Greg Blache stands up to Cerrato and Synder...

Maybe this barely under the cap thing is a good thing. Over the past few years its forced Cerato and Synder to go after quality Free-Agents at modest prices (Fletcher and Smoot) as well as forcing us to focus on the draft. Also the idea of bringing in Drayton Florance at CB and DJ Hacket at WR seems like a pretty solid FA class to me.

It's not like we're the only team in the league that makes poor FA moves. Sometimes you bring a guy in and for some reason or another it just doesn't work out. My only gripe( and it would be a small one) is we have given up too much for players in the past.

However, after last year's offseason, I have full confidence Vinny and Snyder will get the job done again.

SmootSmack:

OK, I understand that you don't want to get your self tarnished as a "Danny Boy Hater" on the internet. It could come back to haunt you in your career. If anyone wants to do this, they need to do this with cover. Nevertheless...

"Someone" in the Skins organization thought Patrick Ramsey was the guy to pick as the first pick the Skins had in the draft that one particular and fateful year. Let me be clear about this: Patrick Ramesy was a better pick than Jon Benet Ramsey - - but not by a whole lot. Patrick Ramsey is a great back-up QB if all you need is a guy to start 2 or 3 games while your real QB recovers from a minor injury. In addition...

"Someone" in the Skins organization also thought that Jeff George was a good idea as a QB here. When Norv Turner refused to play that sorry sack-o-sh*t, Norv lost his job. The interim coach, Terry Robiske, "made his own decision" to start George at QB and the Skins didn't exactly run the table for the rest of that season.

The next year, Marty Schottenheimer could not abide by Jeff George's refusal to run the offense that the team had set for itself, so Marty cut George in mid-season. Since that day, Jeff George has not taken a snap in the NFL.

So, who was the "Someone" responsible for inflicting Jeff George on the Redskins and Redskins' fans?

Danny Boy
Vinnie
My Cousin Vinnie
My Three Sons
Three Dog Night
Snoop Dog
Underdog
Doggy Dooty
Augie Doggie
Doggie Daddy

You make the call...

SmootSmack:

OK, I understand that you don't want to get your self tarnished as a "Danny Boy Hater" on the internet. It could come back to haunt you in your career. If anyone wants to do this, they need to do this with cover. Nevertheless...

"Someone" in the Skins organization thought Patrick Ramsey was the guy to pick as the first pick the Skins had in the draft that one particular and fateful year. Let me be clear about this: Patrick Ramesy was a better pick than Jon Benet Ramsey - - but not by a whole lot. Patrick Ramsey is a great back-up QB if all you need is a guy to start 2 or 3 games while your real QB recovers from a minor injury. In addition...

"Someone" in the Skins organization also thought that Jeff George was a good idea as a QB here. When Norv Turner refused to play that sorry sack-o-sh*t, Norv lost his job. The interim coach, Terry Robiske, "made his own decision" to start George at QB and the Skins didn't exactly run the table for the rest of that season.

The next year, Marty Schottenheimer could not abide by Jeff George's refusal to run the offense that the team had set for itself, so Marty cut George in mid-season. Since that day, Jeff George has not taken a snap in the NFL.

So, who was the "Someone" responsible for inflicting Jeff George on the Redskins and Redskins' fans?

Danny Boy
Vinnie
My Cousin Vinnie
My Three Sons
Three Dog Night
Snoop Dog
Underdog
Doggy Dooty
Augie Doggie
Doggie Daddy

You make the call...

Mudgy Boy, I know you don't want to tarnish your reputation as a bitter, cranky, depressed, pessimistic complainer.

I never said Snyder was flawless. Of course, he's made mistakes. Most were years ago. But that's neither here nor there. All I said was that the notion that he never listens to the coaches is an extremely idiotic thing to say. I would think that you're smart enough to realize that, but if you want to just limit your argument to Ramsey and George then I have greatly overestimated you and regret having led a campaign here to have your sports blog named the best sports blog on the Web.

(apologies to everyone else, Mudge Pack has a way of bringing out the worst in me. His half-empty, break glass, use the shards to slice your wrists mentality tends to get to me)

....it is when you get rid of the coach that was standing up to the owner.

Do you mean Greg Blache? Because he's still with the team.

SmootSmack:

I am not limited to Jeff George and Patrick Ramsey. Recall that "Someone" around here thought Bruce Smith needed to be in DC and to be a starter on the DL even when the coaches recognized that Smith was a hollow shell of his former self. That wasn't me - - or you - - or a dog named blue...

By the way, the QB who had to be kicked to the curb to make room for Jeff George was Brad Johnson. Johnson went on to bee a "Super Bowl QB" soon after the Skins got rid of him. Unless I was in a coma, Jeff George never made it to a Super Bowl without buying a ticket. And neither did Patrick Ramsey... Or did I miss something?

I do need to thank you for helping me win the honor of best sports blog for 2007. My time in Las Vegas with people seeking content providers for a variety of sports outlets was very enjoyable and potentially profitable - - maybe sufficiently profitable that I can fold the small management consulting company that my wife and I run.

However, I think the real reason I won that "contest" is because a lot of people recognized that I point out the illogic and the inconsistancies and the sillinesses that happen all over the sporting landscape - - not just with the Redskins or the NFL. Here on the Warpath, I only get to point out the foibles of the Redskins' FO and coaches and players when they stink in spades. It happens here; but trust me, it happens elsehwere too. In fact, I probably don't rag on the Redskins more than 1% of the time in my Internet rants because there is so much other material to deal with that is so much more outrageous.

Some folks here - - not you - - have suggested that I hate Danny Boy and/or Vinnie Boombatz. That is simply not the case. In order to hate someone, that person has to be a monstrous individual [Adolf Hitler, John Wayne Gacy. Jeffrey Dahmer] or one has to know the person directly to recognize the hateful aspects of his/her being.

For the record, I have never met Vinnie Cerrato unless I was in such a state of insobriety that I didn't realize to whom I was introduced. I have been in the same room with Daniel Snyder once - as part of a throng of people - and I shook his hand for all of three seconds. He does not know me - and surely does not want to know me; I do not know him - and have no desire to be one of the folks who takes pride in orbiting around his presence. I tell you this to demonstrate that I do not know either of these men, so I cannot hate either of them.

I don't think you get the point still, but that's fine. You are how you are. Good luck to you.

SC -

Jeff George, Bruce Smith?? Yes. Bad moves both BUT how many years ago? Long enough for Smith to retire and become eligible for the HOF (Okay, so that will still be another year). Long enough for the team that won the SB with Johnson to cut him, another team to cut him and a third to use him as a back-up.

As for Ramsey, at the time it was made, tell me why was it such a bad move. He was the third rated QB in the draft, we had no one in place as a long term answer, AND we traded down twice and picked up two additional draft picks before picking him.

I've done the analysis in other threads: Picking QB's is historically a low percentage deal (hell the two picked ahead of Ramsey are hanging onto there football life by a thread).

What about recent picks: Sean Taylor, Landry, Rogers, McCintosh, Cooley, Campbell Golston, Blades, Montgomery?

What about recent FA pick-ups: Springs, Rabach, Smoot?

Seriously - Tell me a front office outside of Boston that hits everytime with every pick.

i think bruce smith may have been danny's dad's influence, not that that's any better. ramsey was a great pick, if we had taken the AO trade from chicago, which we didn't :/.

and spurrier did pretty much says he didn't want to spend the time learning personnel, or studying defenses, or practicing, or doing anything else that might hurt his golf game.

either way, there have been a lot of bad decisions, but last year was pretty good, and hopefully we have more of those and less lloyd/arch type deals. I think maybe the lessons are finally learned, but we'll have to wait and see.

my bet is hackett is the WR because now there's a new value in our FO on familiarity, as seen with GW's defensive picks (fletcher, prioleau, jerry gray, danny smith, etc).

Seriously - Tell me a front office outside of Boston that hits everytime with every pick.

philly, except they don't draft for special teams (at all), so they usually aren't very good there. line depth is usually pretty deep though.