ATTNER: 'Skins still throwing money away

[MTK]

How about we wait until this time next year to judge this offseason. We haven't even played a game yet guys, let's give Gibbs some time to pull this thing together.

[EEich]

Thanks, Matty! Even Pasquerelli thinks these moves look good on paper. Let's give them a chance.

[Spearhead]

A chance? I agree w/ you EEich. I know we've all become cynical about flashy offseasons and DSnyder's fantasy football strategy for signing players but jebus.

I'm completely impressed with the strategy behind our offseason moves (to date). Gibbs likes depth at QB (it's his m.o.), he likes Ramsey but can use Brunell as a mentor, low-turnover style passer/field general, and tackling dummy until they can get this OLine in shape. It'll challenge Ramsey, and Gmanc is 100% right about these backloaded contracts- Brunell might see 1/2 that money if he's lucky.
Champ wanted to go. It would have been nice to swap 1 for 1 but again, i gotta agree w/ gmanc that you're talking about a getting a 22 yr old superstar who'll touch the ball 30-40 times a game, and whose contract turned out to be 5 million less and 2 years longer than the offer we made to Champ.

The staff knew they could get a decent replacement for Bailey thru FA, and they did. Springs is still young, still a badass when healthy (and he was healthy most of his career until the broken shoulder blade).

Just can't understand how anyone would be disappointed in these moves. They may not pay off in our Gibbs' 1st season, but we've upgraded QB RB and DLine already, some would argue LB as well, and filled that hole at CB. Portis Coles and Ramsey are a promising core group for our future, and w/ the #5 pick we're in perfect position to trade down and pick up 2 more DLineman, or keep it and upgrade the secondary with S.Taylor, or even grab 1 of those 3 WR's.
We've been burned badly in the past. The expectations have outweighed the results every offseason for way too long, but I'm completely geeked about Gibbs' master plan so far. This team needed a massive overhaul b/c of attitude/bad chemistry if nothing else.
but yeah- we gotta long way to go.

[Daseal]

I can see us taking taylor/winslow or trading down, but a WR would be crazy.

[JWsleep]

Everyone wants the skins to fail, because they just can't stand Snyder. He's viewed (not without some reason) as an arrogant, spoiled rich kid who wants to buy his way to success instead of earning his keep in the good-old American tradition of blue-collar hard work. And here comes another off-season, and Danny-boy is at it again. What, sportswriters are going to change their tune now? Why, when they sell papers by following this line. It's a good story for the otherwise hum-drum offseason.

The real question is, did the skins get quality, and did they pay the right price. Here's what they needed to upgrade, going into the offseason: Vet QB, RB, CB to replace Champ, TE, LB to replace Armstead and free up Lavar, D-linemen, saftey, center, punter.

QB: Brunell
RB: Portis
CB: Springs
TE: Rasby? Winslow?
LB: Washington
D-line: Giffen, Daniels, Udeze?, etc?
Safety: Grant? Taylor?
Center: Friedman, Beverly?
Punter: Tupa?

SO, did Danny pay too much so far? He shells out the bonus money, but some of that is just out of pocket, and he's a billionaire. If that's how he wants to spend his cash, more power to him. Brunell's deal is backloaded, and he won't get the last years of it. PLus, look at the Jets and Falcons when they lost their young QBs: disaster. That won't happen here.

Protis's deal is backloaded as well, but if he is as good as he's been so far, he'll be a great deal. Imagine if he has another 1,500 yeard season next year. What will he be worth then? More than the skins are paying him, I figure. If he's a bust, release him before the later years of the contract.

Daniels is a turd? Well, his d coach of several years in Chicago didn't think so. A versitile role player on the d-line, and an upgrade for the skins. Griffen is a bit of a gamble. BUt he's young, coachable, and ready to prove himself, I think. Once again, Danny-boy was ready to drop a fat bonus where others weren't: Griffen has potential, but he'll need good coaching to reach it. Under Fox, great, under Fasell, so-so. Oh right, we've got great coaches.

We'll see about the TE. Here they seem to be after a blocker first, hence Rasby. Is this a mistake? Winslow is a potential gamebreaker, and Gibbs and Zampesi coached his dad.

Anyone complaining AT ALL about Washington. I haven't heard it, not even Pastabelly or the cowpunks.

Saftey, Center, and Punter (and additional D-line help) are still up in the air. But despite all the whining in the press, they've STILL GOT CAP ROOM LEFT to sign quality players. Anything wrong here?

Finally (and I know, this is an endless friggin post!), Gibbs has stated that it's a priority that all his players are in MINICAMP (not just training camp!). Thus, a quick deal with Brunell and Portis (who may well have held out without a deal, creating a new controversy).

PS The second rounder for Portis was because of the cap space created/lost. Picks=cap space. We picked up space, we deal a pick. Question: were there any other BETTER deals out there for Mr. I-do-no-want-to-be-here (aka "show me the money") Bailey? The Lions wouldn't give picks, and the jets were packaging crap. This is a good deal.

Oh, and FUC* THE COWBOYS! HOW'S THAT GALLOWAY TRADE GOING, YOU COWTIPPING INBRED MORONS.

[Spearhead]

great points JW

and your hatred for Dallas warms my heart.


Yeah that's what they needed. Keyshawn.
I love that Parcells wanted Brunell too. Gibbs moved so fast no one else had a chance.

And yeah, Daseal- I'd be surprised if we grabbed a WR too. Just listing all the scenarios b/c I think the staff's put themselves in a great position before the draft.

[SmootSmack]

I had posted this on the old warpath site, but I'll post it again:

I have no beef with Snyder. There is no limit to what he will do to acquire talent for his team. Imagine if he just pocketed all the money he makes off the Redskins instead of reinvesting it in the team. I think the Redskins new strategy of poaching free agents entering their prime is a sound one. We see the Redskins as a football team, but they are first and foremost a businessl. In fact, the formal name of the Redskins as an organization is actually, "Washington Football, Inc." And as a business, they have zeroed in on the competitive advantage they have over every single other team in the NFL, which is that they are the most profitable cash-generating franchise. Because all teams share TV revenue, the only way to get a "leg up" on competing teams is to generat revenue from luxury boxes, which is unshared. And the Skins have the most of those. Because all teams have to equally comply with the salary cap for contracts, the only way to get an advantage over competing teams is to offer signing bonuses, which can be prorated over the term of a contract even if they are paid out as upfront lump sum. So it's not that Snyder and the Redskins FO think they're smarter than everyone else; it's a fact that this is an advantage the Redskins have. If they have money to use, why not use it?

The criticism of Snyder is particularly interesting in 20/20 hindsight. In Snyder's first year as owner, 1999, the Redskins made the playoffs and, in fact, were a point away from the NFC Championship. But keep in mind the Redskins finished that season 10-6 after barely beating a hapless 49ers team in overtime. Had we lost, we would have been 9-7 and hoping to catch a break. Instead, it was the first and last season under Norv that we made the playoffs and the first and last time since the magical '91 season. And that year, because the Redskins made it "over the hump" and the only thing new was Snyder, all the revisionist history was about how the success was thanks to the owner. Unlike Cooke (particulary John), the fable went, Snyder did not "tolerate mediocrity." No, unlike the stodgy and "patient" Cookes of the old money of real estate, Snyder was a product of the Internet age, so he demanded results "now". And so the story went that that "pressure" that he put on Norv and the team, is what put them over the top.

Of course, now that the Redskins are mired in a string of losing seasons (instead of squeaking into the playoffs by one game by beating the hapless 49ers in OT) all that has been turned upside down because now Snyder is a "meddler" who "interferes" and lacks a "plan". Interesting

Snyder will do everything in his power to help Gibbs win, and that's all any coach, player or fan could ask for

[johnnyredskin63]

if i were god for one day i would turn cowboys stadium in texas into the world's largest open air piss hole.i can't help but think that god looks down from heaven and thinks of that stadium as the world's largest latrine.I HATE ALL COWBOYS(excepywayne,eastwood,and matt dillion)by the way,who the hell is this attner guy?

[dieselhog]

I had no idea that there were Cowboy fans on this side of the pond.

I can only offer my sincere apologies for this embaressing oversight. We will try to round them up and put them in small dark rooms so that they can reflect on their choices.

Perhaps make them watch that godawful soap opera about oil barons on a repeated loop.

[CowboysUK]

Hey guys,

I posted those two articles because I had to wonder how you guys viewed Snyder's offseason strategy now we're seeing the same kind of behaviour for the second year straight. Some of your points were really interesting and I thank those who responded with serious and considered points for taking my posts in they way they were intended, i.e. as the start of an interesting debate.

Those who felt compelled to respond with childish anti-Cowboys rhetoric let your forum down in my opinion.

Personally, I go along with those who find Snyder's strategy as slightly irresponsible and I can't help feeling that the Broncos took advantage of him in the Portis-Bailey trade. The same might be said for Brunnel's agent. Still the LB Washington and the CB Butler from the Rams (if you get him) would be nice pickups.

Edit: Might have to take back what I said about Butler above, I've just seen the details of his contract offer. More than he's worth again guys.

As for those taking the, "let's wait and see" approach to the offseason signings - how do you feel Snyder did last season now that you have a chance to judge?

Regards.