February 26-- I'm back, B Lloyd gone
In a one sentence press release, the Redskins announced they have released wide receiver Brandon Lloyd.. 25 catches, no touchdowns, a paltry 1.8 yards per game last year, Lloyd turned out to be a huge risk with absolutely no reward..
LLoyd had numerous run ins with coaches including Joe Gibbs, Al Saunders and Receivers coach Stan Hixon in his two tumultuous years and never seemed to believe any of it was his fault..
He came to Washington with a bad reputation, ripped by former teammates in San Francisco for being selfish and preferring to make the highlights then to go home a winner..
In the end the Skins gave up two mid round picks and 10 million guaranteed who I can promise to you a person who won't be missed in the locker room.. This is certainly an example of addition by subtraction..
Lloyd was not scheduled to make a large base salary this year, but I am pretty sure he had a roster bonus coming and for certain the Skins weren't about to throw more money at a guy who was the fourth wide receiver at best even when healthy..
The signing bonus was 10 million spread out over a 7 year contract so 2.4 or so was already spent for cap purposes over the first two years of his deal..
If the Skins spread the cap hit out over the next two years, they owed some 7.7 but can take the bulk in '09, and they save on this year's cap by not paying the roster bonus.. Only those with exact knowledge of the contract could tell you the cap ramifications, but it goes without saying that there will be a bill to pay, likely in 2009..
So the Skins have made it clear they are in the market for a wide receiver.. The Bengals have adamantly denied the desire to trade Chad Johnson.. Randy Moss figures to resign in New England, but I suppose you never know.. DJ Hackett, Seahawks free agent to be, Jerry Porter, Raiders free agent to be seem to be the most likely targets..
There are a few very good options in the draft including Texas speedster Limus Sweed, Oklahoma's Malcolm Kelly and Michigan's Mario Mannigham so I suppose we'll know if the Skins are thinking about their first round pick at that position dependent what happens in free agency...
The Skins continue to contend they are not expected to be big players in free agency, the reasons are two fold: There are not many viable candidates as exemplified by the numerous franchise tags utilized even on some players who arguably don't warrant being paid in the top five at their position.. Also, the Skins do not have the cap freedom as numerous other teams who figure to use their money overpaying for the few players worth spending on.. Basically, the Skins will beaten at their own game this time around.. But if there was ever a year not to have the cap wiggle room, this year might be it..
I expect a corner to be signed, maybe Drayton Florence.. A swing G/C, I'd say unlikely to be Alan Faneca from the Steelers who should field big cash..
We'll see if the Skins find the room to break the back as they were going to with Lance Briggs a year ago, but my guess is that ship has sailed and Briggs will find the money he wants elsewhere..
I saw some quotes from Rock Cartwright to my man John Keim who writes for the Examiner saying he is looking for a shot to be a #2 and wants a payday.. Look, I can't blame him and he is squarely behind Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts, so at this point, all I can say is we wish you the best..
The team wants Todd Collins back as a back-up, he wants to see if he can land a starter's job and this is likely the last time in his career that this is even a possibility so I expect Collins to land elsewhere, but if the money is not outrageous and he appears not to have a guaranteed starter's position, I think the Skins will have a shot..
Mark Brunell is working out daily at the Park and wants to play next year, where that is, I don't know, his contract expires in a few days..
OK men
LLoyd had numerous run ins with coaches including Joe Gibbs, Al Saunders and Receivers coach Stan Hixon in his two tumultuous years and never seemed to believe any of it was his fault..
He came to Washington with a bad reputation, ripped by former teammates in San Francisco for being selfish and preferring to make the highlights then to go home a winner..
In the end the Skins gave up two mid round picks and 10 million guaranteed who I can promise to you a person who won't be missed in the locker room.. This is certainly an example of addition by subtraction..
Lloyd was not scheduled to make a large base salary this year, but I am pretty sure he had a roster bonus coming and for certain the Skins weren't about to throw more money at a guy who was the fourth wide receiver at best even when healthy..
The signing bonus was 10 million spread out over a 7 year contract so 2.4 or so was already spent for cap purposes over the first two years of his deal..
If the Skins spread the cap hit out over the next two years, they owed some 7.7 but can take the bulk in '09, and they save on this year's cap by not paying the roster bonus.. Only those with exact knowledge of the contract could tell you the cap ramifications, but it goes without saying that there will be a bill to pay, likely in 2009..
So the Skins have made it clear they are in the market for a wide receiver.. The Bengals have adamantly denied the desire to trade Chad Johnson.. Randy Moss figures to resign in New England, but I suppose you never know.. DJ Hackett, Seahawks free agent to be, Jerry Porter, Raiders free agent to be seem to be the most likely targets..
There are a few very good options in the draft including Texas speedster Limus Sweed, Oklahoma's Malcolm Kelly and Michigan's Mario Mannigham so I suppose we'll know if the Skins are thinking about their first round pick at that position dependent what happens in free agency...
The Skins continue to contend they are not expected to be big players in free agency, the reasons are two fold: There are not many viable candidates as exemplified by the numerous franchise tags utilized even on some players who arguably don't warrant being paid in the top five at their position.. Also, the Skins do not have the cap freedom as numerous other teams who figure to use their money overpaying for the few players worth spending on.. Basically, the Skins will beaten at their own game this time around.. But if there was ever a year not to have the cap wiggle room, this year might be it..
I expect a corner to be signed, maybe Drayton Florence.. A swing G/C, I'd say unlikely to be Alan Faneca from the Steelers who should field big cash..
We'll see if the Skins find the room to break the back as they were going to with Lance Briggs a year ago, but my guess is that ship has sailed and Briggs will find the money he wants elsewhere..
I saw some quotes from Rock Cartwright to my man John Keim who writes for the Examiner saying he is looking for a shot to be a #2 and wants a payday.. Look, I can't blame him and he is squarely behind Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts, so at this point, all I can say is we wish you the best..
The team wants Todd Collins back as a back-up, he wants to see if he can land a starter's job and this is likely the last time in his career that this is even a possibility so I expect Collins to land elsewhere, but if the money is not outrageous and he appears not to have a guaranteed starter's position, I think the Skins will have a shot..
Mark Brunell is working out daily at the Park and wants to play next year, where that is, I don't know, his contract expires in a few days..
OK men
posted by Bram Weinstein | 5:55 PM
2 Comments:
It's good to have you back.
While I disagree with public airing of grievances and it's obvious that Gibbs wanted to keep things private, I do not think the team would have been out of line to say that there were locker room issues with B Lloyd.
The Lloyd signing is yet another example of why the Skins need a real GM, and not Uncle Vinny. If Gibbs made this bad decision, then it should be no surprise. In his first tenure, Gibbs at times would want to make "reach" picks in the draft, but was thrwarted by either Bobby Beathard or Charlie Casserley. I'm pretty sure there were articles in the Post, and quotes from both former GMs to support this statement. Casserley may even admit that if asked. I suspect, however, that it was Vinny who was responsible for this boo boo. The biggest problem of all (and Archuleta is another example of this) is that the Skins did zero homework before making the stupid decision to (a) trade for Lloyd; and (b) to give him a new contract even though his existing contract expired at the end of the 2005 season. Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't you want to see what an essentially unproven WR does, before dropping a bunch of cash on him. As with Archuleta, it almost seems like the Skins "brain trust" basically thought this was a guy who could help (God knows why from what I saw from his days with the Niners), and signed him without either looking at film, or asking other players about his rep. In Archuleta's case, if the Skins watched 30 minutes of game film, they'd have realized that he wasn't close to being anything other than an undersized linebacker, which is what he was in college. Well, I guess this means that the Skins will lead the NFL in a dubious category for even longer. That category is: most "dead" money counting against its salary cap. You know, the money spent to sign such contributors as Deion Sanders, Jeff George, Archuleta, Bruce Smith, etc., whose cap money hurts the Skins years after they've been cut while under an overpriced contract with a ridiculous signing bonus. I've been a Skins fan since 1974, and Snyder does nothing but test my loyalty. The real mistake was the executors of Jack Kent Cooke's estate not accepting the bid of the group led by John Kent Cooke. Things have never been completely right since then.
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