Breaking news: Gibbs denying reports of Coles

As I recall, the prevailing wisdom here on The Warpath was that this would be the offseason of continuity. No changes to coaching staff and minimal changes to the squad...

When I "suggested" that Danny Boy could not possibly allow a Feburary/March to go by without him becoming the centerpiece of a story, I was told that Danny Boy had learned his lessons and had turned things over to Joe Gibbs and all would be well. Hello?

If Gibbs is in charge of football decisions, please tell me what Danny Boy was doing at dinner talking to Coles' agent? Or is the keeping/bouncing of Coles something other than a football decision? What was Danny Boy doing at the Senior Bowl - or was it the Hula Bowl? Right, it was just vacation time and not anything to do with scouting college players for the draft. He doesn't do that anymore...

The Skins PR machine is at work dropping hints about how Coles was "disgruntled" and how he wanted more passes thrown his way - making him sound selfish. This is the standard operating procedure for the Redskins when they are in the process of getting rid of a player who has a following in the area. It is exactly what they did to Brian Mitchell and Champ Bailey.

Riddle me this. The team is on the prowl for "true Redskins" who play hard and play hurt and leave it all on the field. We want good citizens and reliable folks who do what they need to do in order for the team to win. That's what we're asked to beleive.

Now in this offseason, there is the possibility that Smoot AND Coles will be gone. And how many other "true Redskins" can we point to from last year's squad?

Here's what I believe - - but certainly do not know to be factual so let me admit that up front:

Gibbs is NOT running the football operation except that he MAY have the ability to tell Snyder something like "if you do that, I quit and I'll go back to NASCAR and you can explain to all those fans why you know more about the NFL than I do." But he only gets to do that on major things, not everything.

And as usual, Danny Boy needs his publicity fix about this time of year so it's time to fuel up Redskins One and go out and sign somebody flashy so the news conference will be well attended.

If I'm right - notice I said IF - , the single best thing that can happen to this franchise is for sonebody to hi-jack Redskins One with Danny Boy aboard and land him on some desert island in the middle of the ocean with a pup tent and a lifetime supply of fishing line and fish hooks...

My thought is that the Redskins have had their decision making process interrupted by leaks and the resultant intrusion from the media. Given Gibbs' comments, it seems to me that the Redskins have decided not to release Coles, and will go forward with him in their plans until someone gives them an offer for Coles that they consider acceptable.

If they don't get a trade offer, and they are not able to sign any free agent(s), and have concerns about depth at receiver going into the year, they will stay with Coles. That is the plan probably until they get a good offer for him. However, I think this story below has its facts pretty much in order:

Source: Coles Tells Gibbs He Wants Out
Feb 21, 3:03 PM (ET) Email this Story

By JOSEPH WHITE
First Rod Gardner, now Laveranues Coles. The Washington Redskins could lose both their top receivers after an unsatisfying season in coach Joe Gibbs' offense.

Coles has met with Gibbs twice to state his desire to leave the Redskins, including a forthright conversation the day after the season ended, an official within the league told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday. The Redskins, in turn, have told Coles they want him to have surgery on the chronic toe injury that has plagued him the last two seasons, a procedure that Coles has been reluctant to undergo, the source said.

The Redskins last month granted Gardner's request to seek a trade. Coles and Gardner accounted for a combined 141 catches and 1,600 yards for the Redskins last season, but both were disenchanted with a conservative offense that produced few big plays downfield and ranked 30th overall.

Coles had 90 catches for 950 yards for a career-low 10.6 yards a catch and only one touchdown in the Redskins' 6-10 season. The year before, under pass-oriented coach Steve Spurrier, Coles had 82 receptions for 1,204 yards and six touchdowns.

Coles will find it difficult to get an outright release from the Redskins unless he is willing to give back some of the $13 million signing bonus he received when he signed a seven-year, $35 million contract as a free agent from the New York Jets two years ago. The Redskins could instead grant Coles permission to seek a trade, as they have with Gardner.

Coles' meetings with Gibbs were first reported by The Washington Post. After the first one, which came a day after the season-ending victory over Minnesota, Coles stormed past reporters in the parking lot and told them to call his agent for any news about him.

While Coles has been unhappy with the offense, the Redskins have been concerned about Coles' right big toe, which has a stress fracture and became arthritic. Coles opted for rest instead of surgery after the 2003 season, but the injury continued to bother him in 2004. Gibbs has said the decision whether to have surgery is up to Coles, but the team wants him to have the procedure if he is to stay with the team, the source said.

Coles' agent, Roosevelt Barnes, didn't return calls Monday. A Redskins spokesman said Gibbs was in meetings wasn't immediately available for comment.

SC - I can't put this one on Snyder. Snyder gave Coles the big contract, and I don't know why he would be against keeping him. I know he hasn't exactly performed up to said contract, but he's been pretty damn solid. If this is on anyone it falls squarely on Gibbs and Coles.

As far as Snyder recruiting - you don't think he has some say with these kids? Grease them up a little bit? Throw some money around - may have their agent work for him a bit better than many owners. Nothing wrong with that, he has the tie breaking vote, so if he really wants something he winks twice at Vinny and it's his. However, I feel he respects Gibbs opinion and is willing to defer to him come draft time.

I doubt ditching Coles is simply a plea for offseason attention.

Here's my take on the situation:

Danny met with Cole's agent in hopes of reducing the contract of LC (such as Patrick Ramsey and probably some other Skins.) Coles didn't like the idea, so he's pretty much saying, "Forget it, I won't out!!" Danny is probably saying, "We'll let you out if you do this for us...."....Cole probablys says..."Fine, whatever man!"

I could be completely off...but I wouldn't doubt it.

skinsguy - that's the great thing about speculation. You never know exactly what happens so any story can be possible. Yours was a bit tame, spice it up! ;)

skinsguy - that's the great thing about speculation. You never know exactly what happens so any story can be possible. Yours was a bit tame, spice it up! ;)

Hahaha...okay! To continue on....word has it that Coles punched Daniel Synder in the face....took Synder's wallet from him and threw it to Rod Gardner.....Gardner dropped it! :biggthump

Hahaha...okay! To continue on....word has it that Coles punched Daniel Synder in the face....took Synder's wallet from him and threw it to Rod Gardner.....Gardner dropped it! :biggthump

This is what really happened....I was there!

Coles, his agent, Gibbs and Snyder were sitting at a restaurant waiting area discussing contracts. Out of no where two old women come into the restaurant and are seated immediately. Not knowing who these women were Coles says "Ain't that a bitch, Jewish fat ladies get everything they want don't they" with a Bush like chuckle. Snyder turns around and says I sure hope so, one of them is my mom. Snyder then attempts to sucker punch Coles but fails miserably. Coles grabs him by the neck and as he was about to pummel him Snyder says "I'll release you if you release me."

Haha gardner dropped it...i love it!

I actually kind of buy what Gibbs is selling here. At first, I think they were willing to try to accomodate Coles. But after seeing the ramifications of it, and that it would hurt the team severely to drop him, perhaps they've re-thought. If you recall, Patrick Ramsey was very disgruntled with the team last year around this team, almost to the point of demanding a trade, if I remember correctly. Now he is restructuring his contract to help out the team. Maybe if they really sat down with Coles, made him feel like he was valuable and listened to what he had to say, we could get back to business and next year he will be the major team player! Huge optimism, yes, but I just love LC and I don't want him to go!

Gibbs handles the football operations, but Snyder still handles the financial portions including contract negotiations. If Snyder is out for dinner with an agent, I don't have a problem with that, you can't expect Gibbs to be out wining and dining agents. That's not what he's here for.

Personally I don't buy the consipiracy theory that Snyder is just trying to make headlines to get face time. In fact I think it's ridiculous.

Looks and seems more and more the Skins are super wary of his toe and see releasing him with him dropping his SB as a way to get out of jail free. Obviously rest didn't do squat for it last year. With one more year of wear and tear I am guessing they've banked on him being as average as he was last year. He is worth nothing if his toe doesn't improve. He is a decent two receiver maybe.