Quote:
Originally Posted by saden1
When Shanahan was hired I said he was a mediocre coach except for one or two exceptional regular seasons the last ten years. I remember Gibbs delivered his second year with what he had, which wasn't much. I don't think we should lower our expectations in the third year because if he can't succeed by then chances are he won't succeed in the 4th year.
Show me the money!
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We can argue over the accuracy of this, Gibbs did inherit a franchise LT & a solid RT & decent LG, all career Skins at the time. Then signed a C & a RG. He traded for a RB & a WR. Of course, the Brunell trade too. On D, they signed a bunch of starters in 04 - Daniels, Griffin, Washington, Springs, Wynn.
Regardless of how good those guys were, let's agree on one thing: a lot of $ was spent in Gibbs' tenure to bring in free agents & trades. They signed guys like Brunell & Moss to pretty big deals. The new guys on D got nice deals too.
My point is, Gibbs built a team for the relative short-term & spent a lot of $, draft picks & cap space that impacted the team beyond his time. Of course Vinny was a part of it. While I'm an avid Gibbs fan & think he did a lot considering the dysfunctional culture/mgmt. he worked with, Allen & Shanny have made much more prudent decisions. If Gibbs were to have taken that approach when he came back, we might not've won much in 05 & 07, but the team might've been younger & cheaper when he left.