Springs and Taylor not at the start of OTA practices today at Redskins Park. I am off this week and Howard is holding it down, but figured I'd post while I feed Rocco.
I heard over the weekend that Springs had no plans to come in this month. He's still thinking he'll get cut - and who can blame him after being asked to take a pay cut then being shopped around the league all offseason? - and from what I hear, he's content to keep working out in Arizona and see what happens with the Skins.
He's said all along that if they can guarantee they'll keep him around at his slated salary, then he'll be the happiest camper around. But with the way this offseason has played out, he figures he might as well keep doing his thing and wait and see what happens by the time mandatory mini camp starts. Stay tuned.
As for Taylor, well his past speaks for itself. I'll know more tomorrow and maybe it turns out to be an "excused" absence, but as of late tonight the coaches and scouts didn't know of an excuse if there was one (and if upper management knew why Taylor wasn't here, they hadn't told anybody). I am told Sean was around the facility for the start of the workout program 5-6 weeks back and looked great and sounded great and the thought in the organization was that everything was cool ... but the players think otherwise and are convinced that Taylor isn't going to be around for a while and their read on the situation is that he wants to get paid.
Again, we'll see what the official word is on all of this, but his peers - many of whom had not talked to Sean in a while - were not surprised by his absence and figured it was an indication of his contract.
Some people want to label me negative or whatever, but I speak the truth people and told you guys weeks ago that drafting Landry could cause big ripples for the resident hard-hitting safety, and that we'll see how well these two get along. Staying away from OTAs is the classic Rosenhaus move, yet he's the agent of choice in these parts. Go figure. Yet another in a long line of mysterious Ashburn phenomena.
Now, skipping OTAs is no major offense - although in Coach Joe's eyes it's a big deal - and he's not breaking any laws. But it's also a passive aggressive statement about his level of happiness with the organization, and for someone whose development stunted last year and needs to start playing up to the mythic reputation some have created for him, it's a bad move.
He, more than anyone else, needs to be in there studying, learning the new nuances and changes of this defense and getting a read on opponents. He is the poster boy for OTAs are for, and he's not there for the second time in three years. Getting arrested in Florida while skipping out in 2005 hasn't made a major change in his thinking, apparently, when it comes to spring football.
Maybe he needed an extra day or two to tend to personal business or whatever, in which case, it's understandable. But I also think if that's the case than more coaches and people in the facility would have already known about it and been prepared for it.
One thing you have to also understand is that Taylor's agent is Drew Stinkupthehouse. I bet he is telling Sean to stay home and not work out, just like JLC said. Sean has not done anything to deserve a new contract but I'll tell you his pro bowl invites are not going to help us in the negotiation room. We will just have to watch this very closely.
What worries more is the whole Shawn Springs situation. Redskins Park just needs to give him his money this year and work on a renegotiation throughout the season. We have depth so lets just rotate him in along with a treo of corners. Keep Carlos out there to cover the #2's. This will allow Springs to reduce his risk of injury as well as keep fresh legs on the field. Just a though. Springs isn't going to play that much longer so don't do anything stupid front office. He is a big guy in the locker room and his release with upset players. Gibbs should just make this a team move not so much a Player move.
Redskins Back In Action As OTAs Begin By Gary Fitzgerald Redskins.com May 8, 2007
Fred Smoot re-signed with the Washington Redskins in March, but only now does he feel like he's a Redskin again.
Smoot was among the Redskins players on hand for the start of Organized Team Activities, or OTAs, on Tuesday. He practiced along-side teammates, gearing up for the 2007 season.
"It was wonderful, just to be back around the guys I'm used to being around," he said. "I've been hanging around the last few weeks, so it feels like I'm back. I'm in the house."
The OTA practice sessions are basically instructional in nature--no contact or hitting is allowed. Attendance is voluntary for players.
Practices will run from Tuesday to Thursday for the next five weeks, leading up to the team's full-squad mini-camp on June 15-17.
Smoot played for the Redskins from 2001-04 and was one of the team's more popular players during that time. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2005, but was released last February.
"It was great to be around [Redskins] coaches again--many people don't know that I've been in seven different defenses in my NFL career," Smoot said. "This is the first time that I get to play in a defense that I've played in before."
Santana Moss was among several Redskins players who, last January, asked head coach Joe Gibbs to adjust his off-season workout program.
In years past, players were strongly encouraged to attend the voluntary workout program from late March to early May. This year, Gibbs allowed veterans to work out on their own until the start of OTAs.
Said Moss: "It feels good to be back. I honestly feel great. It gave me some time off and I had the chance to do what I want to do. Now I'm back, ready to work."
Moss has been lifting weights and running on his own in Miami.
"It just helped me work in an environment I like to work in," he said. "In the offseason, some guys like to take a break and some guys--like me--start working out right away.
"I worked out from January to now, and now it's time to go to the practicing part of it."
Clinton Portis was at Redskins Park on Tuesday working with athletic trainers as he continues to rehab from shoulder surgery.
As his teammates practiced, Portis jogged along the sidelines.
Portis said he continues to work on increasing his flexibility in his shoulder. He would not give a target date for his return to the practice field.
If Portis is not ready by the start of the team's June mini-camp, then he hopes to be back by the start of training camp in late July.
"I'll be ready for Miami [in Week 1, Sept. 9 at FedExField]," he said. "Right now I'm just rehabbing and doing what the doctors tell me to do."
Veteran tight end Zach Hilton, signed by the Redskins earlier this week, also participated in practice on Tuesday. Hilton is a four-year NFL vet who previously played with the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints.
Two days earlier, Hilton was surrounded by dozens of rookies trying out for the team at Rookie Camp. Now he was working out among NFL veterans again.
And he was playing for the team he rooted for as a kid. Hilton grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and attended Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Wheaton, Md.
"It was great to be out there as a Redskin," Hilton said. "You try to come out here and be professional--and not be overwhelmed by the whole circumstance. In practice, I was just trying to go out, execute and do the best that I could do."
According to Yahoo! Sports, Sean Taylor and Shawn Springs were no-shows at Tues. camp.
About Springs, I wonder if he'll be a June 1st cut because his name has been in trade rumors all offseason and he probably doesn't want to be here.
As for #21, I don't think it will be a problem, but nonetheless I don't like it.
And I highly doubt this has anything to do with us drafting Landry, but I will be willing to bet that once Landry signs his deal which will probably exceed ST's, Rosenhaus will make ST hold out of camp until he gets a new deal.
joebagadonuts on IsaneBoost's signature:
-- "I laughed. I cried. Better than Cats"
Some people want to label me negative or whatever, but I speak the truth people and told you guys weeks ago that drafting Landry could cause big ripples for the resident hard-hitting safety, and that we'll see how well these two get along. Staying away from OTAs is the classic Rosenhaus move, yet he's the agent of choice in these parts. Go figure. Yet another in a long line of mysterious Ashburn phenomena.
First, I want to label that lead what it is: lazy writing ... seriously, you get paid to do this. Secondly, you can't call it the truth when NOTHING HAS HAPPENED YET. This is what I can't stand about JLC, he speculates, finds some weak justification for said speculation and concludes he was correct. How can Taylor's missing this workout possibly be construed as anything, at all, at this point? It's just lazy and irresponsible on JLC's part to act as if a no-show is proof of a contract dispute when he has as much evidence as anyone else on this site, which is to say none.
I agree this is a non story. This is how the media tries to divide teams. We are not the only victim, it happens to all teams. However, I would like them to go ahead and wrap ST up long term before the start of the season just to keep the media from escalating their perception of the situation any further than need be.
The Canfora piece was pure speculation. His logic is 'Taylor isn't doing X, which implies Y.' It would be one thing if he had real sources to cite, but he generally uses aggregated sources like "the players think" or "the front office hopes" etc. Given Canfora's past in reporting, I don't trust him to sum up how 'the players' feel with much accuracy.
So, I take this piece for what it is. I can't say that Canfora is wrong, because I have far less access to the Redskins than he does. However, most of this piece was speculation without good sources, which means Canfora has voluntarily lowered his expertise on things to being about as valuable as the opinion of an average fan.
In my opinion, Canfora is only as good as his sources, because when he writes what he calls "the truth" -- usually playing the role of the backseat driver -- it's really just his perspective. Any journalist that bases their authority on a vague notion of telling "the truth", and not on sources or events, is breaking one of the fundamental rules of their profession.
Joseph White, of The Associated Press, reports Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs has decided to change the policy he has used for a long time. Gibbs made all of the team activities and practices voluntary until the mandatory minicamp in June. Gibbs said he would try anything to get an improvement from the 5-11 record in 2006. Some of the players who took advantage of the time off include RB Clinton Portis, FS Sean Taylor, WR Santana Moss and WR Brandon Lloyd.
I think that this is may be a situation where JLC says "Players" as his source but I bet there are one or two who flat out said that ST wants a new contract and Drew said he shouldn't come. It doesn't make any sense to me when I think about it that all the other Miami guys, even the injured ones (Portis) came for this VOLUNTARY workout and ST was the only one that isn't coming? This just doesn't seem like a Miami thing to do. It seems like they all do things together. We will see how this all pans out. With all the media coverage, I'm sure that Coach is going to have to make some statement whether it be BS or not. He's going to be asked.
I dont think ST has any problems, so we should not worry about him. He has shown to be a professional and this is not his first no-show og his career. Also, he does not really have to be here, it is not mandatory. Now, on Shawn Springs, I said it before, I think he does not want to be here and his refusal to re-do his contract upset a lot of peolpe in the organization. I think he will be traded or cut.
I always try to put myself in someone elses shoes. If I were asked to take a pay cut and be required to do the same amount of work I would probably take the same route that Springs is taking. He won't get cut because we don't have anyone with his ability to take his place. There also is no other free agent out there that can fill his role. If we did cut him and picked up a player via trade. We would have to give atleast a 3rd for someone and people around here would be ticked off because we gave away the pick.
I see what you're getting at re not wanting a pay cut but Springs is in a tenuous situation in that if the Redskins don't pay him the $3 whatever million next season, nobody will. It's not like he has a ton of options.
I've decided to stop worrying about what state ST spends his offseason in. As long as he isn't killing people, and as long as he turns up ready to play next season, then I really don't want to ascribe any significance to every single bowel movement that goes on during the offseason.
As for Springs, I have no reason to believe anything other than he will be our starting cornerback next season. There is no need to redo his contract at this time. The Redskins are quite entitled to ask, but I don't think his contract stops them from doing anything that they want to over the next few months.
Fios wrote:I see what you're getting at re not wanting a pay cut but Springs is in a tenuous situation in that if the Redskins don't pay him the $3 whatever million next season, nobody will. It's not like he has a ton of options.
I think that he may not make the $3m next year in salary but he would easily get that on a SB elsewhere. Even though he has had injury issues, when he is on the field and 100%, you could rank him slightly below Champ Bailey in coverage skills. The problem has been injuries and he can't make Champ money but in the right system, he could get heavily paid as well as perform quite well. I think with the depth at CB, he will have an outstanding season this year and if the Skins show they are willing to pay him, he will most likely restructure his deal to help them. They need to show good faith first and I think Springs will then follow suit.
