When talented or popular players become free agents, teams can’t just keep them because they are talented or are popular. To even make it to the NFL, you must have talent. But most fans are pretty smart and there’s a reason these players are popular. Yes, much of the time, they are fan-favorites because of their personalities. But much of the time, they are fan-favorites because they have intangibles that make them special and knowledgeable fans recognize this.
When a player is metaphorically booted (cut, traded or allowed to get picked up after contract expiration) or, in one way or another unrewarded for their loyalty by management so that the team can go out and sign a big-name free agent, it’s bad.
While we always want to see people we care about succeed, it is maddening to see a guy that once wore The Burgundy & Gold endure the aforementioned booting and then, once with their new team, flourish. By the same token, it’s been maddening to watch the Redskins sign some big-name free agent only to see them don The Colors and then flop. While not always, there have been times when “getting paid’ has led to getting lazy.
Anyone in particular come to mind here?
Losing a hard-working, long-time member of a team can cause locker-room chemistry to suffer and players to become disenchanted and wary to see that hard work taken for granted.
Cornerback Champ Bailey was a fan-favorite when he was here in Washington. He went to the Pro Bowl for four consecutive years while with the Redskins and was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2004 for Pro Bowl running back Clinton Portis (signed to an eight-year contract worth $50.5 million) and a second-round draft pick. Bailey went to the Pro Bowl another four consecutive years while with Denver as well as going First Team All-Pro for three of them, including the first year he was in the Mile High City.
While losing Champ Bailey – basically a shut-down corner - bothered many, Portis made an immediate positive impact. In his first year here (his third in the league), he gained 1,550 yards-from-scrimmage (rushing and receiving), topped 100+ yards in five of 15 games that he started and eventually became one of the faces of the franchise. He not only brought his talent to the team, some maintain that he brought his heart and soul. He gave us Thursday costumes, an exciting rushing attack and blocking that rivaled many in the league. He helped the city through the death of much beloved safety Sean Taylor with grace, courage and maturity.
But he also brought a mentality suggesting entitlement that bothered people; making his own rules, bypassing coaches to get to the owner and a general lack of discipline.
Former Redskins safety Ryan Clark’s story is one that is particularly painful for me. Clark came to the Redskins prior to the 2004 season after being signed as an undrafted free agent to the New York Giants in 2002. It has been well-documented that Clark was a steadying influence on fellow safety, (the late, great) Sean Taylor, who’d had a rocky first few years in the league. Clark was a solid safety himself and the tandem was formidable. Although Taylor was freakishly athletic, Clark was a hard-hitting, dependable, complimentary talent to his young friend on the field. The year Clark joined Washington he played in 15 games, starting 11. He led Redskins defensive backs with 81 tackles (65 solo), ranking eighth in that category in the league.
In 2005, he played in 13 games, logged 58 (48 solo) tackles, and had three interceptions and a forced fumble.
After the 2005 season, Clark’s contract with the Redskins expired and, rather than coughing up the money it would take to re-sign him, they allowed him to be signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Washington brought in safety Adam Archuleta for $30 million over six, years plus a $10 million signing bonus. Hmmmm. Do you suppose Clark would have stayed for that?
At the end of an article from the Associated Press back then, it quietly states:
"The Redskins also lost free agent safety Ryan Clark, who signed a four-year contract with Pittsburgh. Clark became expendable when Washington signed Adam Archuleta on Monday.”
Taylor was not happy about losing his friend and mentor for reasons easy to understand. Not only did the team lose a good safety, Archuleta did nothing to prove he was worth the money. In 2006, he started in only seven of 16 games, logged one sack, one pass defended and 49 tackles for the Redskins.
One of the things that made the situation so bad was that, after paying Archuleta upwards of $30 million, he became the highest paid bench-warmer in the NFL. In his defense, the safety was asked to play press man coverage, which he wasn’t very good at. He eventually found himself replaced by safety Troy Vincent very early in the season and the relationship between he, the coaching staff and the media deteriorated from there.
Had Ryan Clark been offered that $30 million, the only discussion of safeties would likely have been about how good the Redskins’ were.
While Archuleta was warming the pine here in Washington, in Pittsburgh Clark was starting 12 games, getting an interception, defending four passes, recovering three fumbles and logging 48 solo tackles while assisting in 24. Pittsburgh had themselves a good starting safety pair in Clark and Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu.
In a March 2006 online forum, a fan summed up well how many Redskins fans were feeling at the time – before we knew what a bust Archuleta would be:
“Honestly, I would have just resigned Ryan Clark.
Archuleta is probably a marginal upgrade, but Clark really wanted to play here, with this team, with these guys, with these coaches. Until I hear otherwise, in my mind Archuleta came here because we held out the most money.
I think there's a lot to be said for chemistry, and I think Ryan Clark brought a lot of that to our locker room. He will certainly be missed...
Hopefully Arch can bring that same attitude.”
As happens with many players not put in the best position to win, once he left Washington, Archuleta went on to play for the Chicago Bears and logged 54 tackles, two sacks, one interception, forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
That same season, Washington also wooed and signed defensive lineman Andre Carter, wide receiver Antwaan Randel El and perennial back-up quarterback Todd Collins. In the press, there were stories of limousine rides, expensive dinners and Wizards basketball games in luxury seats.
"At 6:30 p.m. yesterday, a caravan of four limousines lined up in front of Redskins Park to shuttle top Redskins personnel and free agent receiver Antwaan Randle El, defensive end Andre Carter, safety Adam Archuleta and quarterback Todd Collins to dinner and the Washington Wizards-Detroit Pistons game.
“Owner Daniel Snyder, Coach Joe Gibbs, player personnel director Vinny Cerrato, offensive coordinator Don Breaux, assistant head coach-defense Gregg Williams and H-back Chris Cooley were joined by Carter, Archuleta and Collins.”
During the same timeframe, the Redskins authored one of the biggest free agent signing busts when wide receiver Brandon Lloyd was brought in from the San Francisco 49ers. The most disappointing of the free agents signed that year; Lloyd caught only 23 passes for 365 yards in 2006.
Lloyd was not only unproductive, he was a locker room diva who had some notable temper tantrums during two games that season: once during a 24-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons where he threw a helmet and again during a 36-22 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. During the Colts’ game, there was shouting on the sidelines and teammates stepped in to calm him down. Then head-coach Joe Gibbs benched the receiver and scrambled to assure the media that he would be returning the following year as head coach. Lloyd did not last long in Washington.
After he left the Redskins, the receiver made a quick stop in Chicago resulting in similar stats with the Bears as he’d had here. But, to return to the point of players leaving the team only to go elsewhere and blossom; he ended up in Denver and last year he made the Pro Bowl. He closed out the 2010 season with 77 receptions for 1,448 yards and 11 touchdowns. Not too shabby.
The season following the handing out of contracts worth six-years, $30 million (Carter); seven-years, $31 million including a $10 million signing bonus and a $1.5 million roster bonus (Randel El); and a six-year, $30 million contract with $10 million guaranteed (Lloyd); a really loyal and dynamite player for the Redskins became a victim of politics. Defensive tackle/linebacker LaVar Arrington was forced out of the organization and ended up joining former Redskins middle linebacker Antonio Pierce with the NFC East rival, New York Giants.
Pierce had been a popular, talented Redskin that was released by the team even after he led the Redskins with 112 tackles (85 of which were solo) and was named an alternate to the Pro Bowl. He also recorded two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, with one sack and a pair of fumble recoveries. Signing with the Giants, he went on to log an incredible 109 solo tackles and went to the Pro Bowl in that first year in New York.
Arrington’s situation, however, was some of the worst handling of a player I’ve witnessed in my many years as a Redskins fan. As a long-time supporter/worshipper of Joe Gibbs, I was extremely disappointed as once again, the team was losing another favorite because the organization could not or would not do the right thing. The fact that Gibbs seemed powerless or unwilling to do anything about it bothered a lot of long-time supporters of the Hall-of-Fame coach. First we lost Bailey, then Clark and Pierce and now Arrington was embroiled in a situation that could not possibly end well. Gibbs was saying some of the right things some of the time.
"We're making an all-out effort to take care of our guys first," Gibbs had said in an interview back then, before learning that Pierce was leaving for a divisional rival. "And then if there's someone out there who we think can help the ball club, we'll pursue that."
But like all coaches, Gibbs gave his fair share of non-answers. For reasons given publicly that would have rivaled current head coach Mike Shanahan’s first and second explanations of why QB Donovan McNabb was benched last year, Arrington was relegated to “spot” duty in the early games of the season and, according to him, not told why. The press was given partial or convoluted reasons for it from Arrington's slow recovery from knee surgery to problems in practice to his hit-or-miss playing style.
Arrington is a man known to speak his mind and, given the fact that his immediate coordinator was the infamous Gregg Williams, it should be no surprise that the relationship between the linebacker and the team was always “interesting.” By October of 2005, between the contract issues that had come between Arrington and management (Arrington said that his contract was rushed through missing a $6.8 million bonus verbally agreed upon in order to make the signing deadline), knee injuries and what Williams said was Arrington needing “to practice better,” things came to a head. Arrington had seen little playing time by then wasn’t shy about letting people know how he felt about it.
"Coach Williams says I've got to show them in practice," Arrington said at one point. "Well, in practice, give me some reps so you can see what I can do. If you're not going to play me, then don't play me. Just don't make things up about why I'm not playing. I'm healthy. I'm of sound mind and body. Don't try to slander me. It's being insinuated that I'm not smart enough to play this defense. That's absurd."
Arrington ended up buying out his contract with the Redskins in the end and joined Pierce in New York, showing that, while the knee injuries had done some damage, he had enough left in the tank to be of value to a team.
The way Bailey, Clark and Arrington were treated became a blue-print of Snyder’s affinity for making a free agency splash and looking for the big name free agent rather than keeping the guys who have faithfully contributed to this team.
There have been other free agent signings that didn't work out so well for the team (Can you say “Deion Sanders”?) but also trades and signings that have – like wide out Santana Moss for Laveranues Coles in 2005. Coles was/is a very good receiver but Moss became the “Cowboy Killer” here in Washington because of an innate ability to make huge plays during Cowboys – Redskins games. There isn't a much more complimentary nickname for a Redskin. The former Miami Hurricane went to the Pro Bowl the first year he was here and has been a hugely productive receiver for the team.
Andre Carter was a great teammate, a hard-worker and talented defensive end. Two of his five years here, he posted double-digit sack numbers. The veteran was cut last season, however, after not transitioning to the 3-4 defense as well as management had envisioned.
When this lockout is over and there is finally a free agency period, the Redskins are going to have to figure out what they are going to do about several players that have become free agents this season. 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 of one type or another.
Most of these guys – in fact, all but Grossman, Brown and Buchanon – have been popular, contributing members of the team for several years. Will management go after the big names in free agency (like cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha) rather than trying to woo back a player like Carlos Rogers by paying him what he’s worth?
So much goes into whether or not a player succeeds in any given system. The point is, that if all of the talented Redskins free agents are let go with no chance to even compete, only to be replaced by big names at big money, we’ll know that some things never change and we are likely to see history repeat itself here in Washington - again.
Hail.
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