MVN - Most Valuable Network

What’s Next for the Redskins?

For the most part, the roster-building phase of the offseason is over and done with.  Yeah, maybe a player or two will get released, and there are still players on the open market who could help the team, but the Redskins have a good idea of who they are going to be when they open the season in four months.

For Vinny Cerrato and the personnel department, this means the evaluation-action continuium is flipping back to the evaluation side.  It’s critical in today’s game to know where your new needs lie before the media is aware of it.  But for Head Coach Jim Zorn, this is his first chance to take the reins and seperate himself from the pack of people in the NFL who hold the same title.

Let’s be honest here:  on the large scale “wins and losses” level, it’s Cerrato who is predominatly responsible for this team.  After all, he did hire Jim Zorn, and Zorn is only going to be as successful as his players–the ones that Cerrato has acquired–will perform.  Zorn can’t control those things that will significantly affect how the fans and his associates and higher ups will judge him.

But Zorn has total control over how his players will judge him as a coach.  And that is what is next for the Redskins.  This is the time of the season when the Redskin players will decide how good of a coach they have.  This will not only affect team morale, but also will determine how badly free agents want to come to Washington when their contracts are up.

For a team that is currently a bit capped strapped, and will be facing a potential situation in 2010 where the free agents will have to decide from far more large-market suitors if the league year is uncapped, that last point may turn out to be most critical.  The future success of this organization, and the immediate success of its coach, depends heavily on the reputation the aforementioned coach develops for himself.

The Redskins do not have a complete roster.  They have a quarterback and receivers who figure to mature around the same time…which is not now.  They have a defensive line and an offensive line that are among the oldest in the NFL, and figure to be due for a significant production decline…soon, if not now.  The leader of the defense–London Fletcher–is 33, his partner in crime at linebacker–Marcus Washington–is going on 31.

These are the guys that Joe Gibbs, and now Vinny Cerrato built the Redskins with.  They are the oldest team in the NFL, and still a few steps from the top.  Nothing Zorn can do will change that.

Regardless, today, Jim Zorn began to build his legacy.  We have a pretty good idea of what the future may hold–the only thing that’s hazy is exactly how Jim Zorn will affect this future.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 5:55 pm and is filed under Washington Redskins Salary Cap, Washington Redskins Off-Season, Washington Redskins Coaching Staff, Washington Redskins Free Agents. 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.