MVN - Most Valuable Network

Redskins radical offseason freaks me out

Admit it. You expected Lance Briggs and Chad Johnson to be on the roster by now, didn’t you?

Only in Washington would you describe an offseason where the team focused on re-signing its own players first and inviting but one free agent to consider a value-based contract as “radical.”

Good sense and sensibility does not a championship make, but Daniel Snyder has proven that overspending doesn’t bring titles either. My only complaint about Joe Gibbs is that early on he seemed to buy in too much to Snyder’s approach to roster-building.

Still, the Redskins post Gibbs II are better off than when Gibbs returned in 2004. Our brightest prospects are the team’s draft choices: Chris Cooley, Jason Campbell, Rocky McIntosh, Carlos Rogers, Anthony Montgomery, Reed Doughty, Chris Samuels (pre-Gibbs), Jon Jansen (pre-Gibbs).  Throw in a few intelligent trades (Portis, Moss) and free agent signings (Shawn Springs, Fletcher Baker) and you have a roster with possibilities.

Apparently, Snyder agrees, going by the moves he hasn’t made. There haven’t been any free agents out there who would improve on players already here. (I’m assuming McIntosh and Rogers return healthy this year.) That wouldn’t have stopped Daniel Snyder from signing a Lance Briggs or trading first round draft picks for Chad Johnson in 2002 (or 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006).  

Daniel Snyder isn’t Drew Rosenhaus’ biatch anymore. It’s confusing. It’s disorienting. It’s freaky.

Instability in the front office is the uncertainty. The coach search freaked everyone out. The fanbase is both happy and unhappy about who’s not here — happy it’s not Jim Fassel; unhappy it’s not Gregg Williams. See what I mean? Freaky.

Evidently, Jim Zorn interviews well. So did Mike Tomlin who interviewed Russ Grimm out of the Steelers head coach job. But – and it’s a big but – Tomlin had one season as defensive coordinator with Minnesota where he was widely credited for the Vikings’ performance.  

You can’t say that about Zorn, who wasn’t the coordinator on his home team where he was a star of Sonny Jurgensen magnitude. Matt Hasselbeck lauds Zorn as his position coach, but maybe Mike Holmgren was the bigger factor in Hasselbeck’s success.

Holmgren assistants run half the teams in the NFL. I exaggerate, but you get the point.  Zorn wasn’t picked to be the next head coach or coordinator for the Seahawks. Maybe that’s nothing, maybe that’s of huge importance. I can’t tell and it freaks me out.

What I can tell is that the Redskins are doing things the way I want them to. They have a general manager. They are signing their own free agents first. The roster is stable with key players under contract. They are emphasizing the draft for the second straight season. A front office spokesman has been available to explain their thoughts and aims. That spokesman turns out to be executive vp Vinnie Cerrato who espouses the very approach Hog Heaven writers and readers clamor for.

Freaky!

Tandler: Redskins shunning of free agents goes against their nature
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Lee at The Redskins Report compiles the current consensus No. 1 Redskins picks in mock drafts. 

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, enter NFL Draft Sweepstakes to fly to New York in April and announce a NFL draft pick. Of course, you have to add your name to a mail list to get spammed with NFL “updates.” And “yes,” I’m one of those who can’t, so I did. 

NFL.com looked at Redskins draft needs in a video report featuring Washington Examiner writer and Redskin critic John Keim. You can find the clip here.  

Marcus Washington to miss the season. No, not our Marcus Washington, but the Marcus Washington who plays defensive lineman for the Georgia Bulldogs. The headline freaked me out when I read it. I’m listing it here because I learned that site traffic goes up when I mention “Marcus Washington.” Apparently, Marcus Washington is a popular player in Washington. What a guy that Marcus Washington is.

Hat tip to Mr. Irrelevant, by way of BallHype.com who says Mark Rypien’s Cuz has a strong left.

Don’t try this at home: NCAA tourny a good time for vasectomy.

Freaky, freaky, freaky.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Jim Zorn, Marcus Washington, Vinnie Cerrato, Washington Redskins, Daniel Snyder. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.