2015 FA Thread - OP Updated - Signings: Paea, Knighton, Culliver, Johnson, McCoy, Hill, Goldson

[FrFan]

That's where I always get confused. Is it by total money spent? Is it by starters lost vs starters signed? Is it by players lost and signed by position? I don't know why I can't figure it out...

Based on the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement:

A team is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks if it is determined that they lost more or better players than they were able to acquire during the previous year's free agency period. The number of picks a team receives equals the net loss of compensatory free agents (maximum of four).

Compensatory free agents are determined by a formula that was developed by the NFL Management Council. Not every free agent lost or signed by a team is covered by this formula.

Compensatory Picks:

• These picks are determined at the league's annual meeting before the draft and are given to teams that in the previous year's free agency period have lost more or better free agent players than they gained.
• This highly confidential formula, created by the NFL Management Council, is based on players' salaries, playing time, post-season awards, and the net amount of free agents lost versus free agents signed.
• The maximum amount of picks any team can gain is 4 and they cannot be traded.

Football 101: Compensatory Picks

I wonder why is it highly confidential ?

[MartinC]

I still don't have a full grasp on compensatory picks!! Will the Skins get one for losing Rak(especially since they are probably not going to replace him as a starter through free agency)? What round will he be worth?

 

Unlikely as losing Rak, Helu and Hankerson will be more than balanced out by the signings we have made of Culliver, Paea and Pot Roast.  

[JoeSkins]

Just to be the sour milk...

 

So, what is the difference between a McCloughin offseason and a Bruce Allen offseason.

 

Pie

Pot Roast

Culliver (needs a food nickname so we can call the defense the kitchen)

Jean

 

Maybe unlike Vinny they're not first tier names, over 40, and breaking free agency salary records, but that's a bunch of free agents. Kind of a SOP Redskins off season.

 

 

Now, like most I'm intrigued with the names (and grateful we're attacking the lines. Three d-linemen in an off season is better than three WR free agents in an off season in my book), but this feels like a typical Redskins off season three days in.

The reason the Packers don't have to sign a lot of UFA's is because they've been doing it correctly for decades.  You can't expect a bunch of rookies to step in and fill gaps on the 2-deep and there weren't enough picks to fill out a 53-man roster.  Filling 2015 holes in free agency is just a fact of life at this point.  Hopefully the (supposed) organizational difference manifests itself in how the team deals with attrition and whether the 2015 roster's eventual replacements come through the draft or free agency.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Being reported the Cowboys have signed McFadden on a 2 year deal. 

 

God bless Jeruh!

 

Hail. 

[mojo]

Culliver is the guy who hit a guy on a bike and then threatened the kid who tried to stop him from leaving the scene with brass knuckles....wonderful. I wonder how many games our $32 million splash free agent will be suspended if convicted of a felony?

Can you tell I'm not a fan of the signing?

[TheLongshot]

Man, Culliver's history is worrisome.  While he might be a fine player, that stuff is some pretty serious red flags.

[Burgold]

Hey, someone has to be the sour milk.

 

I feel the same giddiness as most of you, BUT... these signings do feel a lot like other starts to free agency. The contracts don't seem that steep and hopefully McCloughin has a better eye not only for talent, but fit.

We've gotten a ton of talented players in here who weren't old, but either weren't hungry or were just poor fits. On the surface, this seems great.

 

Still, hopefully as Joeskins correctly pointed out... you got to use free agency a little when the base of the soup is as thin as it has been after a number of very poor years.

[gortiz]

I was off today and I slept in... REALLY late (like, just woke up)

 

I didn't think anything would get done that fast.  Absolutely awesome.

 

ah, must be nice ... got something to do or gonna chill all day. if the latter, eat well! 

[War Paint]

Culliver is the guy who hit a guy on a bike and then threatened the kid who tried to stop him from leaving the scene with brass knuckles....wonderful. I wonder how many games our $32 million splash free agent will be suspended if convicted of a felony?

Can you tell I'm not a fan of the signing?

Is he facing charges?

[JoeSkins]

Culliver is the guy who hit a guy on a bike and then threatened the kid who tried to stop him from leaving the scene with brass knuckles....wonderful. I wonder how many games our $32 million splash free agent will be suspended if convicted of a felony?

Can you tell I'm not a fan of the signing?

On the plus side, a new precedent was set last year with players in legal trouble.  Who in 2013 knew that the Commissioner's Exempt List existed?  That's a useful hedge for teams.

[Art]

People are confusing building through the draft with avoidance of free agency.

 

We will sign players in free agency every year.   A lot of them, every year.   Players come and go.   Because of the NFL stealing our cap money for two years, we have been a very thin organization.   We do have to build a base of depth to compensate for that and bringing in guys who can accomplish that, pushing down others to depth roles, helps.

 

The building through the draft hasn't started yet.

 

It won't really start for two more years.

 

Meaning, the two or so guys who work out really well, we hope, from the next couple drafts, plus two or so more who have "potential" but we won't really see anything much of for three or four years when others start to leave will start to have an impact in three years.   And four.   And five.

 

In that time you have these guys who will fall off.   One or two may be retained, but you are hoping to put solid players in place while drafting better than we have and then going to the reserve depth of your draft when the next batch has to be replaced.   But we won't be at that point for two more years and won't really see if it's working for five.

 

During that period, we'll be signing four new starters an off season in free agency.

[Burgold]

Nice side benefit of this free agency is that with the exception of the o-line and safety we've filled our holes. Now, we truly can go BPA in the first few rounds of the draft.

 

Still would like to see new starters at guard, safety, and maybe tackle

[arftech]

Culliver gets 32mil over 4.

Sometimes you just gotta pony up.

Damn those DBs have had a great FA across the league this year.

I love the way GMSM is retooling this defense.  He rules but like I said on yesterday, sometimes you just have to overpay a bit to get some of the better talent.

 

HTTR!

[JoeSkins]

Nice side benefit of this free agency is that with the exception of the o-line and safety we've filled our holes. Now, we truly can go BPA in the first few rounds of the draft.

 

Still would like to see new starters at guard, safety, and maybe tackle

Another nice side benefit is that Orakpo got a nice deal that the team couldn't realistically match, so we as fans don't have to feel bad about him leaving.

[Peregrine]

Hey, look how Redskins fans have changed for the better!  We sign our first guy this offseason for more than a $4 mill cap hit this year and fans dont like it!  My how we have grown up...  In years past it would have been "Why is Culliver the only guy we have gone after instead of these scrubs??"

[Old Bay]

Being reported the Cowboys have signed McFadden on a 2 year deal. 

 

God bless Jeruh!

 

Hail. 

 

What happened to the reports of Peterson demanding a trade there?

[mojo]

Is he facing charges?

A felony and 2 misdemeanors from what I understand. The ole' trifecta.

[Darrel2828]

If this was the 19th Century some school marm would be rapping both of you pretty hard about the knuckles right now with her ruler.(Missing old smileys)

Nothing wrong with writing correctly although we all get lazy on a message board at times. Take your chastisement as deserved.

I didn't say there was anything wrong with proper gramer, but don't come to a sports forum and cry about it.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Hey, look how Redskins fans have changed for the better!  We sign our first guy this offseason for more than a $4 mill cap hit this year and fans dont like it!  My how we have grown up...  In years past it would have been "Why is Culliver the only guy we have gone after instead of these scrubs??"

 

Wait until the first loss of the season, lol. 

 

Hail.

[clskinsfan]

Culliver is the guy who hit a guy on a bike and then threatened the kid who tried to stop him from leaving the scene with brass knuckles....wonderful. I wonder how many games our $32 million splash free agent will be suspended if convicted of a felony?

Can you tell I'm not a fan of the signing?

 

You have to think the Skins did their research on this. No way they sign him for those dollars if anything is going to come of his off field stuff.

[jkthepresident]

Excellent signing with Culliver. Now we can move on to the big stuff. S, OL, OLB... QB.

[ZRagone]

Just to be the sour milk...

 

So, what is the difference between a McCloughin offseason and a Bruce Allen offseason.

Well let's see....

First, to start, we need 1 more signing to really do a good comparison of top 5 to top 5. I'm just looking at bringing guys in, even though many would attribute the $11 mil that Bruce gave to Orakpo last year as part of free agency.

Second, going to be looking at guys coming from outside the organization expected to start/essentially start (slot WR, nickel CB)

Bruce's 2014

Desean Jackson

Jason Hatcher

Andre Roberts

Shaun Lauvao

Tracy Porter

Clou's 2015 (thus far)

Chris Culliver

Stephen Paea

Ricky Jean Francois

Terrance Knighton

Bruce took three skill position guys and two trench players.

Clou thus far has taken one skill position guy and three trench players.

Oldest player* by Bruce was 32.

Oldest player* thus far by Clou was 29.

* age of player for most of the season

Comparing their big skill position signings...

Both signed their guy (Jackson/Culliver) for 4 years and $16 guaranteed. Culliver is getting about $8 mil more total over the life of his contract however.

Comparing their "aging but good vet" signings...

Bruce gave a 32 year old Jason Hatcher a 4 year contract at roughly $6.9 mil a year and $10 million guarnateed.

Clou meanwhile got a 29 year old Knighton on a 1 year prove it deal for $4 mil this year and only $2 mil guaranteed.

Comparing their "depth vet" signings...

Bruce gave 2 years and $3 mil per year deal to the 28 year old Tracy Porter, with $2 mil guaranteed

Clou gave a 3 year and $3 mil per year deal to the 29 year old Ricky Jean Francois

If we see another "up and coming" signing then we can compare that player and Paea to Roberst and Lauvao.

In some ways, they definitely have some similarities. The Knighton deal strikes me as a significant difference though. And the greater focus on the trenches as opposed to skill positions strike me as well.

And if you DO factor the $11 mil invested into Orakpo last year, that definitely changes things up dramatically.

As to the very fact we're signing free agents? That doesn't surprise me too much. We had money we needed to use and we had holes. I didn't buy the notion that Clou was going to act in FA this year as the situation is a bit different. We had holes AND we had to get to a minimum spending level.

[Taft]

Pro Football Focus, which usually lambasts any Redskins moves (usually with good reason) was big on the Pot Roast Signing and gave it an A for a Grade:

 

The Redskins continue to revamp their defensive line with a player who has been one of the league's top nose tackles of late. Knighton saw his career take off the past two seasons in Denver after four undistinguished seasons in Jacksonville. He immediately shores up some of Washington's run defense woes, while also providing a pass-rushing threat on all three downs.

 

Washington's defense has suffered mightily the past few seasons with undersized nose tackles, and after the signing of Stephen Paea it looked like more of the same. Well, those days are no more, as "Pot Roast" brings size (6-foot-3, 335 pounds) and elite run-stopping ability to the middle of their defense. Knighton's 8.5 run-stop percentage was 11th-best among defensive tackles last season, but that doesn't even reflect his superb block-eating ability. The defensive tackle finished in the top 10 the last two seasons in run defense grade and turned in one of the best all-time playoff performances at the position two seasons ago.

 

The only minor cause for concern is the switch he'll have to make from the Broncos' hybrid 4-3 to the Redskins' 3-4. Knighton likely will play far more 0-technique nose tackle this upcoming season, and while the difference is small, it isn't meaningless. It shouldn't be too big of a deal, though, as Knighton played nose for 323 snaps his rookie season and still performed well against the run.

[DC9]

Trust that Scot knows what he's doing, men (and women - I see ya'll, but you have the wisdom to know this was an implied task and don't need to whine about it like the unfairer sex).

 

Respect.

[jkthepresident]

The Knighton signing is really the only big difference between Bruce and Scot. That kind of contract for a player like him is the kind of thing you're able to pull off when you have a GM who is actually good at his job.