete Kendall). Kendall played pretty well so as a one off deal it doesn't look too bad, but it was made as a result of poor roster management as was the Taylor trade. We had no young players waiting in the pipeline and that was on his watch.

2. Are you talking Antonio Pierce or Ryan Clark....I recall Williams having that opinion about Pierce (which was a mistake) but not about Clark. If I recall correctly, Snyder basically said if you could get that type of money in the maket then good bye. Either way, Gregg Williams is a coordinator and it was the FO's job to overrule him there.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Sproles has been badly overhyped since the end of the 2008 season. Sure, he's fast and he's dynamic but he's not even remotely consistent and is pretty much relegated to third down duties.

[TheLongshot]

1. You're right on Gibbs. He was as much of a problem in terms of building through the draft as Cerrato was.

I can't excuse Cerrato however. The last 2 years he had a good number of picks but that can't excuse his trading away of picks prior to Gibbs 2.0 and the other picks that he traded away for aging vets (i.e. Jason Taylor and Pete Kendall). Kendall played pretty well so as a one off deal it doesn't look too bad, but it was made as a result of poor roster management as was the Taylor trade. We had no young players waiting in the pipeline and that was on his watch.

And why was that? Because we traded away a lot of our picks, which was on Gibbs primarily. It is kinda hard to have young players on the roster when you never have your full compliment of picks.

2. Are you talking Antonio Pierce or Ryan Clark....I recall Williams having that opinion about Pierce (which was a mistake) but not about Clark. If I recall correctly, Snyder basically said if you could get that type of money in the maket then good bye. Either way, Gregg Williams is a coordinator and it was the FO's job to overrule him there.

It isn't hard to connect the dots. Do you really think the contract offer to Clark was all just Snyder? No, just about everything went by what the coaches wanted. Considering that after that Williams had a hard-on for Arch, then drafted Landry the next year, you really could see that Williams was looking to go a different direction with the safety position.

[RenegadeTK]

i'd prefer Bush, but only if the price were right. i hope he isnt expecting a ridiculous payday. Bush is on his way up. his intangibles are of the planet, he has been improving his running style to be more physical and is still very young.

[Gurgeh]

I wouldn't mind Sproles for the right price as we have far more needs than picks and he fits the bill as a change of pace back and return guy. As a team we don't just have to learn to build through the draft, we also have to learn to be sensible with the contracts we hand out to FA. If Sproles (or anyone else) asks for too much then we don't take them.

[KevinthePRF]

I'd sign Sproles in a minute to replace Randel El's roster spot. He can do everything Randel El is doing now, and can do more out of the backfield and in the return game, and he's four years younger.

Yea we need to build through the draft, though I think OL (x3!), QB, and 3-4 LBs should be the focus on that front.

This is a no-brainer upgrade if you can make it happen.

[Destino]

If he signed for change of pace back money (ie significantly less than a feature back) I love to see him here. We haven't had a home run threat in a while.

[REDSKINZ-RIDEORDIE]

San Diego is going to have who as a RB?

They are going to do what we need to do, which is draft one of these stud RBs coming out this year...

[Audible_Red40]

Anthony Alridge. (not a fan just saying)

Why not build within. Shanny knows a thing or two about RB's. No need to go money happy on RB's, especially not every down backs. Although I would love either one of them.

[Newera]

Sproles is too light and small ... he will never make it in the NFL.

That's funny a funny but true statement. Such over analysis. From the man that only writes one to two sentence responses. I usually agree with you.

[CBass1724]

It's not my money, bring Bush and Sproles here!!

[SkinsFTW]

Wait, wait, what about Westbroke?

If we signed him then he and Portis could go a year rotating concussions week to week and we'd be fine.

[theboomking]

It is also the same with Haynesworth, who's contract is really more like a 4 year $48m contract, with a bunch of redonkulous money on the back end that he's not likely to see, either because he won't be here or they will restructure his deal. And again, everyone else who was seriously interested in Haynesworth was throwing around the same amount of money, so I don't know how you can say that we overpaid.

Thank you. Four years and 48 million is not grossly overpaying for haynesworth. The problem has never been how much we spend. The problem is that we have traded away draft picks for old players and locker room cancers like Jason Taylor, Brunell, TJ Duckett, B Lloyd, Pete Kendall, and that we let home grown products like Clark and Pierce walk. If you identify the right players, paying more than others are willing to won't hurt you if you are in an uncapped era.

With regards to Bush vs Sproles, You have to consider Bush's health. Bush is young, but his knees are not. Bush has already had a micro-fracture surgery on his knee in 12/08, and I believe followed that up with another arthroscopy of the knee last off season - not good. Bush certainly has value as a punt returner and receiver, but I'd rather have a guy who is two years older, but has healthy knees, and doesn't come with the prima donna attitude or Kim Kardashian media circus.

In terms of stats:

Sproles owns an advantage in ypc, 4.5 vs 4.0.

Bush has more rushing TD's 17 vs 6

Bush has more rushing yards 1940 vs 887

Bush has more receiving TD's 11 vs 9

Bush has more receiving yards 1934 vs 880

Bush has 4 PR TD's, Sproles has 2 PR and 2 KR TD's

I would think that the stats favored Bush, except that the Saints were trying to get return on their investment by featuring Bush, while Sproles was in the well defined role of change of pace back, stuck behind a first ballet hall of famer on the depth chart. YPC, YPR, TD per carry and reception all seem pretty equal. That also means Sproles has less wear on his body, despite being older.

[Zhouse]

One thing that can be said about Shanahan, he doesn't sign big name RB's; he creates them.

So, no thanks

[SkinsBoss]

One thing that can be said about Shanahan, he doesn't sign big name RB's; he creates them.

So, no thanks

I think it's unfair to compare Shanny from his Denver days to his current role as our HC. Simply because ownership, mgmt and our wallets are much different so that might be true of Shanny's body of work in the past but remains to be seen if it holds that way.

Having the money that Snyder has must surely be a big attraction for Shanny in coming here so who knows what the offseason plan may be but I happen to think if we could add sproles or bush as a 3rd down back/Kick/Punt returner why not do it?

[theboomking]

Sorry for the double post, but I just did the calculations.

Bush averages a TD every 28 carries

Sproles averages a TD every 33 carries

Bush averages a TD every 23.6 catches and a career 7.4 ypc average

Sproles averages a TD every 9.6 catches and a career 10.1 ypc average

Bush averages a TD every 19.5 punt returns with an avg of 8 yards/return

Sproles averages a TD every 45 punt returns with an avg of 8.5yards/return

Bush has no career kick returns

Sproles averages 25.2 yards per KR with 207 career attampts and 2 TD's for 1 TD every 103.5 attemps

[Zhouse]

I think it's unfair to compare Shanny from his Denver days to his current role as our HC. Simply because ownership, mgmt and our wallets are much different so that might be true of Shanny's body of work in the past but remains to be seen if it holds that way.

Having the money that Snyder has must surely be a big attraction for Shanny in coming here so who knows what the offseason plan may be but I happen to think if we could add sproles or bush as a 3rd down back/Kick/Punt returner why not do it?

Maybe so, but if he's good at developing a serviceable running game, why fork over money to RB's.

Sporles nor Bush is going to take 3rd down money. And imo it's not worth paying a 2/3rd stringer and specials team player high dollars; cap or no cap.

We need to get away from the culture that Dan is willing and able to outspend everyone and get his man. I would rather we create our own Sproles and groom a Haynesworth. Name a current Redskin we've developed into a high caliber player? We rely too much on Snyder's wallet that our team has become a group of overpriced FA and a joke.

[TheREALJBird]

i'd prefer Bush, but only if the price were right. i hope he isnt expecting a ridiculous payday. Bush is on his way up. his intangibles are of the planet, he has been improving his running style to be more physical and is still very young.

Oh he is expecting a ridiculous payday, and chances are he gets it. At that point I'll wonder what is bigger, his ego or his contract:pfft:

That being said though, I can't say I'd be opposed to bringing one of them in as a compliment to Portis, at the same time though I'd agree with seeing what we have on our team currently (Aldridge) or maybe getting a RB with a later pick. Gotta love the speculation of the offseason, sit back and enjoy the ride.