I've already made clear that I think the Redskins should trade down in this year's draft to acquire much needed picks to bolster an ageing roster as well as get many players on the cheap. With just one 1st day draft pick (at #6) the Redskins are in dire need of more picks, not less.
So uhhh, towards that end Mark Maske's NFL Insider provides the scoop, with my emphasis:
- Marcus Washington will cost the team 6M in '07, 6.4M in '08, and 6.5M in '09. 6M of his 10M signing bonus remains, so cutting him in '07 would not save any money.
- Fletcher will cost the team 3M in '07, which accelerates to 4.3M in '09, and 7+M in '10 and '11. All 10M of his signing bonus remain, so cutting him is of course ludicrous and crazy and won't even be considered (hopefully) until his base salary gets far too high in '10. I think it's a poor decision to sign a 30+ year old man to a contract that accelerates drastically towards in 2010, considering he'll be 36 at the time, but maybe that's just me. You might as well just say "The Redskins agree to pay Fletcher X amount through 2009, and 4M in dead cap space in '10."
- The numbers mentioned earlier for Briggs as a Redskin: "$20 million in guaranteed money as part of a multiyear deal that will average $7.5 million per season"
Does this have an eerie '06 offseason feel to it? The Redskins were about one Santana Moss complementing receiver away from being truly awesome so instead they add two high priced guys and implement an entirely new offense. This year, one of our (many) needs turns out to be Linebacker -- despite many of us recognizing our failed front four pass rush and secondary as larger needs -- and instead of settling with London Fletcher we have to pursue another high priced LB as well?
But history repeats itself. The Redskins were one Santana Moss complementing receiver away in '05, they fixed that by adding two more but it turns out we're still one short. So, why not, let's get one more? I mean we'll worry about our Pass Rush some other time, ok?
"I think everybody here would like to have him," Gibbs said.
All that other shit will probably fix itself though.