Passing on Casey Bramlet

The Redskins Insider is reporting that the Washington Redskins are saying good bye to Casey Bramlet, again. The team cut Bramlet at the end of the 2006 preseason. Guess they didn't see enough that they liked, in spite of Bramlet's head-turning performance in NFL Europa.

I commented on this just last evening on an ExtremeSkins thread comparing Bramlet with Todd Collins [Interesting stat Collins vs. Bramlet].

"Looking toward the future, I would cut or trade Collins and work with Bramlet and Palmer. I am deeply suspicious of the Redskins' intentions for Bramlet. First he 'wasn't invented here,' meaning the Skins didn't draft him. He was a free agent pick-up after his release by the Bengals. He played at a small school (Wyoming).

"Second, I don't know how to evaluate NFL Europa teams. I didn't see them play and never heard of any of the players except the few sent there by the Redskins (Remember Hamden? Just disappeared, didn't he.). I wonder how a NFL Europa team would match-up against a BCS team.

"That's the issue. World Bowl MVP is news worthy, but not very impressive to NFL front offices. Casey Bramlet: undiscovered talent, or the next Tim Hasselbeck?

"You could ask the same question about Jordan Palmer. The only way to tell is to give them more reps and game time. There's not enough reps or playing time to go around, so I think the Redskins will go with the one they drafted."

Keeping Collins is probably a compromise between Joe Gibbs and his deputy, Al Saunders. It may also signal that the team isn't so sure of Mark Brunell's recovery from shoulder surgery. If you knew Mark was going to be healthy, then it makes much more sense to keep your younger quarterbacks for an extended audition. But, if you are not so sure, then you keep Collins, who would be snapped up in a heartbeat were he to be released. Healthy back-up QBs don't exactly fall out of trees.

I'm sorry for Bramlet because I think the Redskins have to get younger. Pulling for Bramlet also means rooting for the underdog. That's always a feel-good story.

In a perverse way, this is good news for Bramlet - better to be cut sooner rather than later. Now, he has a chance to be picked by some team more interested in him that the Redskins have ever been. And that can happen with four weeks left to preseason. If he were cut late, he would sit out all this year.

Casey, call waiting from Atlanta and Oakland.

Photo: www.nfleurope.com/