The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

CB Gary Baxter, who will become a free agent, apparently has turned down a $10 million signing bonus to re-join the Ravens. It seems likely he will hit the free agent market even though the Ravens have zeroed in on him as a priority. The Ravens would like to move Baxter to safety because they believe he is too mechanical and rigid to play cornerback. With Baxter at safety, the Ravens have an eye on Washington's Fred Smoot as a possible starter to replace Baxter at cornerback. . . .

Jake wrote:

CB Gary Baxter, who will become a free agent, apparently has turned down a $10 million signing bonus to re-join the Ravens. It seems likely he will hit the free agent market even though the Ravens have zeroed in on him as a priority. The Ravens would like to move Baxter to safety because they believe he is too mechanical and rigid to play cornerback. With Baxter at safety, the Ravens have an eye on Washington's Fred Smoot as a possible starter to replace Baxter at cornerback. . . .

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/team?statsId=33

The Ravens remain in negotiations with Gary Baxter, the team's biggest offseason priority, and while the sides may not have agreed on a contract yet, they are in accord on one issue. Baxter is indeed a cornerback.
-- Baltimore Sun

The Redskins hope that their defense will stay largely intact. Free agent cornerback Fred Smoot appears likely to depart, but team officials continue to negotiate with linebacker Antonio Pierce, defensive lineman Joe Salave'a and linebacker Lemar Marshall, among others. Signing Pierce has been the Redskins' primary objective, and the middle linebacker said he believes a contract will be completed by the first week of March.
-- Washington Post

smoakme wrote:With all this talk about Smoot and Pierce (both of whom I want back at the right price) has anyone heard anything specific on our big Samoan in the middle? All I've heard is that we want to sign Salavea, but nothing specific?

Salave'a, who hopes to re-sign with Washington in coming days, stopped by Redskin Park in the afternoon and made clear he has no intention of testing the market — unless he and the Redskins can't agree on a contract.
"I'm here," said Salave'a, who enjoyed a resurgent year in Gregg Williams' defense. "If later down the road we get to that, we'll pursue it then."

The Saints are listening to trade offers for defensive end Darren Howard, their franchise player. He is at least the third player with his club's franchise tag who could be on the trading block, along with Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson and Indianapolis Colts tailback Edgerrin James.

profootballtalk.com wrote:TAYLOR WANTS OUT OF MIAMI?

A league source tells us that, in the wake of the Miami Dolphins' acquisition of defensive ends Vonnie Holliday and Kevin Carter, Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Taylor soon could be requesting a trade out of Miami.

Taylor, we hear, is miffed by the possibility that he'll be shifted to outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. Such a change would reducing Taylor's sacks by limiting the number of times that he actually would be rushing the passer.

The fact that Taylor is a prominent member of the "old guard" Dolphins players also could be influencing the burgeoning feud. New coach Nick Saban, we suspect, probably would like to jettison holdover players who are in position to undermine the new regime in the locker room. But Saban surely can't unilaterally dump Taylor with incurring the wrath of the fan base and the local media (whom Saban already has pissed off by clamping down on the flow of information).

So what better way to engineer Taylor's exit than to goad him into asking to be traded? This way, Saban gets what we believe he really wants without (if he's lucky) the P.R. fallout.

If Taylor ends up on the block, the most obvious trade partners are any of the three teams with franchise-tagged running back.

The Seahawks have running Shaun Alexander, and need a replacement of Chike Okeafor. The Bengals have Rudi Johnson, and Justin Smith is entering the final year of his contract. And the Colts have Edgerrin James as part of an offense with far more firepower than the team's defense.

The fact that Dwight Freeney is entrenched as the right-side defensive end in Indy might, on the surface, reduce the Colts' interest in Taylor. However, Taylor moved around a good bit in 2004, and he got half of his sacks from the left side, where he typically was facing the opponents' second best tackle.

Stay tuned. We have a feeling that the situation is going to deteriorate quickly in South Florida.

Skinsfan55 wrote:Taylor IS 31...

What if we did Gardner, Betts and a future 2?

Scooter wrote:They can have Brunell, Gardner, Jimoh and a Joe Gibbs autographed cap... call it even?