Reiteration: Washington Redskins in Free Agency – Having It Both Ways by Diane Chesebrough

I recently wrote about the tendency that Washington Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder has had to go a little nuts during free agency; spending huge sums of money signing big-name players rather than hanging on to good, stable players and/or building the team from within via the draft.  This was a problem for both fans and the media and Snyder was criticized often for it.

Popular opinion today is that the Redskins have so many glaring needs on the roster that they need to go out and get fill-in-the-blank-with-big-name-free-agent to make the team competitive.

Do fans really want the Redskins to spend a bunch of money on free agents or do they want the team to build from within?

It would be nice if it was a black and white proposition but it’s not. Perhaps there’s a way to do both.

The first thing the Redskins need to do is decide whose job it is to lose at the quarterback position and announce it. Over-simplified, once this is done, people can stop wondering whether or not John Beck IS “the man” and then other positions can be addressed while the signal-calling situation  plays itself out (pun intended).  For purposes of this discussion, I’ll leave this topic right there.

The Redskins actually have a decent roster right now except for needing depth at a couple of positions. They have several players that are going to be free agents and if any of those players do not re-sign, the team will need to replace them. But if the team brings them back, it’s likely they’ll improve as head coach Mike Shanahan continues what he started last season.

Will owner Dan Snyder encourage his head coach to replace Washington’s free agents with big-name players?

Washington desperately needs a bona fide nose tackle (don’t look for Albert Haynesworth’s name here). They need major play-makers on the defensive line to improve the defense and offset the lack of a franchise quarterback. They need depth at corner and depth on the offensive line. This doesn’t mean there’s no talent at those positions on the team right now though.  Every player that struggled at any position last year should get somewhat of a pass because they were 1) playing in entirely new systems; 2) coming off of catastrophic injuries or 3) young.

The team will be into its second year in new offensive and defensive systems and one has to expect improvement if the same players are around. But this lockout has kept teammates from formally practicing together and cohesiveness is important to game-day success. Bringing in a bunch of new players is not going to help this with so little time available before the season begins.

Wide out Santana Moss, quarterback Rex Grossman, right tackle Jammal Brown, offensive lineman Stephon Heyer, defensive lineman Kedric Golston, linebackers Rocky McIntosh, Chris Wilson and H.B. Blades, cornerbacks Carlos Rogers and Phillip Buchanon; and safety Reed Doughty are all free agents.

Are the Redskins going to pull the same old thing once this lockout is over and let these guys all get signed away so that Dan Snyder can play ‘Fantasy Football’ with the big-name free agents that are out there?  Will the team go after wide receivers Braylon Edwards?Santonio Holmes? Randy Moss? Plaxico Burress? Is it important to win the off-season-big-name-sweepstakes?

Santana Moss needs no one to sing his praises. He is a number one receiver and the Redskins would be smart to re-sign him. He was extremely productive in the slot in Shanahan’s system and had a career year in 2010. Starting all 16 games, he gained 1115 yards off of 93 receptions and logged six touchdowns. Barring injury, one would assume that playing for a second year of the same system would only make him more productive – given that he has even a half-way decent quarterback throwing to him.

Consider that Moss has caught passes from six starting quarterbacks since coming to Washington (Patrick Ramsey, Mark Brunell, Jason Campbell, Todd Collins, Donovan McNabb and Rex Grossman). He has shown that he can do his “thing” regardless of who is throwing to him.  The popular thinking is that Washington needs a tall receiver on the team but the fact that Moss is not seven feet tall should not keep the Redskins from bringing him back.

Fourth year receiver Malcolm Kelly, 6’4” is healthy and eager to show the team what he can do. Whether or not he is a play-maker in the NFL is yet to be seen. He was one at Oklahoma, snatching passes out of the air while being covered by defensive backs like a blanket.

Kelly has a lot to prove to be sure. College talent doesn’t always translate into success in the NFL. But he has great hands and is tall. He started 10 games in 2009 and in those games, averaged 13 yards-per-reception. While on IR last season for a severe hamstring injury, he spent his time studying and working out and needs to prove to Shanahan that he deserved to be kept on the team as well as why he was worthy of being a second-round draft pick in 2008.  Hunger is a good motivator.  If Kelly can stay healthy, he could be a huge part of this offense.

Wide out Anthony Armstrong started 11 games last season and averaged 19.8 yards-per-reception. He made some key plays for the Redskins in 2010 including a 48-yard touchdown reception against Green Bay snagging the ball from over the head of defensive back Charlie Peprah.

Shanahan needs to give Armstrong and Kelly a chance before he signs an Edwards, a Holmes, a (Randy) Moss or a Burress.

Right tackle Jammal Brown was acquired by Mike Shanahan last year in a trade that involved quarterback Donovan McNabb and some fairly complicated result-oriented circumstances that will affect future third and fourth-round draft picks. The former New Orleans Saint was coming off of hip and sports hernia injuries that kept him out the entire 2009 season and his play early in 2010 wasn’t very impressive. But he got better despite the fact that he would rather play left tackle.  The team should re-sign Brown. Shanahan’s offensive system is complicated and the offensive lineman knows how it works.

I would love to see the Redskins bring Carlos Rogers back. He’s a good corner.  Show him the money.  I don’t think that Washington has ever paid him what Rogers feels he is worth but they can afford it now.

IF Rogers goes to another team, then going after Oakland Raider’s free agent cornerbackNnamdi Asomugha – or perhaps the Baltimore Raven’s Chris Carr – to compliment Pro Bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall is a good idea. But that’s only if Rogers leaves.  In 2010, Rogers played and started in 12 games. He had two interceptions for 43 yards, one forced fumble, 43 tackles with 11 assists and 12 passes defended. Asomugha started in 14 of 14 games played, no sacks, 17 tackles with 2 assists and 6 passes defended. Who would you rather have in your secondary? Especially in this shortened off-season.

Heyer played in twelve games last year, starting five.  Golston had 17 tackles last year. McIntosh had 73 tackles and two sacks.  Buchanon had 40 tackles and two interceptions. Wilson had two forced fumbles. Doughty had a sack and 45 tackles. Blades played against the Tennessee Titans last season when McIntosh came out due to injury and did well. He is an important member of Washington’s special teams.

These guys are productive, contributing teammates. It’s not that the Redskins couldn’t go out and get free agents that would not be even more so… given time. But, again, in this shortened 2011 off-season, with the record of bad free agent signings that the owner has, wouldn’t it be better to reward the guys that have stuck around throughout the bad decisions and resulting drama? For instance, the defensive guys have done everything they’ve been asked to do in making the transition last year from what was a successful 4-3 defense to the 3-4 without complaint. The Redskins should pay them enough to keep them here and continue moving forward.

This year, Mike Shanahan had a great draft, bringing in defensive (Ryan Kerrigan, Chris Neild and Jarvis Jenkins) and offensive (Leonard Hankerson, Niles Paul and Aldrick Robinson) play-makers. But it’s a lot to ask for these rookies to be ready by game-day with the lack of access to coaching thus far. Washington has a good group of core guys on the roster and others waiting to be re-signed. I’m not suggesting that the head coach not bring in any free agents where positions are thin or where competition would be helpful. Returning to the need for a nose tackle, targeting the Jenkins brothers, Green Bay Packers’ defensive end Cullen and New York Jets’ nose tackle Kris is smart.

Depth on the offensive line is needed and word is that the team could target one of the Ravens’ offensive linemen (Jared Gaither or Marshal Yanda). But Shanahan should not just go out and “be aggressive” in free agency simply to snag a big name. The ‘old’ Snyder would have loved to make a big splash with one of the afore-mentioned big-name receivers… especially since the team can afford to.  But just once, wouldn’t it be nice if the Redskins grew their OWN big name? Wouldn’t it be great if, at the end of this season, the guys on the NFL Network were talking about how smart the Redskins were to take a chance on developing “that” young guy? Perhaps the Redskins have a huge play-maker already on the team and just don’t know it yet.

For all the people screaming that this team has no talent and that wide out Sidney Rice must be grabbed off of the free agent market, what about all that “Do like the Pittsburgh Steelers do and build from the draft” business?

With this condensed off-season, every snap the players take together will be extremely important, whether it is during training camp or in a preseason game.  Granted, competition is important and the staff needs to have enough players on hand to provide that competition. I just hope that some of those players competing are already on the team.

Is Shanahan truly the magician that can develop the unproven player?  Can he bring some talented free agents on board to provide true competition without spending a fortune ?

I’m going with the hope that he has the finesse to do both.

Hail.