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

washington53 wrote:IF we loose Taylor im going to be pissed...Personaly i think we should pay him as much as he wants...

ASHBURN, Va. -- Santana Moss and Sean Taylor are skipping the Washington Redskins' spring workouts because they want new contracts, the latest chapter in a tumultuous offseason that has seen two top receivers request trades and LaVar Arrington criticize the way the team handled his knee injury.

Moss and Taylor are the only two unexcused absentees from the voluntary sessions. Moss is the team's biggest offseason acquisition, and safety Taylor is coming off a troubled rookie season in which off-the-field antics nearly overshadowed his promising talent.
"The only thing I would say to anybody: If you miss the offseason work, I don't think that's good for your career," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said Tuesday.

"It's not mandatory" to attend, Gibbs added. "You can't make it mandatory, but it is a critical time for us."

Gibbs and Arrington met to clear the air over comments made by the three-time Pro Bowl linebacker. On Monday, Arrington said the team did not support him during his injury last year and implied that coaches rushed him back onto the field. Gibbs denied the claims.

If Tuesday's meeting yielded any positive results, Arrington wasn't telling.

"I said what I said. Y'all don't need a quote," Arrington said as he emerged on crutches from Redskins Park. "Y'all already got what you need. The truth is in front of you."

Gibbs has been in damage-control mode all offseason, and the sagas have involved many of his highest-profile players. The coach also lost two highly valued "core Redskins," cornerback Fred Smoot and linebacker Antonio Pierce, to free agency.

Moss was acquired from the New York Jets for receiver Laveranues Coles, who was dissatisfied with Gibbs' conservative offense. Moss is entering the final year of his contract and wants a new deal, but the Redskins aren't expected to give him one before June 1 because of salary-cap reasons.

Gibbs said Moss' absence is hurting chemistry with quarterback Patrick Ramsey. Ramsey will be working with two new starting receivers next season because Coles and Rod Gardner wanted out. The Redskins are still trying to trade Gardner.

"I've talked to Santana numerous times," Gibbs said. "I think Santana wants to be here. We're trying to work through a process to get him here."

By contrast, Gibbs said Taylor hasn't returned calls. Taylor doesn't like the seven-year, $18 million deal he signed a year ago and he's fired two agents. He was fined for skipping a day of the NFL's rookie symposium and was benched for a game after being arrested on a drunken driving charge of which he was cleared.

Gibbs cited unspecified "complications" of a new deal for Taylor, and the coach tried to be optimistic that the latest setback isn't an indication of a difficult year to come.

"Last year we wound up having a rocky first year," Gibbs said. "I know there are some things that Sean wishes hadn't have happened, and we wish hadn't have happened. I think the lesson's learned there, I hope. What we're trying to do is get Sean settled down here, being a part of this team. I'm hoping any day he's going to show up."

Moss and Taylor are represented by the same agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Rosenhaus did not immediately return calls placed by The Associated Press.

washington53 wrote:Well SkinsJock, i said pay him as much as he wants. But i dont mean sign him 10 years for 130 million either. Pay him for whats hes worth.... I agree with you on the matter that his agent wants to change it, he seems to be a little low on money i guess.

crazyhorse1 wrote:I'd love to trade Arrington, Moss, and Taylor-- all three of them are idiots. Alas, we can't trade Arrington because of the cap hit and Taylor because of his talent. But what's stopping us from trading Moss, maybe picking up another no. 1 amd grabbing Miller or Pollock or Jones to go along with Williamson, whom we're likely to end up with at nine, or maybe using our 9 and Moss to trade up to get Williams and a third.

Champsturf wrote:

crazyhorse1 wrote:I'd love to trade Arrington, Moss, and Taylor-- all three of them are idiots. Alas, we can't trade Arrington because of the cap hit and Taylor because of his talent. But what's stopping us from trading Moss, maybe picking up another no. 1 amd grabbing Miller or Pollock or Jones to go along with Williamson, whom we're likely to end up with at nine, or maybe using our 9 and Moss to trade up to get Williams and a third.

I agree with you Chris, as usual. Screw them. You signed it, now play for it.

Off topic slightly, why is everybody so high on Williams? Edwards is THE receiver in the draft, hands down. If we take a corner, i don't really care. The top two (jones and ? (been drinking)) are both good and would fit here.

Let's see the draft before we even think about giving into these childish demands.

THE NEWS

Redskins' head coach Joe Gibbs said Tuesday that he has not spoken with Sean Taylor during the offseason because the second-year safety has not returned his phone calls. Gibbs has been trying to reach Taylor to find out why the 2004 first-round pick has not been taking part in the team's offseason workout program.


OUR VIEW

You have to question whether Gibbs is losing control of this football team. Taylor won't return the coach's calls and linebacker LaVar Arrington pitched a fit in front of reporters on Tuesday while accusing Gibbs and team officials of pushing him to return too quickly from knee surgery.