Getting Younger is Hard to Do

Look at this:The Redskins were the third oldest team in the league heading into 2008, according to ESPN.com's Mike Sando. This came one year after the 2007 team was the oldest team the NFL.Clearly, the Redskins had two goals in the offseason: 1) to get better, and 2) to get younger.Nine players who started the year with the Redskins in 2008 are no longer on the roster. In their place, I have put 9 of the front runners to replace them below, along with each player's age on opening day. I'm going to illustrate a point.AdditionsBrian Orakpo - 23Kevin Barnes - 23Albert Haynesworth - 28DeAngelo Hall - 25Derrick Dockery - 28Mike Williams - 28Jeremy Bridges - 29Roydell Williams - 28Marko Mitchell - 23SubtractionsJon Jansen - 33Pete Kendall - 36Shawn Springs - 34Jason Taylor - 35James Thrash - 34Marcus Washington - 32Demetric Evans - 29Khary Campbell - 30Erasmus James - 28The point I want to illustrate is that the Redskins shed as many veterans as the salary cap would allow in a single offseason. Most teams will decide every offseason which veterans can still help them win so they don't end up with the type of purge the Redskins did. As you would expect, the Redskins gave up on a player or two before they ran out of good years simply in the spirit of getting younger. After all, they were accomplishing one of their offseason goals by doing so.Except, what if we do the math on it?Ave age of departed player = 32.33Ave age of added player = 26.11__________________________Difference = 6.22 yearsSo the players who replaced the departed veterans are, on average, 6.22 years younger than the players who they are replacing on the roster. That seems about right.But the Redskins aren't going to get 6.22 years younger on average. This is because they will roster 53 players. Barring more cuts to veterans between now and the start of the season, that means that 44 players who were on last year's week one roster will be on this year's week one roster. We have to multiply the difference by the turnover rate. (Difference = 6.22 years) X (Roster Turnover = 9/53) = Decrease in average age of Redskins' roster member.Answer: 1.06 years.That's a pretty significant number. But, alas, we still have not addressed the big problem with the average age of a player on a team: it's not a number that ages particularly well.Based only on the players who are new to the 2009 Redskins, and who they replaced, the Redskins would be 6.22 years younger. But--and this is the money shot--every player who wasn't replaced is a year older. This is unavoidable. Every year, the majority of your team gets one year older. And there's not a lot a team can do to stop it, as evidenced by the Redskins doing more or less everything possible to curb the aging process this offseason.(Part of team replaced = 9/53 X Average age decrease = 6.22) -- (Part of team held over = 44/53 X Average age increase = 1)The average age of a Washington Redskins player in 2009 will be only 0.25 years less than in 2008.According to Sando's article, the Redskins began 2008 with an average player age of 28.01. Unless the Redskins cut more veterans in training camp, they will enter 2009 with an average player age close to 27.75. The Redskins will likely not be one of the five oldest teams in football, but still one of the ten oldest.In 2007, the Redskins were the oldest team in the NFL, according to John Clayton. They entered training camp in 2008 as the oldest team after the Jason Taylor trade, but they cut down about half a year. After a systematic veteran purge, the Redskins are still going to be among the 10 oldest teams in the NFL next year.They're getting better. But the Redskins will learn that being a young, talented team is a team philosophy, not something that can be micromanaged by simply not resigning players above the league average age.Look at the acquisitions. Over half, 5/9, are 28 or 29 years of age. That's younger than the players they are replacing. But draft picks are 21-24 years of age. A team that wishes to be young every year must rely on the draft more than the Redskins do. Patience is a common refrain. But in essence, this analysis illustrates why the Jason Taylor trade is so crucial. Because of the trade, the Redskins got one year of a 34 year old player, but they also lost their second round pick. Instead of having a 22 or 23 year old in the additions, you instead get a 28 year old street free agent filling that roster spot. The Jason Taylor trade not only made the team older in the immediate, but it also made the Redskins 5 years older at a his roster spot, even after he was gone.Getting younger is not easy.