I’ll cut right to the moral of this post before it even gets started: The Redskins are going to have a very exciting offseason. There are so many possibilities and so many outcomes that I figured it might be fun to play Bruce Allen for a day.
I’m dating myself a bit here, but when I was a kid, Wheel of Fortune was a lot different than it is today. After each puzzle was solved, you didn’t simply get whatever money you won in that round – You had to “purchase” various prizes in the showroom, which, by the way, were massively overpriced. Here’s a show from 1982. Go to the 8:15 mark:
Family Guy parodied it.
Anyway, in case you didn’t realize it, the Redskins have a ton of space under their cap, estimated at $45-48 million, so I thought it would be fun to play GM, pretend you just solved a puzzle in old school Wheel of Fortune and get to go shopping for their offseason groceries. Obviously, NFL contracts are more complex than we’re making it here, but just for fun, who would you buy? Note: You don’t have to be a Skins fan to play.
You have $45 million and 3 draft picks (one in each of the first three rounds of course) to work with. (We won’t get too deep here).
The free agents are all priced out individually below, and here are your rookie costs:
If you trade up for RG3, he costs $5.5M.
1st round pick at 6th overall = $4M
Guys that cost a 2nd and 3rd (to get up into the end of the 1st round) = $2.5M
2nd round picks = $1.5M
3rd round picks = $1M
I didn’t get too crazy with the rookies… just a healthy sampling for each position group with some players that would make sense.
Got it? OK, lets see what groceries you buy with your allotment of $45 million and top 3 picks:
QB vets – Peyton Manning $20M, Matt Flynn $10M, Rex Grossman $1.5M, Kyle Orton $6.5M
QB rookies – Robert Griffin III (1st round pick, 2nd round pick, 3rd round pick, 2013 1st round pick, 2013 3rd round pick), Ryan Tannehill (1st round pick), Brandon Weeden (2nd and 3rd round picks to move up into the end of round 1)
RB vets – Tim Hightower $1.5M
RB rookies – Trent Richardson (1st round pick), David Wilson (2nd round pick), Lamar Miller (2nd round pick), Doug Martin (2nd round pick), Chris Polk (3rd round pick), Isaiah Pead (3rd round pick)
WR vets – Vincent Jackson $10M, Reggie Wayne $8M, Marques Colston $8M, Steve Johnson $7M, Brandon Lloyd $6.5M, Robert Meachem $5M, Mario Manningham $5M, Laurent Robinson $4.5M, Mike Wallace $9M (and you have to give up your 1st round pick to get Wallace).
WR rookies – Justin Blackmon (1st round pick), Mohamad Sanu (2nd round pick), Alshon Jeffery (2nd round pick), Reuben Randle (2nd round pick), Stephen Hill (3rd round pick), Nick Toon (3rd round pick)
TE vets – Fred Davis $5.5M
OT rookies – Riley Reiff (1st round pick), Jonathan Martin (1st round pick), Mike Adams (2nd and 3rd round picks to move into end of 1st)
OG vets – Carl Nicks $8.5M, Evan Mathis $5M, Ben Grubbs $5M
OG rookies – David DeCastro (1st round pick), Cordy Glenn (2nd and 3rd), Brandon Washington (2nd round pick), Kelechi Osemele (2nd round pick), Kevin Zeitler (3rd round pick), Amini Silatolu (3rd round pick)
C vets – Chris Myers $6M, Scott Wells $5M
C rookies – Peter Konz (2nd and 3rd round picks), Ben Jones (3rd round pick)
DE vets – Adam Carriker $3.5M, Jason Jones $6M
DE rookies – Jared Crick (2nd round pick), Billy Winn (3rd round pick)
NT vets – Antonio Garay $5M, Sione Pouha $5M
NT rookies – Dontari Poe (2nd and 3rd round picks to get into the end of round 1)
OLB rookies – Andre Branch (2nd round pick), Vinnie Curry (3rd round pick), Chandler Jones (3rd round pick) Cam Johnson (3rd round pick), Jake Bequette (3rd round pick)
ILB vets – London Fletcher $6M, Rocky McIntosh $2M, D’Qwell Jackson $7M, Stephen Tulloch $5M, Dan Connor $3M, David Hawthorne $4M
Update: You can’t take D’Qwell Jackson. He just re-signed with the Browns for $42.5 over 5 years. Looks like I was off on his annual salary by $1.5 mil.
ILB rookies – Dont’a Hightower (2nd and 3rd round picks), Vontaze Burfict (3rd round pick)
CB vets – If you dump DeAngelo Hall, you can add $6M to your $45M total. Brandon Carr $10M, Terrell Thomas $3M, Cortland Finnegan $7M
CB rookies – Morris Claiborne (1st an 3rd round picks), Alfonso Dennard (2nd round pick), Stephon Johnson (2nd round pick), Leonard Johnson (3rd round pick), Chase Minnefeld (3rd round pick), Brandon Boykin (3rd round pick)
S vets – LaRon Landry $6M, Dashon Goldson $5.5, Tyvon Branch $4.5M
S rookies – Mark Barron (2nd and 3rd round picks), Antonio Allen (3rd round pick), Harrison Smith (3rd round pick), George Iloka (3rd round pick)
What’d you come up with?
wow Thats a shit ton of capspace
I’m sure problems and holes remain after these decisions, but I didn’t put a lot of time into this. I’m assuming with the $20M price tag that Manning is healthy. I hope this formats right.
Manning 20
Wayne 8
Fletcher 6
Davis 5.5
Hightower 1.5
- Hall -6
Claiborne 5 1st/3rd
2nd round pick 1.5
Carriker 3.5
Theres no way Reggie Wayne should get 8 mil from anybody….well maybe the lolskins so you might be on to something….
Making me do math and shit. I need to take my time and figure out my best team. I’ll get back with you in a bit.
RG3 – 5.5, so I have no picks left.
Bringing Hightower back at 1.5
Vincent Jackson – 10
Fred – 5.5
Mathis – 5
Myers – 6
Carriker – 3.5
Fletch – 6
Hall – plus 6
T. Thomas 3
Branch – 4.5
Got my Franchise QB, didn’t lose anyone important, upgraded at WR, G, and C. I’m available to be the GM Danny.
Drafting Weeden and hoping he starts week 1 – 2.5
Drafting his teammate Blackmon – 4
Fred Davis – 5.5
Carl Nicks – 8.5
Adam Carriker – 3.5
London Fletcher – 6
Dumping Hall + 6
Brandon Carr – 10
Terrell Thomas – 3
Dashon Goldson – 5.5
I’ll take the additional 2.5 million on a gift card.
I kinda like that one, especially going with the 2 corners. Vastly improved team.
I like how you change gift certificate to the modern gift card.
you’re pulling thomas from my cold, dead hands
Reiff: 4M and 1st
Weeden: 2.5M and 2nd + 3rd (I think Weeden could be had for just the 2nd, but I’ll play along even if you’re overpricing things and not allowing trade-backs because you’re an Iggles fan.)
Hightower: 1.5M
Colston: 8M
Grubbs: 5M
F.Davis: 5.5M
Carriker: 3.5M
Fletcher: 6M
Landry: 6M
Hall: +6M
Carr: 10M (I don’t think Carr will cost this much.)
Total: 46M
Again, I think you’re overpricing a lot of these guy’s cap figures, but this is what I came up with. Got new starters at RT, LG, QB, WR on offense. Brought back the free agents on a solid defense and improved at CB.
Ha, in free agency, you have to overpay. And actually, I had D’Qwell Jackson at $7M. He just signed a contract about an hour ago at $8.5, so I actually undersold him.
Also, Carr is going to get a ton of attention. If the Skins are interested, they’ll need to outbid the Cowboys, and likely some other teams.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-cowboys/headlines/20120227-reports-expect-cowboys-to-go-all-in-for-chiefs-cb-brandon-carr.ece
I’d take this draft but replace Weeden/Reiff with trading up for RG3 and live with the implications.
In other words, you don’t like my draft at all.
Manning Plan
Peyton Manning 20M
Tim Higtower 1.5M
Fred Davis 5.5M
1st Round Pick (WR) 4M
London Fletcher 6M
Tyvon Branch 4.5M
2nd Round Pick (OT) 1.5M
3rd Round Pick (CB) 1M
44M Total
RG3 Plan
RG3 4M
Hightower 1.5M
Vincent Jackson 10 M
Fred Davis 5.5M
Carl Nicks 8.5M
Adam Carriker 3.5M
London Fletcher 6M
Tyvon Branch 4.5M
Total 43.5
Correction- RG3 at 5.5M so that puts me right at 45M
RG3 5.5M (and draft picks)
Laurent Robinson 4.5M
Mario Manningham 5M
Fred Davis 5.5M
Evan Mathis 5M
Ben Grubbs 5M
Sione Pouha 5M
London Fletcher 6M
Drop Deangolo Hall -6M
Cortland Finnegan 7M
Terrell Thomas 3M
Totalling at 45.5 million
I’m thinking that Cofield would be better used as a five technique, and Pouha is a brilliant run stopper. Corner world be massively upgraded but Finnegan and Thomas will probably have larger cap numbers than you’ve predicted.
Could be a high powered offense if RG3 is as good as hes been touted. I’m an Eagles fan though, so I would cry if we let Mathis go.
The Redskins wouldn’t sign Grubbs and Mathis anyway. We signed Chester last year to play RG, so the only spot left for them would be LG.
Yeah fair point, Grubbs is a much better player though. I also liked the idea of adding Myers for 6M ( instead of Grubbs) and using Montgomery to back up the interior. If your less obsessed with good offensive linemen, Jason Jones for 6M would add to an already fearsome pass rush.
I like Grubbs for the ‘Skins. Myers is a great player, but the Redskins just signed Monty to a 4-year deal and he’s much better at C than he is at G. This was evident last year when Lichtensteiger first went down and Shanny slid Monty over to LG and brought in Erik Cook at C. Not only was Cook pretty bad at C, but Monty was pretty bad at LG too. Things actually improved a bit when Monty went back to C and the rookie 7th rounder Hurt came in at LG.
I think that improving the OL has to be a top priority this offseason. I would almost call QB and OL priorities 1a and 1b. I think I could live with another year of below average quarterbacking so long as the offensive line took a giant leap forward.
Yeah I think its really important that the Reedskins add an elite left guard aand try to improve right tackle. Mathis, Grubs or Nicks would all be great options at left guard, but Mathis is relativly under the radar and had a great year. It may have been due to the fact that hes so well suited to phillys scheme though. Theres very few good options at right tackle in free agency and I think RG3 is a pretty special prospect. I do like Ryan Harris though – he could be a low risk high reward option.
I think the one thing I learned from this is that dumping DeAngelo Hall is an easy decision.
If we did the same excercise with the Cowboys, it would be just as obvious with Anthony Spencer.
And with mike jenkins. They could probably do without bradie james and keith brooking as well. Its a little bit tragic that deangelo hall made the pro bowl in 2010/11, hes been one of the worst starting cornerbacks in the NFL these last few years.
Colston 8
Grubbs 5
Meacham 5 (Hankerson just had surgery on his hip injury)
Fletcher 6
Carriker 3.5
Davis 5.5
Hall (Released) -6
Finnegan 7
Hightower Not Resigned
Jonathan Martin 4
Weeden 2.5
Rest of the Draft (2*4th rounders): Safety x2, fast HB, CB, MLB and a 2nd QB (ignore size and arm concerns, take the best remaining one with the multiple good years in college, inteligence and the biggest chip on his shoulder).
That leaves $4.5+ to fill out the rest of the roster. There are always a few valuable free agentst around after the market cools down that can be had on shorter, cheaper deals.
I like Hightower as a 3rd down back but really we need someone with real speed. Someone who will scare defenders, a Sproles type. They don’t have to be an every down back. I trust Shanahan to be able to find something like that in the later rounds of the draft. Shanahan has shown he is willing to give a fast player an opportunity to prove that they are big enough to survive in the pro’s.
I’d love to see what Hall could do as a deep lying “safety” but he is a liability as a cover corner and is too expensive to experiment with. Still, if he would accept a pay-cut, I think he could operate as an “Ed Reed Lite”. I’d take away all his man coverage responsibilities and match Hall up against the QB. His tackling has improved, he certainly isn’t a hitter but he can bring a man down and he has developed a knack for stripping the ball. He could serve as a last line of defense but his real job would be to roam the secondary as a ball hawk and spy on running QBs.
Hall’s greatest strength is his ability to jump routes when he is playing off the ball. His greatest weakness is his total inability to stick within two yards of a receiver. Someone just needs to convince him that he isn’t a corner but that he could still be a good player.
The above assumes that the Browns aren’t morons and don’t throw away a prime opportunity to draft an elite QB prospect. I’d take RGIII if he was available but he isn’t going to be, our front office is out-gunned.
As I see it there are only three other teams that could land RGIII: the Colts, Rams or Vikings. The Colts will take one of the QBs off the market, and if both Luck and RGIII maintain their current stock until draft day it wouldn’t surprise me if the Vikings move on from Ponder.
Last year’s first is a sunk cost. If the Vikings are sensible they’ll eat the loss and take comfort from having a back-up/developmental QB who can keep their new superstar honest.
I believe the Rams are also contenders. They could still get extra picks from trading away Sam Bradford. The salary cap will be a barrier but not an insurmountable one, if they believe the 2nd QB off the board has the potential to be really special.
I’m actually planning to save some cap space for next year, so not that many FAs:
DRAFT RGII (no picks left)
FA:
)
*Dump Hall*
WR-Stevie Johnson
TE- Fred Davis
OG- Ben Grubbs (NOTE: I would take Mathis over Grubbs, but even though this is fake, I didn’t grab him so the Eagles would
MLB- Dan Connor
SS- Tyvon Branch
CB-Terell Thomas
*Dump Hall*
TOTAL: 27.5 Million
wow…I feel like I didn’t spend enough.
Apparently I hate DeAngelo Hall so much that I decided to dump him twice.
Why is there an “n” at the end of “million” but not at the end of “in”? Sometimes it seems like you’re not even trying.
Just kidding, great post and congrats on the baby!
Ha, yeah, I noticed that after I posted this, and hoped nobody would see it. Damn you Steve D.
And thanks.
Terrell Thomas Football Camp at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ on July 6-9
Visit our website or call 301-575-9400
Saw this post on another site….kinda makes alot of sense if think about it….the lolskins and their FA history hasnt been that good to put it lightly….
****An interesting conundrum involving RG3 and the Redskins
Let’s say Washington’s rumored offer is real and St Louis accepts it.
They’d receive pick 6, 39, 70, and a 2013 first rounder to get the #2 pick (to acquire RG3).
The Redskins’ OL is bad. Their RBs are bad. Their WRs are bad. Their back 7 is bad. They’ll have virtually no draft picks to fix this.
If they draft RG3, he could have a Peyton Manning-esque rookie year. If that happens, you might end up handing the Rams the #1 overall pick in 2013.
With those picks, the Rams could (in theory) draft Claiborne, Sanu, Ben Jones, and Robert Woods or Matt Barkley (if they’ve given up on Bradford) [or maybe both, given that the Rams will also have their own #1 pick]. I think it’s fairly obvious that Washington could keep those picks and draft those guys, which would probably give them more benefit than just RG3 (as great as he may be).
On the other hand, If the Skins draft Claiborne, Sanu, and Ben Jones this year, they may not suck bad enough to be #1 next year… pushing them well out of contention for an elite QB prospect.
I’m a huge proponent of drafting a QB when you can get one, but isn’t the cost really too high this time?****
Thats not taking the FA class into consideration, but with other teams having cap room and needs at similar positions (SD, DAL, KC, TB) competition will be fierce and bidding wars will ensue over elite players who arent franchised
Now, I believe the ‘skins have some decent skill talent, possible up and comers @ RB (helu, royster), WR (hankerson), and LB (perry riley). So the “bad” sentiment is a little much for me. So while the post has some merit, it has to be taken with a grain of salt….and Im a Eagles fan btw
you left out desean jackson for wrs.
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