Ms. Jenkins Article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13492-2004Feb27.html?nav=headlines

"The Patriots make plenty of free agent moves, but they are rarely huge deals because they don't want a small percentage of players to absorb the majority of salary cap space. They made a rare exception last offseason when they signed free agents Rosevelt Colvin, Rodney Harrison and Tyrone Poole to shore up their defense."

Yeah its a shame they did that, They didnt get anything out of it, no superbowls or anything, right?

"It's hard to see how trading Bailey will help the Redskins strengthen their roster or lend it any continuity. He's the kind of player who forces other teams to run away from him."

HES THE KIND OF PLAYER WHO DOSENT WANT TO BE ON THE TEAM. I really dont understand how we get this fact, and these "Proffesionals" dont.

Go write about soccer, sally. Everyone else, reaction?

Leave the soccer alone!

I didn't read the article (I'm too lazy and it's too nice outside to stay here long) but she seems to not understand that Bailey won't play at his potential for a team he doesn't want to. Portis will come in fresh and wanting to prove he's not just a back of Denver's system. Sally doesn't seem to understand that atheletes aren't just robots that play a game. You have to look deeper and see that if the athelete is happy, you'll get more production.

Here she goes again...

:rolleyes:

Excuse me, but what Sally Jenkins wrote was that the Redskins' "strategy" in the offseason in the last five years has been to dump their players and go get expensive new ones. (Not much wrong with that thesis.)

Then she said that in contrast the Pats sign much less flashy free agents, keep roleplayers on the team and maintain more stability than the Redskins. (Can't find much wrong there.)

Then she observes that the Pats have won two Super Bowls in the last 3 years while the best record that the "wheelin-dealin' Redskins" have ever managed is 8-8. (Shouldn't try to argue with that one.)

She also says that the Redskins late round drafts have been miserable and asks someone to name a starter with significant impact in the later rounds. Darnarian McCants was the best she could come up with. (Are there significantly better ones she missed?)

She says the Skins need nine new starters next year if they hope to be any good. That's pretty close to what I think the right number is; maybe it's only eight but maybe it is a full eleven.

Now comes her take on the Bailey/Portis trade. She thinks giving up a top cornerback is not a good idea. OK, finally something you can argue with her about.

Here is the acid test. When the Skins go out to play the free agent game starting next week, how much will they pay to get a replacement for Bailey - or will they go with what is on the roster now? If they can find "comparable performance" from Bailey's replacement next year at a much lower salary figure, then they made a great deal. If not, then they made a bad deal.

Everything Sally Jenkins has said about the recent history of the Redskins is dead on. Some folks here don't agree with her on the Bailey/Portis deal. Remember what Mark Twain said. The difference between a cynic and a realist is whether or not you agree with him. You don't agree with Sally Jenkins, so you call her a cynic and say "here we go again." But what if she's right?

For those who say that Bailey does not want to play here and so he won't be any good, read the other article in today's Post about the salary negotitions. After he turned down the Redskins first offer because his signing bonus was "tiered" (not all at one time), Danny Boy presented a new offer that was close to the same total money but with a lower signing bonus. If your boss did this to you in your salary review, might you want to go looking for another employer?

Curmudgeon, my issues with Ms. Jenkins have more to do with the tone of her criticism and her history of Snyder-bashing.
Like every fan here, I'd love nothing more than to have a winning team full of likable superstars. However, when that doesn't happen, I understand that there will need to be talent upgrades in specifically deficient areas. I also understand that when a new coaching staff comes in with a dramatically different strategy, different players will likely come in as well.
As for Bailey, I'm beginning to think our offers were never going to be good enough. To my (admittedly limited) knowledge, Bailey and his agent never responded to the Redskins with a counter offer, they just declined the offers as presented. To me, that means there wasn't much desire to stay in Washington - if they responded with a counter, there's always the possibility that it would be accepted. It pains me that he doesn't want to be a Redskin, but since he has apparently decided he doesn't, I'm not going to blame the owner who offered him 55 million dollars to stay.
I'm frequently put in the position of defending Snyder, and though I'm not a Kool-Aid drinker, I don't mind. I honestly thought Spurrier was a great choice, and I'm sorry it didn't work out. I'm thrilled that Joe Gibbs is willing to run the team, and he doesn't seem to mind working with "Daniel". I believe he is aggressively seeking the most talented players for this team, and he has learned that young talent is crucial to long-term success.
Ms. Jenkins doesn't differentiate from the young man who bought the team and the Snyder of today. She longs for the glory days of Cooke and Beathard and RFK and Super Bowl Championships. We aren't going to have the first three, so why not get on board for the fourth?

While I was annoyed by her tone somewhat, it was a reasonable report. As lots of us have noted, we always "win" the offseason and stink up the regular season. And who HAVE we gotten in the later rounds? This is a legit question, especially in the salary cap era. Diamonds in the rough are worth even more today then ever before.

All that being said, I think she missed the basic change of this off season, and what it means to everything else. Gibbs is back, and he has put together a top-notch coaching staff.

One, this will really help maximize whatever talent we have on our roster: maybe we already have some late-round gems that haven't been tried and some underachievers just waiting for a fire to be lit under their assess.

Two: the real reason that NE is great is their coach. He has a system, he instills discipline, and he leads by example of hard work, discipline, and class. Guess what: so does Gibbs .

Three, as she notes, but plays down, not all the FA stuff has been a disaster (Coles, Thomas, Hall, Morton...): with Gibbs, et. al., doing the selecting, I would bet we'll do even better than last year.

So, she's not wrong about the history, but she didn't catch the real change here: There's a new (old) sherriff in town, Mr. Joe Gibbs. I believe this is all the difference in the world.

While I was annoyed by her tone somewhat, it was a reasonable report. As lots of us have noted, we always "win" the offseason and stink up the regular season. And who HAVE we gotten in the later rounds? This is a legit question, especially in the salary cap era. Diamonds in the rough are worth even more today then ever before.

All that being said, I think she missed the basic change of this off season, and what it means to everything else. Gibbs is back, and he has put together a top-notch coaching staff.

One, this will really help maximize whatever talent we have on our roster: maybe we already have some late-round gems that haven't been tried and some underachievers just waiting for a fire to be lit under their assess.

Two: the real reason that NE is great is their coach. He has a system, he instills discipline, and he leads by example of hard work, discipline, and class. Guess what: so does Gibbs .

Three, as she notes, but plays down, not all the FA stuff has been a disaster (Coles, Thomas, Hall, Morton...): with Gibbs, et. al., doing the selecting, I would bet we'll do even better than last year.

So, she's not wrong about the history, but she didn't catch the real change here: There's a new (old) sherriff in town, Mr. Joe Gibbs. I believe this is all the difference in the world.
Excellent, excellent points, Sleepy. You hit the nail right on the head.

I'll admit, when I first noticed how aggressively the Redskins have been behaving this offseason, it made me more than a little nervous for the future. But then I remembered the great news that led us into this exciting, frenetically-paced offseason, and I suddenly felt all warm and fuzzy: Joe Gibbs, Gregg Williams, Joe Bugel and Greg Blache are running the show now. The formidable coaching staff that Gibbs has assembled is the foundation of this team (much as Belichick and his staff are the driving force in New England), and should be the basis for any evaluation of the Redskins' offseason.

The fact that Jenkins practically ignored the tremendous impact this coaching staff will have on the roster, really is indicative of her anti-Snyder agenda. The fact that this team was lead by one of the most inexperienced coaching staffs in the league is the primary reason behind their mediocrity the past two seasons. Prior to that, yes, you can put much of the blame on Snyder for his irresponsible spending habits and the manner in which he handled his coaches. But the Snyder-bashing has to be put on hold for now. He brought Joe Gibbs back to DC, and he has handed Gibbs the keys to the kingdom-- giving him the freedom to exceed the coaching staff budget, and giving him final say in roster moves. Jenkins can feel free to blame the old Snyder front office for the problems of the past, but if she wants to condemn the future, she will do so at Joe Gibbs' expense-- not Snyder's.

In the past 3 drafts we've gotten:

3rd rounder G Derrick Dockery (looks like he's gonna be quite good)
3rd rounder CB Rashad Bauman (looks like a very solid nickel back)
5th rounder TE Robert Royal (if he could stay healthy he'd be decent)
7th rounder FB Rock Cartwright (I love this guy, and not just b/c he's Rock)
5th rounder Darnerien McCants (pretty good #3 wideout)

In the 3 drafts previous to Casserly's departure we got:
4th rounder Shawn Barber (excellent outside linebacker)
7th rounder David Terrell (good on special teams)

I don't think we had any more luck with Casserly doing the drafting than Vinny and Danny in rounds 3-7 and Vinny and Danny have done a MUCH better job in drafting in the first 2 rounds than Casserly EVER did (see Desmond Howard and Heath Shuler vs. Patrick Ramsey and LaVar Arrington).

That said, she's dead on in her analysis of how our team is unstable, gets too many stars without much blue-collar depth (like the Pats), and that we've been a horribly managed franchise over the past 4-5 years.

However, the Pats are beginning to face cap woes and many of their players are quite old (i.e. both lines and the LBs) so I'll wait to see how the Pats will look in 2 years.

She's half right and half wrong.