Random Commanders Thoughts

[Chris]

Quietly the Rams are 5-2, tied for the second best record in the NFC. Who saw that coming?

 

[Fear The Spear]

I wonder if Scot is the one who made this anonymous quote about Cuz

"He'll never be special. Great guy, will never embarrass you off the field, and if you were ranking guys, he's probably above average. But he's not special. And that's not going to change. What you see is what you get"

~ Longtime NFL front office decision-maker, when asked to assess Cousins' prospects

 

[Ax]

Doesn't matter really. It's accurate.

 

[Neophyte]

Seems like pretty minor stuff to me...certainly not anything that rises to the level of a rift or real tension...my opinion.

This line right here says it all:

"If Griffin had put up the same stats Cousins had, wouldn't he already have a substantial contract offer?"

They never would have low balled Griff if he had put up the same numbers and same win-loss record as Cousins. Never.

 

[Burgundy Burner]

That's why I don't think it is minor - and other reasons as well.

 

[stevenaa]

I wonder if Scot is the one who made this anonymous quote about Cuz

"He'll never be special. Great guy, will never embarrass you off the field, and if you were ranking guys, he's probably above average. But he's not special. And that's not going to change. What you see is what you get"

~ Longtime NFL front office decision-maker, when asked to assess Cousins' prospects

I'd say this is accurate. A guy you can win with if you have the right pieces. He's not going to lift a team. Much as I hate it, Wentz is probably that guy.

 

[Chris]

And he's only 24.

 

[Burgundy Burner]

Redskins have signed OG Tony Bergstrom.

 

[Win4us]

I have nothing against Grier (former Florida QB), but he will likely be an UDFA. Possibly a seventh rounder. Weak arm. Doesn't see the field as well as he needs to. Questionable passes at times. A tad slow.

He was suspended by the NCAA a couple of years ago.

If he declares for the draft, Grier will rank somewhere around 25th to 32nd overall. These numbers are assuming the expected draft eligible QBs that will declare as well.

Dang, I was hoping you'd say something like he's the next Drew Brees.

Oh well we still need to grab a qb high to at least have a youngin in the pipeline, if not start.

 

[Burgundy Burner]

 

[SkinnedAussie]

Harris, yes.

I might be wrong but isn't Harris on the practice squad, and if so, who do we let go (or put on IR) so he can be elevated?

 

[JohnssBass]

Yeah, Harris is on the PS. Outside of a guy going to IR to make room, Holsey seems like a candidate to swap places with between PS & active roster.

 

[Burgundy Burner]

https://sportstalk360.com/buffalo-bills-in-trade-talks-with-washington-redskins/

 

[DieselPwr44]

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From the man that brought you: "Everybody' gonna eat!!"<br><br>Here is: "Everybody play butt-ass naked!"<br><br>Jim Tomsula - Legend<a href="https://twitter.com/PardonMyTake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PardonMyTake</a> <a href="https://t.co/eEvZIS9AN8">pic.twitter.com/eEvZIS9AN8</a></p>— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/923556382363803649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It's how I plan to watch Sunday's game........

 

[Fear The Spear]

Yeah, Harris is on the PS. Outside of a guy going to IR to make room, Holsey seems like a candidate to swap places with between PS & active roster.

Or trade ?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000867216/article/nfl-trade-deadline-one-move-for-each-nfc-team

Washington Redskins: Sell Terrelle Pryor

Around The NFL staff: Pryor has seen his play time decrease sharply in favor of former first-round pick Josh Doctson. If Doctson stays healthy, Pryor will likely continue to be shackled to the sidelines for stretches. With Pryor in Washington on a one-year deal, it makes sense for the Redskins to get what they can for the receiver now rather than watch him walk away for nothing in the offseason. Perhaps shipping him to receiver-needy Buffalo could make sense for both sides?

Potential compensation: 2018 fifth-round pick.

 

[Fear The Spear]

I'd say this is accurate. A guy you can win with if you have the right pieces. He's not going to lift a team. Much as I hate it, Wentz is probably that guy.

This says more on that :

"In the red zone last year, Cousins was one of the least efficient starting quarterbacks, completing just 45.8 percent of his passes. Inside the 10-yard line, he was even worse, connecting on 31.6 percent of his throws, dead last in the NFL"

This line right here says it all:

"If Griffin had put up the same stats Cousins had, wouldn't he already have a substantial contract offer?"

They never would have low balled Griff if he had put up the same numbers and same win-loss record as Cousins. Never.

So, this is considered "low-balling" Cousins ?

"we made Kirk an offer that included the highest fully guaranteed amount upon signing for a quarterback in NFL history ($53 million) and guaranteed a total of $72 million for injury. The deal would have made him at least the second highest-paid player by average per year in NFL history."

 

[Bulldog]

As in the stock market, it's not enough to have identified a quality company. You have to be able to acquire shares of it at a reasonable price (with the expectation of future appreciation).

Unfortunately, the team missed the boat in 2015 and early 2016 on getting Kirk a contract that would reflect the quarterback he is.

Now, you run into the situation of saying to yourself 'well, he's an above average quarterback, so I suppose we are going to have to pay him a top 3-5 salary just to keep him here.'

IMO, that is the WRONG strategy.

You are already seeing the effects of the Flacco contract on the Ravens.

He's not an elite quarterback either. But he had one outsized sample in the 2011 postseason and so got paid.

But as with Mark Rypien, the team was essentially paying him afterward for what he already did for the organization.

But from a cap standpoint that contract was a killer for them.

If Kirk were Carson Wentz or Derek Carr then I think you would see the checkbook out because the game-changing talent and poise would be there on display early on for everyone to see.

But right now it's arguable that Cousins is the third best quarterback in the NFC East. Perhaps second.

But Wentz and Prescott are on rookie deals and are cheap so the teams can assemble a talented roster around them.

Manning is 37 and 2017 with the free agents on defense added in 2016 was really supposed to be his last hurrah to try and win before the rebuild is coming in NY.

Based on what I am seeing now, I would not break the bank to give Cousins a landmark contract.

You can give that kind of deal to a Rodgers or Brady because they can make solid but unspectactular running backs and receivers into a top 3-5 offense and win in the postseason with them.

I don't think anyone thinks Cousins fits in that category, nor may he fit into the next category right now which is Wentz, Carr, and further down guys like Matt Stafford and Philip Rivers.

I think you pull a Houston and go into the draft and take a quarterback and develop him. And in this league 'develop' means getting him on the field in Year 1 and starting to try and win something in Year 2.

And from what I am reading the 2018 draft class is going to have several quarterbacks available when the Redskins pick in the teens to early twenties in Round 1 that are better prospects than DeShaun Watson was in 2017.

With the extra money under the cap the Redskins are then still alive in free agency to go out and get that edge rusher they still need as I don't think Galette has it anymore as a top threat after missing 2 plus seasons. Kerrigan has always been a guy that depends upon another rusher to set him up for the one-on-one bull rush to get to the quarterback. But he is not going to scare offenses by himself the way a Von Miller or Vic Beasley is able to do.

We also need help at the skill positions on offense. We don't have a frontline running back. That seems obvious. We don't have a #1 receiver or even a #1 A like Garcon was. Right now the only thing putting Josh Doctson on the field is his former draft status.

With his penchant for dropping balls so far this year if he were in New England he would be back on the bench not bucking for more playing time.

So, overall a move at quarterback to go younger is IMO a smart move.

It gives us that extra year to continue to build around him and stay below the cap ceiling in case another Josh Norman/franchise player becomes available.

And to the question of what about our current team?

We have a team that is composed of mostly younger players or veterans who are still in their maneuverable primes.

Scherff, Moses, Long, Allen, Fuller, Dunbar, Nicholson, Swearinger, Reed, Ioannidis, Breeland (if resigned), etc. are all younger core players that can grown with a new quarterback.

Veterans like Trent Williams (29), Josh Norman (30), Ryan Kerrigan (28), Zach Brown (27 - if resigned) will still be more than serviceable players for that transition period and likely beyond it.

The Cowboys lucked into Prescott, the Eagles went after Wentz aggressively, the Seahawks bided their time and took Wilson in Round 3 just as other teams were also thinking of investing a pick in him at that point of the draft. The Raiders got a steal in grabbing Carr where they did.

But the one advantage these teams had is their path to these quarterbacks was not already blocked by a huge investment in a younger quarterback who was already supposed to be the face of the franchise.

Here, Cousins didn't look like he was going to be a starting NFL quarterback until 2015, in his fourth year because he was largely sitting on the bench while the team found out that Griffin couldn't play and finally admitted it.

It's an opportunity lost and we can't go back and reset the clock.

But let's not compound the mistake by saying we can make it 'all good' right now by overpaying Cousins for what we didn't think he could do back in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

 

[Ax]

If Spurt Cousins somehow carries this team to the NFC Championship, this season, I will change my mind on him.

If not............

 

[Bulldog]

Aaron Rodgers wouldn't carry this team to the NFC Championship game because of all the injuries.

That is a legit excuse and I am not holding Kirk Cousins to that standard. But in games like the two against the Eagles this season Kirk had a chance to step up and give us that 5% extra that could have pulled out one of those games.

But that is not who he is.

 

[Boone]

You make a strong case BD. But I could also see Cousins signing a LTD, and the Skins finding a top tier WR with their first couple picks to complement Doctson (who I think it's way to early to write off). Even with Cousins who may be always be a 5th - 10th best NFL QB, we have a lot of talent and may be just a draft or two away from being one of the best teams in the NFC.

The flaw in your argument is the same as it always has been because it starts with the premise that 'all the Redskins have to do is find a top tier QB in the draft'. It's sort of like the old joke 'How do you make 5 million dollars? First, take a million dollars and...' Cousins is plenty good enough to get us to the Promised Land with a few more skill players imho. You let him walk, and then miss on the next QB pick, and we will suck for another 10 years because all of those older key players you referenced will age out before you find another QB.