Core of the Redskins problem: Greed

I'm posting this as someone who has been a fan of the Redskins since I was born. Literally - there was a Redskins game actually going on when my Mother was in labor and the nurse had to actually get my Father and the Doctor out of the waiting room to attend to her.

I digress, I've been a fan through the glory days and on through the Snyder era and I think at the core of this problem is simply a general miscalibration on Dan Snyder's part in failing to fully recognize how his huge contracts to outside players has a negative impact on the internal organization.

Take Sean Taylor for example. How do you think he must feel when they go out and bring in Archuleta for a larger contract? Where is his incentive to go out and kick ass when he is locked into a multi-year deal that is paying him less than the white (I hate to bring in the race card but I am going to) inferior safety next to him.

To put this in context, the Skins publicly said they would not resign Smoot for more than Springs was making because they felt he wasn't the same caliber player. According to that logic, would they sign Archuleta for more than Sean Taylor makes because they feel he is a better talent? You see where I'm going with this one?

How about Lemar Marshall? We are talking about a guy making nothing in NFL terms, who probably has seen what has happened to other undrafted FA's such as Ryan Clark and Antonio Pierce, guys who have played their asses off and not been rewarded internally. Why would he want to sacrifice life and limb for a team that he knows isn't going to reward him because it is unsexy to sign an undrafted FA to a competitive contract.

In a traditional environment, a team will draft young players and then those young players will be rewarded internally. They will develop a great deal of respect for the organization because they know at the end of the day, it is them who is going to get the big contract and not some external. I know a lot of us played high school football. Imagine busting your ass from freshman through junior year only to be told your senior year that they were going to bring in a transfer to take your job. Now imagine if that was the culture of your high school. Would you be as inclined to kill yourself for your team?

And this my friends, is what is at the core of the problem here: It is an egregious oversight on the part of management to really consider what is truly at stake. In their drive to try and buy their way through the NFL process, they have really hamstrung themselves in the long run.

Until Snyder steps back and lets a GM with a proven track record (like Grunfeld with the Wizards) fully take over the organization, we are going to continue to suffer like this I'm afraid...

So lets all collectively pray that come offseason, we find a way to renew faith in the draft, re-sign our own free agents, maybe fill one or two holes with solid but not ridiculous free agent signings, ante up for those internal players who were successful, cut Mark Brunell, and bring some pride back into this franchise.

Thats an awesome way to be born. DId we win the game?

Thats an awesome way to be born. DId we win the game?

that is pretty nuts....WELL, DID THEY!!!!?!?!?!?!

We're all fooling ourselves if we think that Gibbs doesn't have final (and probably first) say in all of these trades of draft picks for players. I'm on record repeatedly saying that the Philly / New England approach of stock piling and building thru the draft first, then filling holes via free agency is the only way to LONG-TERM success. It provides a team with quality depth for far less than signing free agents left and right. We make Snyder a convenient target, but I believe Gibbs has caught the "instant gratification" bug from Snyder when it comes to feeding our lust for big FA signings. I was hoping that Gibbs would bring a more mature approach by building a winner patiently. Look at Lovey Smith and the Bears, another prime example of a team that had the patience to take their knocks while drafting/developing young talent.

I don't think the fans have the patience for such a strategy. For so many fans the season was already over when we lost our first preseason game. Maybe it's because of the high standards Gibbs set his first time around (and even George Allen deserves some credit/blame for this) but I don't think the majority of the fan base is really going to accept "rebuilding years." Especially not when Snyder is making the team so financially lucrative. They'd wonder why isn't he going after big name free agents with all those deep pockets. I, for one, don't mind their strategy because it's not like the free agents they are getting are past their prime (with the probably exception of Arch)

Drift, I agree completely.
Portis, Betts and Rock were pissed when they brought Duckett in. We had good chemistry with our backs. I getting the feeling that Gibbs pretty much benched duckett just to keep our RB's happy.

This would have been a much better example. I think I distracted the discussion by mentioning Sean Taylor and the race card.

For the record, I do not believe that the Redskins are racist.

I believe that professional athletes do consider things like others' salaries and others' race though.

I know we all want answers but this thread is really digging for something that isn't there. I think it's really dangerous to start throwing around the race card and insinuating that players are upset with what other players are making. This sort of speculation is a little over the top in my opinion. Let's get back to some of the more likely issues we're struggling. Adjusting to a new offense, no offensive identity, injuries, etc.

I think it is a really touchy subject and I thought long and hard before I wrote and posted it to this thread.

To be honest, NFL players (just like any other professionals) are very competitive about their salaries. I also think that race is a huge issue in the NFL, as well as in the general landscape. Now, I firmly do not believe the signing of Archuleta had much to do with race, but do I believe that some players might view it that way? Yes.

Is Sean Taylor already upset about his contract? Yes.

Do many of the Redskins feel that their personnel strategy favors outside free agents? Yes.

When people feel like they aren't getting their due, do they have a habit of looking for reasons to be bitter? Yes!

That's all I'm saying.

We didn't have that much turnover this year. We have two new starters defensively. That shouldn't tear a defense apart.

Matty, I think it goes deeper than what is on paper. I think there is a culture of a team, just like there is a culture at work - and that culture seeps into everything that happens. It is not only about the two new defensive starters, but it is all about the starters we don't have - guys who have come from nothing and really busted their asses but when it comes time to get paid, the Redskins are looking at other players with greater marquee value.

I think it is the culture that is at stake here.

Turnover happens everywhere.

Look at the Patriots, they've let a few key veteran players go over the past few years and they've had some very sticky situations with some of these guys, just see Branch this year. Does it tear apart the team? No, it doesn't because the team has a philosophy and in the end the players have to respect the fact that the team sticks to their guns. They may not like it, but they have to respect it.

I'm tired of hearing how letting Ryan Clark go has somehow damaged this team's psyche behind repair, or even worse that the locker room is split over a 'race issue' with Archuleta. All of this is pure speculation on our part, and very irresponsible speculation at that.

Turnover happens everywhere.

Look at the Patriots, they've let a few key veteran players go over the past few years and they've had some very sticky situations with some of these guys, just see Branch this year. Does it tear apart the team? No, it doesn't because the team has a philosophy and in the end the players have to respect the fact that the team sticks to their guns. They may not like it, but they have to respect it.

I'm tired of hearing how letting Ryan Clark go has somehow damaged this team's psyche behind repair, or even worse that the locker room is split over a 'race issue' with Archuleta. All of this is pure speculation on our part, and very irresponsible speculation at that.


Great point......

We're all fooling ourselves if we think that Gibbs doesn't have final (and probably first) say in all of these trades of draft picks for players. I'm on record repeatedly saying that the Philly / New England approach of stock piling and building thru the draft first, then filling holes via free agency is the only way to LONG-TERM success. It provides a team with quality depth for far less than signing free agents left and right. We make Snyder a convenient target, but I believe Gibbs has caught the "instant gratification" bug from Snyder when it comes to feeding our lust for big FA signings. I was hoping that Gibbs would bring a more mature approach by building a winner patiently. Look at Lovey Smith and the Bears, another prime example of a team that had the patience to take their knocks while drafting/developing young talent.




This team talks about SB every year without realizing there's a process. One would think that a coach of JG experience and reputation would recognize this. I too firmly believe that JG has just a little of that GA fever in him preaching "The Future Is Now". I'm not convinced JG has the patience or tolerance to build a football team the conventional way espically when he's working for an owner who wants to win now. The only way we can build the kind of team we would like to field, we'll have to take some lumps which would mean some down time when the team might not be very successful. However that's part of the process, and you have to have coaches who are teachers, and can instruct young players how to play the game of professional football. Some of us can take a bunch of all-pros who know how to play the game and make us look like a very good coach, but can we take the young players and develop them and mold them into a cohesive unit capable of winning football games. How many would dare say we have these type coaches on this team at this time. I don't think so, that's why year after year we rely on free-agents or experienced players who do not require the same level of coaching and/or instruction. Free agency has done nothing for us but kept us caped out each year with no depth, and no future.