Jump to content
Washington Football Team Logo
Extremeskins

Details on the Antoine Winfield debacle...


Dirk Diggler

Recommended Posts

http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/7384075

Man o man, how does Bradway still have a job? The Danny would have never, ever let this happen...

Eisen: I know that the Vikings are expecting good things out of you, especially considering the way that they got you. Can you talk about this, because I found this one of the more fascinating moments of the offseason because you were being courted by the New York Jets. Can you walk us through the process?

Winfield: Well, I was almost signed there -- I went in and they didn't have the contract ready so they sent me back to the hotel and my agent was talking with coach (Mike) Tice and everything was sounding good, and my wife didn't feel comfortable about the New York situation. I told her before that I was going to make two visits, and once we got to Minnesota, it was a done deal.

Eisen: So you were at the Jets facility, and from what I understand, they didn't want to let you go. They wanted you to sign before you could leave the facility.

Winfield: No -- actually we went to the facility and they didn't have the contract ready, so they sent us back to the hotel and I guess that gave more time for coach Tice and my agent to get together and discuss some things, and it just turned for the bad for them.

Eisen: Well, here is what Mike Tice said on Vikings cam the day you showed up.

Mike Tice from March 5: We felt like it was a done deal in New York, and we really felt like it was a done deal when we didn't hear from him for six or seven hours and we saw it flash across ESPN that he had done a deal with the Jet. At that point, we got a call from one of the representatives that said that this wasn't a done deal and that we're still thinking of coming to Minnesota. Well, we said that we would get you here however you want to get here. They said they were coming tonight, and they had just missed the last flight out of Newark by five minutes so we called up some friends and lined up a private jet, which wasn't that big a deal, but we wanted to get him out of New York and into Minnesota so we would be given a chance to compete.

Eisen: And I guess that's what happened?

Winfield: That's what happened.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unbelievable! You have to have a contract ready. What were they thinking? Even if something like this were to happen in D.C. there's no way Snyder would just send him back to his hotel. They would have a Redskin representative with them the whole time and taken them out to eat or something. Don't let the player or agent out of your site!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you think Snyder would have let him get away if he were high on the wish list? He would have had a catered meal complete with violins brought in just to keep him in house.

This is a prime example of "If you snooze, you lose".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish we had gotten him, Vincent, or Taylor honestly, but he was just too expensive. The Vikes look serious to make a deep playoff run this year with the speedy bennet healthy and their defense shoring up. Don't expect another 3-7 finish from them this year... IM SCARED!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by H@iL2Gibb$

Bradway's typewriter was not working at that time.

:laugh:

Now that's funny. You think he has a manual or one of them high-tech electrics? :laugh:

Seriously, Bradway has to be the biggest boob in the GM ranks. He just screws up time and again.

Someone should teach him the six Ps - proper planning prevents piss-poor performance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Gamebreaker

I would've taken Winfield over Springs. Winfield is more consistent in coverage, more durable, and a much better tackler. I don't think Williams pursued him because he expected him to try and break the bank.

Sorry, I disagree with this. I doubt Williams cared one iota about the contracts these guys were pursuing. That is the job of the money people, not him.

If Williams placed Winfield at the top of his list, I think that it's safe to say that the FO would have AT LEAST contacted Winfield's agent and discussed some basic contract parameters. Unless Winfield's initial asking price was way out of the ballpark, it appears that Springs was higher on Williams' list.

As for who I would have taken, honestly, I have no idea. Winfield certainly has a solid reputation, but the rap on him is that he doesn't make plays. That was my big beef about Bailey, so that would have been a big strike against Winfield in my book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Winfield is a good tough corner and younger than Springs. but he can't catch a cold and he is short (5'9). they are both good players (when healthy) but i have a thing about DB's dropping potential interceptions. besides, Springs really wanted to be here and apparently ,Williams wanted him. also, despite the fact that his Dad was a stinking cowboy , Shawn is a hometown guy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First off, Winfeild cannot catch. Springs is a pro bowl caliber corner, and if Williams thought Winfeild would help this team more, he would've gone after him more agressivly. Definetly would take Springs, because even if we don't have one great #1, we have above-legit number #2s. I'm all good with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It probably had mostly to do with size. Smoot is an average/slightly above ave sized corner at 5-11 but very light at 175. Williams probably did not want to go with a mighty mouse on the other side of the field and that's what Winfield would have been.

Springs has very nice size at 6 ft. 205 and should match up well with the bigger receivers that every team seems to have these days. Granted, Winfield more than held his own despite his height but I suppose Williams just felt that there were more limitations to his game then Springs's.

Personally, I would have preferred Winfield based on health/availability. I worry about those hamstring injuries because they always seem to be recurring. But I do see the rationale in going for the bigger player when (at the time) you only had Smoot and Bauman who aren't exactly king-sized corners.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...