Fletcher and Smoot Update

[roybus14]

As predicted, I was right about Smoot coming back to Washington! Here is my proof!

http://www.the-hogs.net/forum/viewtopic. ... sc&start=0

Welcome home Smooooooooooooooooooooooooot!

I predict he will be one of our starting corners. Who will be the other? Only time will tell. The pressure is on Rogers and Springs. They didn't have anyone to push them last year but now, Smoot is here to start so they better bring their "A" game.

I thought that there was talk of Springs going to Safety?? What happened to that or is Springs' thing a matter of money and getting him to restructure to create cap space????

[1niksder]

I thought that there was talk of Springs going to Safety?? What happened to that or is Springs' thing a matter of money and getting him to restructure to create cap space????

Some of all of that. Gibbs mentioned moving him to safety as a way of prolonging his career. He does have a high Cap hit this year but most of it is base salary, he doesn't want to take a pay cut. Not only do the Redskins want his base to come down but they want to pay him like SAFETY and not a starting corner. Rumor has it - the Lions want him, if we can't trade him and he doesn't take the pay cut he's gone in June.

[roybus14]

I thought that there was talk of Springs going to Safety?? What happened to that or is Springs' thing a matter of money and getting him to restructure to create cap space????

Some of all of that. Gibbs mentioned moving him to safety as a way of prolonging his career. He does have a high Cap hit this year but most of it is base salary, he doesn't want to take a pay cut. Not only do the Redskins want his base to come down but they want to pay him like SAFETY and not a starting corner. Rumor has it - the Lions want him, if we can't trade him and he doesn't take the pay cut he's gone in June.

Shawn seems to be a smart guy and someone who could do t.v. after his playing days are over, so I guess he willing to go elsewhere to uncertainty or a bad franchise to keep his money when we are "close" here???? At least I think we are. It's just a matter of getting Al's offense down and Coach Gibbs straightening out his coaching and get them back to coaching....

[1niksder]

Shawn seems to be a smart guy and someone who could do t.v. after his playing days are over, so I guess he willing to go elsewhere to uncertainty or a bad franchise to keep his money when we are "close" here???? At least I think we are. It's just a matter of getting Al's offense down and Coach Gibbs straightening out his coaching and get them back to coaching....

We can say what we want about Springs, but right now there is no one out there but Harper and Hood. If Springs was cut right now he'd be at work on Monday before we would. The longer he's on the roster the more he misses out on another deal somewhere else, the closer we get to April the more we'll know. The draft will take other teams out of the running and by June he may be singing a different tune. The players keep saying they understand that it's a business (... mostly when trying to get more money), someone in the front office finally get what they have been saying and may use it against them.


Option II Springs can pull a Lavar and give back some Bonus money for early freedom

[fleetus]

Smoot can cover? Must not have watched many Vikings games. Vikings couldn't show Smoot the door fast enough. For 25 mil? Not good. Hope there's not much guaranteed money in that 25 mil.

[Steve Spurrier III]

Don't take my word for it,

Done.

Scouts Inc. rates Smoot at 63, Rogers at 71 and Springs at 78.

Really? But what were their Madden ratings?

Considering Springs is getting older and more injury prone while Carlos is getting better, it is only natural that he will be the best CB this time next year.

You saying that Rogers is improving doesn't make it true. And your assumprtion that Rogers will "naturally" be the best corner this coming season is...flawed. At best.

I don't know what games you watched but I saw every snap of every Skins game this year and Rogers is becoming a very solid corner and He tackles like a safety.

The games I watched this year mostly consisted of our defense getting worked early and often, particularly in the passing game. The only thing solid about Rogers were his feet, as in, "when wide recievers were running past him, Carlos Rogers's feet remained solid."

In contrast, Smoot is a motor mouth who doesn't tackle like an every down CB should.

Honestly, I don't care. Give me a corner who can actually cover an NFL wide reciever, and I'll worry about his ability to tackle later.

Here's an excerpt from Smoot's scouting report:

lacks courage when asked to fill hard and play run support. He is a poor tackler and his lack of physical play also shows up when bigger receivers outmuscle him for the ball. As much as Smoot likes to chirp and talk trash his confidence is easily shaken should he get beaten deep. In off-man coverage he is susceptible to double moves and will route-read, often guessing when playing zone and getting himself in trouble. Because he has shown excellent man coverage ability in the past and also has the ball skills and speed to cover elite NFL wide receivers Smoot will find teams vying for his services during free agency, but his baggage, his poor play in the Tampa cover 2 scheme and his frequent injuries over the past two seasons will keep the bidding at a reasonable level.

No one, including me, ever said that Fred Smoot was a Hall of Famer, or a perfect player. But we, and the Redskins' staff, aleardy know his weaknesses. Nothing in that "scouting report" should scare us off, unless we are to believe he actually wasn't an effective player in 2004.

[UK Skins Fan]

I'd like to know much money is guaranteed in Smoot's contract, and how much he gets paid in years 1-3, but this looks like good business to me. He's certainly good enough to push Rogers for a starting spot, and improves our CB position greatly. I'd be worried if we ended up with Smoot and Rogers as the starters though, which makes it important to sort out the Springs situation, or to get another corner in from somewhere who is a bonafide starter. My preference is to keep Springs on board.

Fred Smoot was not as good a CB as the Vikings thought he was two years ago, but he's a heck of a lot better than the rest of the league thinks he is now.

[redskingush]

This is great news, Smoot back, a corner that should already know the defence. this is a good thing, now replace Dock and thing should be looking up.

[frankcal20]

After Dock, we should be done unless there is a good DE in FA that we can pick up.

[HailSkins94]

I like the Smoot pickup a lot, as well as the Fletcher pickup. Both know the defensive system very well having play under Williams before. Smoot was a decent corner when he was here with us, he just wanted too much money. It can't get any worse for us at corner than last year so Smoot is a can't lose pickup IMO. I also think it may push Rogers to play harder and get better now that someone is pushing him for the starting spot. Great pickups I feel. On another note, that was a huge botch on Dockery. They didn't read the market properly at all. Should have signed Dock during the season and he would still be here for considerable less than what he got in Buffalo. They were just starting to get the running game going around him last year with runs going behind him. I think this is going to be another pierce, clark type of situation. Bad move. All in all 2 good moves and 1 really bad one I feel. I rate them as even so far on free agency. Now there is no question what we need with our first pick, a pass rushing DE. No doubt about it.

[Gibbs4Life]

Our DLineman is gonna be a diaper dandy through the draft hopefully a Julius Peppers type and not mario williams. Hate losing Davis to dallas but Todd Wade played like a beast against NO and the coaching staff seems to like Pucillo.

[PulpExposure]

After Dock, we should be done