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***Official*** Washington Redskins 2014 Offseason Thread (1 Viewer)

re: FA WRs, I know I might be in the minority here, but I'd like to pursue Golden Tate. I don't think he'd come with a price tag as high as Decker. Nicks is more accomplished, but I wouldn't trust his health. Tate has been dinged up too, but I think he'll play more hungry. I know he acts like a punk ### sometimes.
There is supposedly a lot of talent at WR in this year's draft, so I don't expect them to spend a lot of money on a free agent WR.

They do need to keep Chris Baker by the way. The last several games of the season he was their best defensive player on the field. The guy is just good, and he's improving.

 
re: FA WRs, I know I might be in the minority here, but I'd like to pursue Golden Tate. I don't think he'd come with a price tag as high as Decker. Nicks is more accomplished, but I wouldn't trust his health. Tate has been dinged up too, but I think he'll play more hungry. I know he acts like a punk ### sometimes.
There is supposedly a lot of talent at WR in this year's draft, so I don't expect them to spend a lot of money on a free agent WR.

They do need to keep Chris Baker by the way. The last several games of the season he was their best defensive player on the field. The guy is just good, and he's improving.
I agree on Baker, I could not believe how much he has improved.

For WR's, if they are going to look at one during FA, I'd like to see them look at guys who likely would come even cheaper than Golden Tate, like Riley Cooper, Emmanuel Sanders, Brandon Lafell and even a 1 year flier on Kenny Britt hoping that a change of coach/scenery would change him. I do think they have to sign a WR or two. I think it is a given that Morgan is gone, Moss is likely gone too, and Hankerson is iffy coming back off of injury. I assume they bring in someone, even if its an Andre Caldwell who might know Gruden's offense.

 
Adam SchefterVerified account ‏@AdamSchefter Another candidate who will get consideration for Redskins defensive coordinator job is Bengals LB coach Paul Guenther.
This team sure as hell could use a good LB coach. Slowik was bad and was known among the coaching staff as a Shanahan mole. That came out on ESPN980 today.
Can you summarize who said what about Slowik? I don't think anyone was happy when he was brought in, but just curious what was said.

 
Adam SchefterVerified account ‏@AdamSchefter Another candidate who will get consideration for Redskins defensive coordinator job is Bengals LB coach Paul Guenther.
This team sure as hell could use a good LB coach. Slowik was bad and was known among the coaching staff as a Shanahan mole. That came out on ESPN980 today.
Can you summarize who said what about Slowik? I don't think anyone was happy when he was brought in, but just curious what was said.
Cooley (and perhaps Galdi also) said it was hard for the defensive staff to work when the DC kept getting overruled by the HC and the HC had moles like Slowik (and his son) on the defensive coaching staff. All said very matter-of-factly.

 
So Morocco Brown interviewed with the Bucs for their GM job today. He's not a guy the skins can afford to lose. Everyone has spoken highly of him and he got an interview for a GM position last year.

 
re: FA WRs, I know I might be in the minority here, but I'd like to pursue Golden Tate. I don't think he'd come with a price tag as high as Decker. Nicks is more accomplished, but I wouldn't trust his health. Tate has been dinged up too, but I think he'll play more hungry. I know he acts like a punk ### sometimes.
There is supposedly a lot of talent at WR in this year's draft, so I don't expect them to spend a lot of money on a free agent WR.

They do need to keep Chris Baker by the way. The last several games of the season he was their best defensive player on the field. The guy is just good, and he's improving.
I think WRs are a crap shoot in the draft more than other positions. But depends on who is calling the shots for the player acquisitions. I know Cincy drafted a lot of their top skill position players, so if that was Gruden's doing I can see it.

 
re: FA WRs, I know I might be in the minority here, but I'd like to pursue Golden Tate. I don't think he'd come with a price tag as high as Decker. Nicks is more accomplished, but I wouldn't trust his health. Tate has been dinged up too, but I think he'll play more hungry. I know he acts like a punk ### sometimes.
There is supposedly a lot of talent at WR in this year's draft, so I don't expect them to spend a lot of money on a free agent WR.

They do need to keep Chris Baker by the way. The last several games of the season he was their best defensive player on the field. The guy is just good, and he's improving.
I agree on Baker, I could not believe how much he has improved.

For WR's, if they are going to look at one during FA, I'd like to see them look at guys who likely would come even cheaper than Golden Tate, like Riley Cooper, Emmanuel Sanders, Brandon Lafell and even a 1 year flier on Kenny Britt hoping that a change of coach/scenery would change him. I do think they have to sign a WR or two. I think it is a given that Morgan is gone, Moss is likely gone too, and Hankerson is iffy coming back off of injury. I assume they bring in someone, even if its an Andre Caldwell who might know Gruden's offense.
Riley Cooper made himself some money this season. He might have even made Maclin expendable if Philly decides they can only pay one of their WRs that will be free agents this year. I'd take Maclin in a second.

 
So Morocco Brown interviewed with the Bucs for their GM job today. He's not a guy the skins can afford to lose. Everyone has spoken highly of him and he got an interview for a GM position last year.
Probably just for the experience, no way he takes that job even if offered. Lovie has final say and is for all intents and purposes the GM--that's less influence then he'll have here and he's suffered through multiple awful regimes just to get this opportunity.

 
So Morocco Brown interviewed with the Bucs for their GM job today. He's not a guy the skins can afford to lose. Everyone has spoken highly of him and he got an interview for a GM position last year.
Probably just for the experience, no way he takes that job even if offered. Lovie has final say and is for all intents and purposes the GM--that's less influence then he'll have here and he's suffered through multiple awful regimes just to get this opportunity.
It's not the first GM job he's interviewed for, and he'll eventually land one. But I agree with you he probably won't want the Bucs job since the coach will be making the final say on personnel. Brown probably has more influence than that with the Skins currently.

 
Last Thursday, on the day of his hiring, Gruden said he looked forward to the chance to work with Griffin. But the coach said that he hadn’t communicated with the quarterback, who at that point was still in Hawaii.

The two have since spoken, and Griffin liked what Gruden had to say.

“Excited, man. Can’t wait to get to work,” the quarterback said. “Key takeaways: excited to get this thing going, get better together, have fun, win.”

Griffin hopes to soon begin immersing himself in Gruden’s system, which is expected to have a fair amount of familiarity to the Redskins’ previous offense because Gruden comes from the same West Coast offense coaching tree as did Shanahan. Redskins players and coaches actually referred to some of the Bengals’ game video when preparing for mutual opponents because the concepts of Gruden’s passing attack closely resembled their own.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/football-insider/wp/2014/01/13/robert-griffin-iii-encouraged-after-talks-with-jay-gruden/

 
Interesting details here, in Griffin's response to a question about why he wears a sleeve.

I wear a sleeve because....well the same reason Pierre Garcon wears a fang mouthpiece-S. Moss wears a hand warmer when it's 70 degrees-Will Montgomery wears elbow pads-Alfred Morris wears shin guards-London Fletcher doesn't wear sleeves in below freezing weather-Adam Carriker does bicep curls and tricep extensions before a game-Chris Baker dances before every game in the locker room-Logan Paulsen does 2 handed spikes when he celebrates touchdowns-Chris Chester does ninja spins to block people-Some guys wear sleeves & some don't-Some guys wear wristbands & some don't-Etc Etc You see WE do these things because they make us comfortable. Not to be different.
Somewhere somehow there has to be a video of Chris Baker dancing before a game. Please internet, please.

 
Gruden's offense in Cincinatti --- big guards, using a fullback, carrying 2 QB's on roster, taller WR's.

http://espn.go.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/4786/how-jay-gruden-shaped-his-roster?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Goodbye Rex, stay ready Darrel Young, don't be surprised if we see a big turnover on the offensive line personnel.
Not too surprising. I have heard that Gruden does quite a bit of power running, which is better with bigger offensive linemen. Shanahan preferred smaller, more athletic offensive linemen. There could be some big changes there. Cooley insists the OL will be viewed better than most think, but still expects one or two new OL.

The Redskins need more receiving options. I have heard repeatedly that Hankerson has everything you look for in a wide receiver, except catching the ball. He is running out of time to figure this last detail out. Most teams can find complementary wrs in the lower rounds of the draft or even undrafted free agents. I am completely baffled why no one every works out for the Redskins. It was an issue under Shanahan, Zorn, and Gibbs II. Why can't we find a James Thrash (the first time) or Albert Connell as a second wr.

 
Gruden's offense in Cincinatti --- big guards, using a fullback, carrying 2 QB's on roster, taller WR's.

http://espn.go.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/4786/how-jay-gruden-shaped-his-roster?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Goodbye Rex, stay ready Darrel Young, don't be surprised if we see a big turnover on the offensive line personnel.
The bit about using a fullback seems to fly in the face of what we saw on Hard Knocks. They cut John Connor in order to have a back up TE play fullback occasionally explicitly because they said they didn't intend to run many two back sets and the TE could play special teams.

 
More about Gruden and the offense in Cincinnati.

Gruden's offense is a democracy, and it is evident this day. "He's very open to input," quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese says. "I'm having the time of my life because of it. Everything you can think of you want to do, you can at least say. He is willing to allow for ideas to be spread and talked about. Not everybody likes to hear all those things. But he's either faking it or enjoying it."

It isn't just the assistant coaches whose input is sought. "He is open to a lot," Dalton says." 'What do you like? What do you not like?'"
Left tackle and team captain Andrew Whitworth talks to Gruden and other coaches during practice and suggests a way to simplify an outside zone run. Whitworth will either go all the way outside to block the widest defender, or he will stay tight and go to the linebacker and then have the fullback block the widest defender. And he will let the fullback know of his intentions with a presnap signal.

Gruden likes the suggestion, and the Bengals install it in the game plan the next day.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1831756-a-week-in-the-life-of-bengals-offensive-coordinator-jay-gruden

 
Chris Russell of ESPN 980 reports that running backs coach/assistant head coach Bobby Turner and assistant special teams/defensive backs coach Richard Hightower will not be part of Gruden’s staff.
Rich Tandler ‏@Rich_TandlerCSN 5h

More surprising that Bobby Turner was kept for 2 weeks than word that he got fired. Good coach but a Shanahan guy all the way.
Tandler also said he thought the decision to let Turner go was mutual.

 
Gruden's offense in Cincinatti --- big guards, using a fullback, carrying 2 QB's on roster, taller WR's.

http://espn.go.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/4786/how-jay-gruden-shaped-his-roster?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Goodbye Rex, stay ready Darrel Young, don't be surprised if we see a big turnover on the offensive line personnel.
The bit about using a fullback seems to fly in the face of what we saw on Hard Knocks. They cut John Connor in order to have a back up TE play fullback occasionally explicitly because they said they didn't intend to run many two back sets and the TE could play special teams.
That was my thought too - they kept Orson Charles over Connor. I only watched a few Bengals games this year, but whenever I saw them in I-formation in short yardage it seemed like they always put Peko (D-tackle with the crazy hair) in at FB. I think Gruden likes to be able to do a lot of things with his offense, but I never got the impression that they wanted to be a power based team.

I remember them keeping Josh Johnson over Skelton as backup QB on Hard Knocks as well. Not sure if there is anything to read into that as far as Gruden liking mobile QBs, or if he was just better than Skelton. Maybe an intriguing backup if they got a nice offer for Cousins?

The part about Gruden taking input from the players on how to tweak the offense is an incredibly welcome departure from the style Shanny and Kyle seemed to have.

 
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Rich Tandler

After looking at some official and unofficial sources for cap information, the estimate is that the Redskins will have approximately $28.6 million in cap space to work with in 2013.

A few caveats are necessary here. This estimate is based on a 2014 NFL cap of $127.5 million per team. That is slightly higher than the official estimate of $126.3 million but some reliable reports have said it will be at the higher number. The number will not be finalized until a week or so prior to the start of free agency on March 11.

In addition, not all of the details of the individual player contracts that make up the cap number are known. Some salary escalators may kick in that boost a player’s 2014 compensation and incentives that were earned or not earned in 2013 could hit the 2014 cap. In addition, some adjustments to contracts that were made when the team did some renegotiations and restructures to squeeze more cap room last year may not be reflected in the calculations. None of these factors are likely cause major changes in the cap space available but they are reasons to look at this as an estimate.
 
Rumor starting to circulate the twitter-verse is that Ernest Byner is coming back to the 'Skins, I would assume as RB coach to replace Turner.

Here's an interesting article about Byner, from last summer.

Meanwhile, Earnest Byner has coached a top 10 back in yards from scrimmage in every season of his career and has coached a top 10 rusher in all but one of those years. That one year occurred when Clinton Portis was the lead back, but was placed on injured reserve midway through the season. And Ladell Betts still finished with a respectable 1,154 rushing yards.
 
Rumor starting to circulate the twitter-verse is that Ernest Byner is coming back to the 'Skins, I would assume as RB coach to replace Turner.

Here's an interesting article about Byner, from last summer.

Meanwhile, Earnest Byner has coached a top 10 back in yards from scrimmage in every season of his career and has coached a top 10 rusher in all but one of those years. That one year occurred when Clinton Portis was the lead back, but was placed on injured reserve midway through the season. And Ladell Betts still finished with a respectable 1,154 rushing yards.
I'd be okay with that

 
MattFancy said:
Sidewinder16 said:
Rumor starting to circulate the twitter-verse is that Ernest Byner is coming back to the 'Skins, I would assume as RB coach to replace Turner.

Here's an interesting article about Byner, from last summer.

Meanwhile, Earnest Byner has coached a top 10 back in yards from scrimmage in every season of his career and has coached a top 10 rusher in all but one of those years. That one year occurred when Clinton Portis was the lead back, but was placed on injured reserve midway through the season. And Ladell Betts still finished with a respectable 1,154 rushing yards.
I'd be okay with that
x2

 
Keim

It was expected and now it's done. The Washington Redskins have elevated Sean McVay to offensive coordinator for new coach Jay Gruden. McVay signed his new contract, according to his agent, Bob LaMonte (who also represents Gruden). McVay and Gruden are tight, but general manager Bruce Allen wanted to keep McVay around regardless of who he hired as head coach.
 
So Morocco Brown interviewed with the Bucs for their GM job today. He's not a guy the skins can afford to lose. Everyone has spoken highly of him and he got an interview for a GM position last year.
Probably just for the experience, no way he takes that job even if offered. Lovie has final say and is for all intents and purposes the GM--that's less influence then he'll have here and he's suffered through multiple awful regimes just to get this opportunity.
I disagree, I think he'd take it if offered, from everything I have heard/read, he wants that GM title. Also, he would have more responsibility there than he currently has in Washington. He certainly would have more influence in Tampa. Sounds like a non issue though since Vital appears to be the favorite.

 
Interesting details here, in Griffin's response to a question about why he wears a sleeve.

I wear a sleeve because....well the same reason Pierre Garcon wears a fang mouthpiece-S. Moss wears a hand warmer when it's 70 degrees-Will Montgomery wears elbow pads-Alfred Morris wears shin guards-London Fletcher doesn't wear sleeves in below freezing weather-Adam Carriker does bicep curls and tricep extensions before a game-Chris Baker dances before every game in the locker room-Logan Paulsen does 2 handed spikes when he celebrates touchdowns-Chris Chester does ninja spins to block people-Some guys wear sleeves & some don't-Some guys wear wristbands & some don't-Etc Etc You see WE do these things because they make us comfortable. Not to be different.
Somewhere somehow there has to be a video of Chris Baker dancing before a game. Please internet, please.
Robert seems like a smart guy, so I don't understand in what universe he thinks responding to fans criticism with a facebook rant is a good look. He obviously is concerned with his image. Ironically the best way for him to do this is to stop caring so much what people say and think about him and just let it go. He needs thick skin, people would respect him more.

I'm not sure in what capacity the Redskins have talked about bringing Doug Williams in, but I think he could serve as a good mentor for Robert.

 
Gruden has many of his staff decisions already made. Special teams and defense don't have coordinators yet, though. My fear is that he's putting off saying Haslett's re-hired until after all the other hires, hoping it'll drop silently like bird poop and nobody will notice.

I really don't want Haslett back. Other teams have him figured out.

 
Gruden has many of his staff decisions already made. Special teams and defense don't have coordinators yet, though. My fear is that he's putting off saying Haslett's re-hired until after all the other hires, hoping it'll drop silently like bird poop and nobody will notice.

I really don't want Haslett back. Other teams have him figured out.
Quickly becoming my fear too...I hope not, but think this may be the case. I think it's not done to be secret or sneaky, but to give the look as though it wasn't pre-determined from the word GO. There was rumor out there that the LBers coach from CIN was possibly going to be the DC. I hope they interview Horton the CLE DC.

 
I know he isn't Keith Burns, so that has to be good, right?
This is true. The bar is pretty low for the next special teams coach.
Interview quesiton: If you become the special teams coach, would your unit finish last in every imaginable category?

Interview answer: No.

[Panel of interviewers whisper to each other.]

Bruce Allen: You're hired.

 
Guenther is a LB coach, and I think all Haslett is qualified to be is a LB coach (if that), so I don't get how this will work. The pegs don't seem to fit the holes.

 
Not until this morning.

He was promoted to assistant special teams coach after being quality control coach for Jets special teams and defense. Before that he was the D coordinator for the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School. He was a 3 year starter at LB and a team captain at Army. After graduating from West Point he served in the Army for 7 years and picked up some medals of honor.

http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/coaches/ben-kotwica/a40e1ab7-e44c-4753-aeb0-dfbe56cdb54f

 
Guenther is a LB coach, and I think all Haslett is qualified to be is a LB coach (if that), so I don't get how this will work. The pegs don't seem to fit the holes.
I'm with you. This is confusing. We keep hearing Has will definitely back, and he probably will, but it doesn't add up. I would like to see him gone, if only to get more of a fresh start. If they do keep him, he has had success in the past and did quite well with the D last year and they made strides this year. All this talk of Slowick and Shanahan forcing his hand with the D does at least make it interesting to see what he can do if he is running the entire unit.

And a silver lining; if he stays it shows that Snyder really isn't being meddlesome. Ten years ago this guy wouldn't stand a chance of staying around, Snyder wouldn't have it.

 
If Haslett stays is Gruden going to tell him how easy it is to figure out what defenses he's calling?

I get this crappy feeling that Bruce Allen is forcing a place for Haslett on the staff and that that'll interfere with the HC's authority.

 
If Haslett stays is Gruden going to tell him how easy it is to figure out what defenses he's calling?

I get this crappy feeling that Bruce Allen is forcing a place for Haslett on the staff and that that'll interfere with the HC's authority.
I heard the other day that Shanahan is the one who was the big fan of the 0-deep defenses. Part of his influence was apparently shown in how often the D would line up without a safety back deep. Some stats on how often they did that would be nice, but that's what I heard.

 

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