Fans are understandably nervous about the possibility of a lockout in 2011, but in the mean-time, it’s looking like 2010 will go uncapped. The rumors of what the Redskins would do in an uncapped year began the moment someone realized this was an actual possibility.

“Look out for Dan Snyder,” they laughed, “an uncapped year and an owner that sees money as no object? It’ll be like Y2K all over again!” I’m paraphrasing of course, but with every release of a high-priced free agent, the Redskins’ name gets mentioned as a possible landing point complete with golden parachute.

Time to face facts fellas; the Dan Snyder of ’99, ’00, and ’01 is long since gone. He’s not the “wide-eyed know it all” he once was. A decade of losing and marginal seasons will do that to ya. I put forth that Snyder has let his coaches make the player recommendations dating all the way back to the Spurrier era. Certainly were a lot of former Gators on the team back then.

We have not seen a coach since Turner that has seemed unhappy with the personnel moves, and in most cases, we’ve seen it reported that Snyder, while party to the discussions, has let his coaching staff have their say. Jason Taylor was a move that involved Zorn, Blache, Cerrato and Snyder. They each agreed it was the move that needed to be made; even the Washington Post reported it that way (and they have never gone out of their way to make Snyder look like anything but an idiot).

Just prior to Michael Vick’s release from prison, the Washington Post reported that Snyder asked if the team should go after him, and it was reported that Cerrato and Zorn both agreed that Vick was not a good fit for the team. Vick was eventually picked up by Philadelphia.

Many credited Cerrato as nothing more than a puppet for Dan Snyder; a straw-man to take all the blame. Even with Cerrato’s “resignation” many felt it was nothing more than a scapegoating orchestrated by Snyder to take the heat off of himself. That could be true, but then it doesn’t seem to fit very well with Snyder’s next two moves. Snyder could have promoted someone from in house to Cerrato’s position, and kept up the “straw-man” game as many speculated, but he didn’t. He picked up two of the most respected professionals in the league in Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan, and gave them control over all football decisions.

Snyder has done everything he can to show the fans that he has taken a back-seat approach. He can’t leave the picture all-together, it is his money after all, and no owner is completely out of the picture. The one thing Snyder has always done well is get the coaches what they want. If a coach says “we need this guy” Snyder will get him. Even Joe Gibbs, now two years removed from the team can’t say enough good things about Snyder. Gibbs was credited by Shanahan for convincing him to take the job.

So, the big question is, what are the Redskins going to do in the draft? It’s not every year you get a first round pick as high as fourth overall. Sure you can trade down and get more picks, but when you need to be that high, how many picks are you going to need to give up to get it?

Many of the same people, who think Campbell isn’t worth his role as the starting QB, think that drafting a QB is a waste of time. I say take a QB. You’ve got at least one more year with Campbell, get one and get him ready to go by next year. Then you can decide whether you want to stay with Campbell, or start your rookie. Dump Collins, and bring up Colt Brennan as the number two. Let’s face facts; this is not a Super Bowl year. Even if Campbell goes down, we aren’t riding the arm of Collins into the playoffs.

If you’re not going to go QB, than go HB. Portis has clearly lost a step, and it might be time for us to cultivate a new running back. As far as running backs go, Shanahan has always had a good eye for them.

For those of you howling about the offensive line at this point, we don’t need ten picks to get quality O-linemen. You can pick up perfectly good offensive linemen in the second and third, and even fourth rounds. They can also be found in free-agency. I may be wrong, but I’ve never seen a single offensive linemen credited with being the Super Bowl MVP. It’s usually a QB or a running back, and they were usually taken in the first round.

You just don’t see a team saying “we really won this game because of the outstanding play of our left guard.” I’m not saying that we don’t draft linemen, but they don’t all have to be this year, and they certainly don’t have to be as high as #4. I know the argument is to trade down and get two first-rounders, but again, what happens next year when you want a QB or a Running Back? How many picks are we going to need to trade to get as high as fourth?  Solid, MVP-type Running backs and Quarterbacks are much less likely to be found in free-agency. Drew Brees being the exception; not the rule.

Granted, a solid offensive line could do wonders for this team, but if we learned anything from last year, play-calling was as much to blame for the losses as the talent on the field. The team’s offensive production picked up markedly when the play-calling duties were handed over to Sherm Lewis. A team that couldn’t beat the 0-fer Lions carried the Super Bowl Champion Saints into overtime.

I’m not saying we are one or two players away. How many offensive changes have we seen now over the past ten years? The first year is always the hardest while the players all learn new lingo and plays. We are getting a new offense AND a new defense. This year is going to be tough for us fans as well as the team.  Personally, I think we’ll be lucky to get to 8-8.

I like the move to get Allen and Shanahan, and I’m excited for the future in the long term. I will hate seeing us go through yet another losing season, but I can at least temper it with the knowledge that we have people who know what they are doing, who have a combined three Super Bowl rings in the free-agency era, running things for this team.

Go ‘Skins!

You know what they say about opinions…
I have no idea what the next few weeks may hold… but I suspect that there is some fun afoot.

My plan?
Re-sign Campbell. Work on building an OL for the future. If a QB falls to us, fine. But, what the heck… nobody listens to me since my dog died.

“We are going to have a new style of defense, we are going to have a new style of offense,” general manager Bruce Allen said today on ESPN 980.

“It’s going to be Redskins football, and the pieces we can acquire this year will be the first steps to building that philosophy,” said the Redskins General Manager. More from Redskins Insider here

It sounds as though Allen plans to be active in FA, though the implications of that are very contingent upon whether there is a cap or not. According to some sources(including Ravens owner, Steve Biscotti), many teams will not be financially capable of out bidding for talent in a free market.

Beyond that, if there’s no cap, there is also the opportunity to clean up cap space for the future. There are two ways to do that. In the past, there were many older players with declining skills who stayed with a team because they could not afford the cap implications… With no cap, there are no longer implications for releasing such a player. The other option is to renegotiate the contract of players with a large cap number whom you’d want to keep. By front loading more of the money to be paid in this season, any future cap implications are mitigated. Obviously, any team that choses this route, is running some risks, in terms of player motivation to continue in the future, but, I’m sure that there are players that teams would be willing to take that risk on, to gain some future cap room.

Worried about the good old fashioned Snyder spending spree? Well, don’t. If there’s a cap, it won’t happen. If there’s no cap, it doesn’t matter. Spend the money… it’s not mine… as long as the team is set up for a multiple year run, I just don’t care. Spend it, baby!

Is that good or bad? I don’t know, but I remember, very well, the controversy stirred by George Allen when he came into town and started wheeling and dealing. I mean WHEELING AND DEALING. He showed up, sat down at the poker table, and immediately went all in. “The future is NOW! In his 7 years with the Redskins, Allen made an astonishing 81 trades. Many folks were not happy… for a while… All got over it, though. Darned near pulled it off… only Sonny’s achilles prevented it… (that’s my opinion, of course, but Don Shula agrees).

When George Allen wheeled and dealed, his currency was largely future draft picks. That left a long term sting once the ’skins had danced their dance. There was not much talent left… and no way to restock for several years. The Redskins all but disappeared from the NFL Draft for a while.

Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan appreciate the value of draft picks, so I don’t see a repeat of the ‘71 ’skins draft pick fire sales. If anything, they’ll be trying to collect more. Besides, there was no free agency in those days. Once a team locked up talent, the only way they left was trade, release, or retirement. There is talent availible on the market now… huge advantage to the team that has money in a no cap year.

Our draft needs may very well look quite different in April, from how they appear right now. I’m bracing for a late winter of multiple surprises…

HTTR

Enter Dan Snyder.

To quote Ken Harvey during a conversation we had about his trip to Haiti:

“With Diageo, one of the things they try to do is be a first responder to critical situations, and so from what I know they immediately wanted to get out there and one of the things they thought about was how to get down there. Mr. Snyder graciously lent them his plane for the time needed to do that. You know, I’m like everyone else that has to talk about the team and report different things, and you have certain views that, I guess you see certain things like this, him giving his plane for that reason, it puts more of a human face on it and you realize that at the end of the day, the game is a football game, it’s a business, but that’s real life, and that somebody cared enough to make a difference because anything done is something that can make a difference.”

As usual, there is a lot of buzz around the Redskins in the offseason. Not all fans are excited about the recent changes. Many don’t see how this is any different than any of the other “sure-fire” fixes the Redskins have done in previous years. Can you blame the fans for being more than a little skeptical?

I recently had someone (who shall remain anonymous) send me this which shows clearly the pulse of skepticism among the fans. What follows is a breakdown of what he sent, and my replies to his points.

Anonymous Fan:

—”And could we please not pretend that the Redskins have even a bare hint at having a good year next year? It’s going to be one of the worst, Shanahan has a worse record than the Redskins over the last 9 years”

My Reply:

Shanahan’s worst season came in 1999 when the Broncos went 6-10. This was the year that Elway retired. Snyder purchased the team in ‘99, and that year Norv Turner somehow managed a 10-6 record. Shanahan from ‘99-’08 went 91-69. The Redskins during the same time period went 76-84.

Shanahan went to the playoffs in four of those years, while the Redskins went three. Both won only one postseason game, but the Broncos went as far as the conference championship, (the game before the Super Bowl) while the Redskins were eliminated in the Divisional round.

In 14 years Shanahan only had 2 seasons where his team finished with a below .500 record (‘99 and ‘07)

In that same time frame the Redskins finished below .500 a total of 6 times.

During Shanahan’s tenure with the Broncos, his team finished with 10 wins or more 7 times. During that time frame, the Redskins have never had more than 10 wins, and have only had that amount twice (‘99 and ‘05)

I wouldn’t exactly say he’s done worse than the Redskins.

Anonymous Fan:

—”and if it weren’t for Elways’ help that 10th year would have been bad too.”

My Reply:

There is no doubt that John Elway made all the difference in ‘97 and ‘98. The man had been playing since 1983, and had been to several Super Bowls (‘86, ‘87 and ‘89) but it wasn’t until ‘97 and ‘98 that he finally won them…under Mike Shanahan.

Sure the Broncos dived the year following Elway’s retirement, finishing 6-10, but they rebounded a year later to finish 11-5. The team cooled in ‘01 and ‘02 finishing 8-8 and 9-7 respectively (the Redskins went 8-8 under Schottenhiemer and 7-9 under Spurrier those years) but got hot again from ‘03 to ‘05 finishing 10-6, 10-6, and 13-3.

Anonymous Fan:

—”It feels like we got Gibbs back, sure he was fantastic at one time but that time has passed,”

My Reply:

Gibbs had been out of the game for 11 years when he came back. The year after Gibbs retired, the League instituted Free-Agency (something Gibbs had never had to deal with during his tenure previously). Many of the rules had changed, most notably, the play-clock had been reduced from 45 seconds to 40 seconds. This interfered with Gibbs’ love for pre-snap motion.

Shanahan has been unemployed 1 season. He’s won two Super Bowls and has made the playoffs 7 times in the Free Agency era. He was fired by the Broncos after going 9-7, 7-9 and 8-8 in his last three seasons. During that same period, the Redskins went 5-11, 9-7 and 8-8.

Anonymous Fan:

—”of course I could be wrong, I hope I am, since he does have GM powers along with the head coaching spot maybe he gets all the tools he needs, who knows. But I doubt it”

My Reply:

It’s too early to tell, but maybe now you see why there is so much excitement. Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan have been given a blank check for whatever they want or need.

If 2010 goes uncapped as it looks like it’s going to, this could be a good thing for the Redskins. Not because they can go nuts and sign everyone to ridiculous contracts, but because some of the players who would have been too expensive to “get rid of” now will have no impact on a salary cap.

The Redskins can unload anyone they see as “dead weight” and they still have a majority of their draft picks.

We’ll have to wait and see.

End of Message

Now my interpretation of the impact of an “uncapped year” may be wrong, I haven’t seen or heard anything to that effect, but it stands to logic that if there is no cap, then there are no “negative salary cap implications” to releasing a player for 2010.

As I said in my message, we’ll have to wait and see. I don’t think anyone is realistically expecting this year to be much; typical of a new coach on a rebuild. It’s the future that people are most excited about and currently, the future looks a lot brighter now than it did in November.

Go ‘Skins!

As is typically the case, the Redskins are off to a fast start in the offseason championships. Heck, the regular season wasn’t even officially over, and we already had a 4 game lead over the competition after the hiring of Bruce Allen. Immediately following the last regular season game, Jim Zorn was fired, and, to no one’s surprise, the proven Mike Shanahan was hired. Considering how we were all taken completely off guard by the hiring of Bruce Allen, the hiring of Shanahan was among the worst kept secrets in history.

This has always been the Danny’ time to shine… but it’s beginning to look… a bit at a time… as though he has permitted his wings to be clipped… at least a bit. Allen began the process of putting distance between the owner and football operations almost immediately after finding himself an office, when he made the players path to the owner’s office go through his. He put an end to the boss’s weekly lunches and film review with Zorn… and, then, ensured that Snyder sit with the audience instead of at the podium, for the Shanahan press conference.

Mostly symbolic, yes… but also encouraging. We can’t be faulted for watching these events with a healthy dose of cynicism, but, I have to say, with each event, a little more optimism that this franchise is in the hands of football professionals sneaks in. That causes some trepidation… I don’t like disappointments, and I just don’t have confidence that Snyder won’t somehow screw this up.

So, now we enter the winter doldurms… sure, there will be some moments, as Shanahan and Allen round out the front office and coaching staff. I suspect that a strong personnel type will be brought in (there are rumors of Doug Williams being in the mix), to bolster talent acquisition… But, for the most part, this will be the most tedious part of the year, until FA starts.

There is certainly some expectation that there will be some effort to begin the process of rebuilding the OL though one or two free agent acquisitions, followed by getting some talent through the draft. We are certainly positioned to make some noise in the draft, with the 4th pick… I can’t imagine it being used for anything other than an OT… or attempting to trade down for more picks.

But… after this disaster of a season, nothing that the Redskins do can possibly shock me.

One thing is sure. There will continue to be wild speculation about the ultimate outcome for two major Redskins players… What of Clinton Portis and Jason Campbell? The two engaged in a bit of a duel in the press last week… not pretty. Then, toss in Stump Mitchell’s comments about Portis’ work ethic… well…

Will both… or either… be with the team next year? Portis’ cap number is big… really big… of course, if an uncapped year, would it be a good time to move him out? If you don’t re-sign Campbell, where do you find a starting quarterback? And, what of Carlos Rogers and the “double-move sucker of the year”, Laron Landry?

Finally, good luck to Russ Grimm, who has entered the final 15 candidates for the Hall of Fame. This is a pretty deep group, with a lot of flash. There is not yet a Hog in the Hall. It’s about time that members of one of the most dominant offensive lines in the history of the game start to get some love. Russ Grimm is a great place to start.

Hail.

Freedom of the Press

where on earth were the Washington press for this massive executive flip-flop? There wasn’t one shred of a hint that this was going to happen? I’ve stated many times in these blogs that one of my biggest bones of contention with the Washington media is that they seem to spend so much time trying to sensationalize worthless stories, that they miss the juicy stuff going on right in front of them. How is this not a perfect example of that? 

Bruce Allen’s brother, George Allen, summed it well, “In this city of Washington, where leaking is the way of conducting business, I was telling my wife, Susan, I could not believe that nothing has leaked on this. You all are writing about Clinton Portis’ concussions, Albert Haynesworth and all these other things. But this somehow stayed under wraps.”

And yet, surely there had to be some indications for anyone paying attention.

Jason Reid reported in WP’s Redskin Insider today that the Redskins had complied with the Rooney Rule, and had the following quote on doing so from John Wooten, the chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance: “We’re very satisfied. They fulfilled it over 10 days ago.”

The Redskins fulfilled the Rooney rule 10 DAYS AGO and there wasn’t a single shred of evidence for the press corps to turn up? I find that difficult to believe. No evidence to be found? Not likely. Not paying close enough attention? More likely.

You have to hand it to owner Dan Snyder, he’s created a propaganda wheel that is extremely effective.

As fans, we’re sitting ducks.

And I guess if I am going to be fair to the press, their “access” is often laughable; because of that, I’m trying not to be judgmental, but it seems incompetent that nobody cracked this story at all.
 

Cerrato

Rumors swirled today  that Cerrato will be staying on as a ‘consultant.’ 

Are you kidding me?

 PFT speculated that it was hush money -  bought silence on any former transgressions that may have happened within the organization

Who really knows why Cerrato would be kept on – but it would just feel like an itch that you couldn’t scratch.

Vinny denied the the rumor today though, so hopefully it was just bad reporting.

That’s the problem with a propaganda wheel – it just becomes impossible to know what you should and shouldn’t  believe.

While many have, and will continue to be, quick to point to Cerrato’s dismal track record and dismiss him as a failure, there are many that believe that he did his job well. His job was to take the brunt of the blame for an owner that loves to play fantasy football with his billion dollar toy, and seldom does well at it.

Others seem to believe that Cerrato is the one to blame and that Daniel snyder has just been naively buying into Vinny’s grand plan. Does that really sound plausible to Joe Q. Redskin Fan?
Cerrato is out (or is he?), so it doesn’t matter what the dynamic was – all that matters moving forward, is what the new dynamic is going to be.

Enter Bruce Allen.

There are one or two generations of Redskin fans that the name Allen might not mean much to, but there are also a couple of generations that still equate the name with tough, gritty Redskin football. Bruce Allen is the son of the late George Allen (1918-1990) – the man who stood on the Redskin sidelines as coach from 1971 – 1977.

Bruce was introduced yesterday at a press conference as the new executive vice president and general manager for the Redskins. He comes to the Redskins with a very storied 15-year NFL history, having served with both the Oakland Raiders (1995 to 2003), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2003-2009).

The real key to Allen’s success, as far as most Redskin fans are concerned, is the relationship that he will have with team owner Daniel Snyder. Obviously having worked with Al Davis in Oakland, Allen is no stranger to, uh, hands-on owners. Allen and Davis got along together well, but it’s believed that Allen’s role was largely business oriented. Is that what his role will be in Washington?

If so, will that in any way change the ways of a, uh, hands-on owner?

Aren’t Redskin fans clamoring for a scenario that takes the football decision making out of the hands of Snyder?

Does this accomplish that?

Or does it open the door for the Redskins to bring in someone like Mike Shanahan and give him personnel decision status? If so, won’t that relationship with Snyder be equally or even more important, to what is perceived by fans as the successful formula required?

I’m not trying to be a killjoy and we as Redskin fans are all pretty excited that Vinny isn’t the guy anymore; but remember that sleight-of-hand always requires a distraction. When you’re busy watching the right hand, the left hand is often hard at work creating an illusion.

I firmly believe that until the Redskin organization is having football decisions made by football people that are capable of making them, they are destined to keep repeating the same cycles of failure.

The hiring of Allen CAN be the start of fixing this franchise; but it isn’t really any more than half of an equation right now. What shakes out in the next few months will be very interesting to watch, as there are still a lot of questions to be answered.

It’s one thing to challenge the way Dan Snyder runs this organization, but aren’t you’re taking things to a whole different level when you start making it that personal?

Isn’t there an obligation to provide some sort of answer, or at least some type of rationalization, if you’re going to make that kind of defamatory remark?

Is taking a ‘I might know something that you don’t, but can’t tell you’ kind of stance really good enough given the weight of the comments?

At no time did Riggins provide any type of ‘reason’ for why Dan Snyder had a ‘black heart.’ He talked about things that might make him a bad football owner, and in Riggins’ opinion, a bad business person, but at no time did he offer anything that would qualify rationalizing such an assassination of character.

I’m on record as saying that I think this franchise needs wholesale changes from top to bottom, but I don’t profess to know Dan Snyder well enough to judge his character.

I see no evidence that John Riggins has any such knowledge either.

I’m not saying that he doesn’t, but no evidence has been provided.

What I am saying is that, in my opinion, leaving so much to speculation wreaks of sensationalism.

Big John always did like to cast the spotlight firmly on to himself, is this anything more than an extension of that?

Or is his crossing a line, a pre-meditated strategic maneuver? A bold stroke to try and draw the General out on to the battlefield?

For me, the thing about sensationalism, is that if I see it as such… it tends to taint my judgment, and desensitize me to anything further that person says. So I hope that Riggins will keep that in mind, because I know I’m not alone in feeling that way.

Riggins: “That is my take on it….I speak for the fans because these are the people that paid my salary for all these years. They are the ones that need to know that this is a bad guy.”

If he truly wants to act as an agent of the people, then he should think about the weight of that responsibility. This particular fan that he is speaking for, happens to think that open-ended innuendo, accusations, and attacks on character, only serve to exacerbate the problem. There are plenty of real issues to address, and letting personal animosities cloud the monumental task at hand, will serve only as an unneeded distraction.

So John are you speaking for the people, or are you speaking for yourself? If John truly wants the fuel behind a Redskin Revolution to be Diesel, then in my opinion, you have to learn the difference between speaking for Redskin fans because you share some common views, and speaking for Redskin fans because you have facilitated finding out what they really think.

No… it has nothing to do with the growing realization that this season needs to be spoken of in the past tense.

While painful, it is not about the likely loss of one of the best LT’s to the potential of a spinal injury.

Chris Cooley will be fine… so, no, not that either.

It’s the growing realization that Snyder REALLY doesn’t get it. That his minions have him so isolated that, not only is he not functioning as a competent owner, but he doesn’t even know that he has completely lost the fan base. Snyder is obviously willing to spend the money. He obviously wants to win so badly he can taste it. Yet, he remains prisoner to the simple fact that he is not a football man. He must depend upon “football men” for their insights and judgements. Sooo… what about his “football man”?

Snyder built his millions through his marketing skill. Who the hell thought that it would be a good idea to play petty games with the faithful’s ability to express themselves at FedEx? Is that the mark of a marketing mind, Mr Snyder? Do marketing geniuses truly make their millions by infuriating their customer base? Who knew???

Who is advising you that further insulting the fans with clearly suspect lines about concern for fan safety is an effective means of explaning your operation’s cynical effort to suppress fan expressions of anger? Ummm… did it work, Mr Snyder?

So, now you have the flames of fan dissent stoked up. People are angry, Mr Snyder, and it isn’t getting any better.

But it’s nothing compared to what will happen if there are no major changes in the front office at Redskins Park. There is a palpable sense that Dan Snyder doesn’t view Vinnie as part of the problem. We can see it in the way Cerrato continues to peddle his ludicrous “we gave Zorn a team that had playoff portential” pap. He remains confident… sure of himself… unconcerned. There are two possiblities, here… either he completely delusional, or he is feeling very secure, because you have given him reason.

Not good. Look, even if it were true that Cerrato is blameless (funny, huh?), he is still “fruit of the poisoned tree”… damaged goods.

If he doesn’t go, if there aren’t substantial changes, if Snyder doesn’t give us reason for real hope… not the superficial promises and flash in the pan expenditures of the past… REAL hope… there will be a fan revolt. Here’s the thing, Mr. Snyder… you may own the team…

But it belongs to us… are you worthy of being the caretaker of our team? Not looking good. We are officially a source of jokes. The sad fans of our NFC East rivals smile at our good fortune, and weep at the damage done to the rivalrys of old. The rich history of the Redskins cannot possibly absorb the insults being visited as a result of the buffoonery of this season’s collapse. No longer does the football world look at the Redskins, and feel respect. More often than not, they feel pity. They feel sadness. Some even feel contempt. They see a hole in the great legacy. You don’t have to look or listen hard to find it. It’s there. It’s all over.

We are fast approaching the point where the management is painting the team into a corner. This WILL have an effect on the team’s ability to recruit potential coaches… While Gruden sounded like he was auditioning for the job during the Monday night broadcast of the debacle against the Eagles, does anyone really believe that he would be happy working for another hands on owner? He is quite candid, and very emotional… Snyder would know exactly what he thinks… all the time. I don’t see Mr Snyder being happy with that, either. Mike Holmgren was astonishingly candid regarding his opinion of how Zorn has been treated by the team… and it does not bode well for his candidacy… Cower seemed to find suggestions that his name should be in the running to be laughable. I don’t see this situation getting any better anytime soon. Honestly… does the owner? What is he going to do about it? I haven’t seen a hint of damage control. It may not be possible to convince a solid GM or Coach to come here. Respect, once lost, is very difficult to regain.

There is a hole in my heart, Mr Snyder. Thousands of us, Redskins fans, share that pain. You broke it. You fix it. You, and your friends, have just really screwed this up. Stop sending out your messengers, seeking to blame the Post, reporters with an agenda, fans with an agenda… bloggers with an agenda… Dude… the Post’s agenda has been there for most of a decade. We saw that. You got the benefit of the doubt… for years. You didn’t loose most of the rest of us until this year. No one to blame but you.

Clean it up, and make it work again. Your ownership legacy is not beyond salvaging… yet. You must clean house on the football side. Find a competent General Manager (COUGH! Chris Polian COUGH!), with a solid NFL pedigree. Give that person the reins. Let them rebuild the football operation. Bring back the respect. It will hurt. There will be changes that some of us don’t want to see. There will be changes that some of us will celebrate. It must be that way. It’s just how it is.

I just don’t have any confidence that Mr Snyder will figure this out. None. He is, whether he knows it or not, poisoning the well.

If you haven’t already, check out Bang’s… Flawed Execution.
I think my favorite two parts were:

Sherm Lewis: “Say, I’m going to be running an Arts and Crafts workshop in the day-room later if anyone’s interested… it should be fun.”

And the exchange:

Vinny: “Can I get you a high priced free agent to make you feel better?”

Senor Snyder: “That might be nice. Maybe we could trade a draft pick or something…”

Good stuff.

They say that laughter can be very cathartic.