[sportscurmudgeon]

Last year, Antonio Pierce gave the Redskins a "hometown discount". He had an offer from another team (Chiefs I think?) but was convinced to come back here on a one-year deal at less money. That's right, he played last year for less money than he could have gotten elsewhere. Then he had a break-out season.

So, when the Redskins did not bowl him over with a contract offer, he decided not to give them another "hometown discount" and decided to see what he's worth on the open market. The Redskins FO had exclusive bargaining rights with him for the last three weeks or so and didn't get it done. Maybe they thought they'd gat another discount?

Mark this down. When the Skins identify the free agent they really want so they can hold their annual early-March-news-conference-extravaganza, it won't take them long to arrive at a contract offer that the guy can't refuse and won't "shop around the league." Here's the pattern: Skins pay big money for anyone except the guys already on the roster. If you're on the Skins' roster, all you get is "market value or maybe a little below market value" unless your name is Lavar; if you are on somebody else's roster, then you can get a drop-dead blockbuster offer.

Coles' situation is different. Forget the motivations here; he wants to leave and it certainly seems as if the Redskins' organization is not going to fall all over itself to prevent that from happening. Whatever. But ask yourself this:

How did all of this leak out? Because by leaking out, it solidified the positions of the antagonists. Now if Coles pays back some money to get traded, it looks as if he caved to "the man". If the Skins now don't trash him and make him look like a greedy oaf, they come off looking like a second-rate organization. All this because some discussions between Gibbs and Coles somehow got to the ears of the Skins' beat reporters at the Post and the Times.

Find the guy who leaked the info and you have someone to blame for this mess.