Somebody please try to convince me that the FO has a plan.

I am one frustrated Redskins fan. Here's what I see.

We've gone back to the same bad habits that have cost us draft picks and cap space and that I believe will surely doom us to continued mediocrity. The Jason Taylor fiasco, another of our customary panic moves, cost us dearly in draft picks. Albert Haynesworth, as great as he is, represents a whopping chunk of our cap space which seems to have precluded our making other FA moves.

Meanwhile, we have holes to fill - big holes. We need a RT, a SLB, a RDE, OL backups, a Kicker, a Punter, a PR, and maybe more. Right now, it looks like we might bring back Daniels and Washington. That's nice, but, at this point in their careers they're only stop-gap solutions.

Even with Haynesworth, this doesn't look to me like a team that is poised to make a playoff run in the tough NFC East. Sure, I wanted Haynesworth, but what do I know? I'm just a dumb fan who loves to watch great football players do their thing in B&G. I don't need to have a plan. But shouldn't the FO have one? If they do, I just can't see it.

If you can detect a plan in all this, clue me in. Also, what do you think the plan should be?

Don't get down just yet. It could be worse. We will address either DE, OT or SLB with our 1st pick in the draft. There will still be some players cut before training camp that we can pick up to hopefully help us in the other positions.

The AH signing helps us with the DE position as well. Whoever lines up next to him will have a huge advantage even if he isn't a stud. Heyer/Jansen are can handle the position (short term) if we go SLB or DE in the draft.

As for K, P & PR I think we could be better but I wouldn't worry just yet. ARE sucks so hopefully we will use either Moss or Hall to return punts.

Don't forget that our defense was pretty good last year without AH. Both Washington and JT had bad years and missed a lot of time. I also think by bringing back Dock we have intantly upgraded the OL.

We still have holes that need to be addressed but I am holding out hope!

They don't have a plan. They tack up pictures of free agents and draft picks and toss darts at them. They also get a lot of their info from playing Madden and simming through the franchise mode.

They don't have a plan. They tack up pictures of free agents and draft picks and toss darts at them. They also get a lot of their info from playing Madden and simming through the franchise mode.

What do you know? Listen, let me tell you how it works...they use a Ouija board

What do you know? Listen, let me tell you how it works...they use a Ouija board

...and a magic 8 ball.

Matty:

Be careful here. You might give away the fact that you have a secret camera located in the Skins' FO Conference Room. If they find it, they'll confiscate it. ;)

There is not much to say to defend the Jason Taylor decisions (both the trade and the release). As you say, it was a panic move prompted by not making long-term plans at DE and lacking proper depth at that postion/not having confidence in your depth (Demetric Evans) who probably could have done the job. Then you cut Taylor and lose any potential for reaping some reward for the high price that you paid for the guy. Now if you can use that money to fill in some holes, specifically then maybe it works out alright.

The money for Haynesworth, on the other hand, is far less significant. Most people who know think the the NFL will go uncapped in 2010 and will probably not come back after that. So you spend the big money on the best player (by far) in the 2009 class anticipating 1) no cap in future years 2) the uncapped rules will significantly water down the 2010 free agent class ... it might be one of the worst ever with the extra tags and extended time to UFA. Plus, Haynesworth is a game changer in both the run and pass games, a dominant line player that the Redskins have not had since ... Plus, the cap hit on Haynesworth this year is only $7 million. That really is not inhibiting the Skins ability to make moves and they got the very best player available in UFA while he is still in the prime of his career. Don't buy all the $100 million hype, this was a good move. At the outset of free agency I probably would have said that I'd rather get Canty at a lower price, but having Haynesworth at an average cap hit of $9.7 million/year over the next four years is not that bad a price and it's not like Canty was coming here for chump change. So basically I think the FO did have a plan with Haynesworth ... Taylor, not so much. If we could do more Haynesworth deals and get rid of those Taylor-type trades (i.e. giving away picks) then we'd really be doing something.

We haven't had one of these in a bit. Who is gonna bite?

We haven't had one of these in a bit. Who is gonna bite?

right here.

So basically I think the FO did have a plan with Haynesworth ... Taylor, not so much. If we could do more Haynesworth deals and get rid of those Taylor-type trades (i.e. giving away picks) then we'd really be doing something.

Well, if they follow a step forward with a step back, then they're not going anywhere.