CHAOS ON THE REDSKINS!

YES! YES! YES!!!

The Redskins extended Chris Cooley's [a.k.a. Capt Chaos] contract by six years.

See the story at Hog Heaven.

More Washington Redskins draft moves

With teams hiding their intent in the run-up to the draft, there's little for bloggers to do, but write about what others are writing. In the blogosphere, that's called "conversation."

Don Pierson wrote a story for MSNBC Trading down in NFL draft not so easy. He makes the case that it's generally tough to trade down because the other team must swallow a huge a contract for an unproven rookie. It's a risk not many general managers are willing to take. As an example, Pierson quotes Bears GM Jerry Angelo on the Redskins trade offer for Lance Briggs.

"We have to digest what it is from a cap standpoint," general manager Jerry Angelo said. "The sixth pick is an inordinate amount of money and there are cap issues in terms of our plan."

Pierson points out that the difference between last year's sixth and 31st draft pick was about $15 Million in total contract, of which $10 Million was guaranteed.

That's one reason the Oakland Raiders at No. 1 and the Detroit Lions at No. 2 in this year's draft aren't overwhelmed by offers from teams willing to risk big bucks on prospects who find it difficult to live up to the increasing hype and pressure.

Pierson doesn't come out and say it, but a team would be well advised to put some of that first round contract money on an upgraded scouting department and make better picks in the middle round of the draft. (Hint, hint)

Tom Kowalski's story at www.mlive.com says that a deal for the Detroit Lions' number two pick hinges on who the Oakland Raiders take with their number one pick. The consensus is that the Raiders will select JaMarcus Russell. That could prompt up to four teams, including Washington, to offer the Lions trade up deals for a shot at Calvin Johnson. However, Kowalski points out

The Redskins are going to have trouble making a deal for the same reason they couldn't work out a trade with the Lions for cornerback Dre Bly (now with Denver): they don't have enough ammunition. The Redskins don't have a second-round pick because they dealt it away -- and that's going to cripple their chances of competing with other teams.

Oakland will blow up this scenario if they take Johnson instead of Russell.

Skin Patrol at Hogs Haven touched on this in his story Redskins want the Lions pick. He closes the story by cataloging how the Skins frittered away their middle round picks in the Snyder/Gibbs era.

In another sign of football news drought, Patrol beat me to Kowolski's story by an hour or so. Usually there are so many team stories published, and rumors whispered, that everyone can take a different facet of the news and create unique content around it. For the next ten days, bloggers will pounce on every news snippet to be first to comment. If you are third or fourth with a post, you start asking "is there anything I can add to this story, or will this just be another me-too entry?"

There's always the option of a hiatus. The Redskins Report was on one. They are waking up in time for the draft. (TRR was my muse and inspiration when I started this blog.) The Curly R is focusing more on W, its baseball site. Skinsaphrenia was traumatized by last season. They went into hibernation in December, only recently awakening. War Cry is still active. The Warpath and ExtremeSkins message boards are still engaged, but most posts are the hypothetical "should we take . . . " variety. Hogs Haven, if you didn't know, is one of the top five blogs listed on Fair Catch. Check out my other friends in the blogroll to your right.

Running Redskins is hanging in for the run up the draft and a few weeks thereafter, then will wind down until training camp. Summer is coming. The Bay is near, and the boat needs attention.
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Michael Vick is donating $10,000 through the United Way to help the families of the Virginia Tech victims. Mike gets bashed a lot, including by me. He deserves props for this, so I want to acknowledge his concern and generosity.

Fletchers Stairway to Success

The Washington Post tells London Fletcher-Baker's inspirational story in today's issue. If you haven't read it yet, follow the link and take a look (Registration required. It's free)

Fletcher's Stairway to Success.

This is a story I'm happy to point to, and better than the Don Imus story I just posted (I feel so dirty).

The NFL will announce the 2007 regular season schedule at 1:00 PM ET, Wednesday, April 10.

The NFL has suspended Titans defensive back Adam "Pacman" Jones for the 2007 season, and Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry for eight games. The full story is on NFL News.

I've been bashing the Redskins for their roster selections recently. Allow me to show them some love now. In the 2004 draft, the Redskins chose safety Sean Taylor instead of tight end Kellen Winslow, Jr. Taylor has been good-to-great and the Skins had excellent tight end production from Chris Cooley in 2004 & 05 when Winslow was out. Kellen Jr. did scarf 89 receptions in '06, more than any other tight end.

I wanted to write that the Skins were smart not to take Adam Jones in the 2005 Draft. It turns out that Pacman was selected by the Titans with the sixth pick. The Redskins, with the ninth pick, selected Carlos Rogers. I'm sure the Skins would have picked Rogers even if they had the sixth pick. Or, so I'd like to think.

Daniel Snyder, lose the "win now" attitude.

It's ruining the team. "Win now" didn’t work for the 2000 "$100 million team," and it isn’t working now. Instead, it encourages your management team to take short cuts at high cost. They buy other team’s stars, expecting instant results. Stars emerge from systems. If you aren't running the same system as that other team, the star you bring in may not be as effective for you. (See Archuleta, Adam) Even if that trade or free agent is successful, it's going to take a season for them to jell. The team will be more successful growing its own talent. Merge them with your scheme and keep them on your roster.


This comment arises from the stories of how the Lance Briggs trade offer came about. Briggs is a fine player. He can improve any defense. By himself, he cannot help the Skins D enough to fill all the holes. The suddeness of the offer, the investment of precious cap dollars to an area of strength, the left field nature of the whole thing are the earmarks of the worst characterist of the Redskins under your ownership -- ill-considered personnel moves that add players who don't really fit. Scouting by name recognition is what I do in fantasy football. It's not what you should do in reality football. Unless you grew up in a football family like someone named Halas, or Rooney, you will always be taken advantage of by a football professional when you drive the personnel moves.

Take a page from former General Electric chairman Jack Welch. Sure, he wanted to make the most profit in American business in every quarter. That was his result, but never his goal. He wanted results. Welch famously demanded that GE divisions hold a top three market share position, or he sold them off. Your equivilent is to demand the Redskins make the playoffs every year. That leads to a more patient approach, one that has longer lasting impact than the quick hits (and short duration) the Skins have become famous for in your tenure.

Coaches requisition needs. Scouts find talent. General managers have the vision and expertise to build a roster that can win within budget and over the long term. Mr. Snyder, you have the vision, but lack the expertise to pull this off. Your role is to hold your people accountable.


Demand to know why your homegrown talent is now the middle linebacker for the Giants. Demand to know why a cornerback on the 2005 roster is had a pro-bowl season — for San Francisco. Demand to know if the people, including you, who managed your roster last year should have as much influence this year.


These things are not as much fun as hobnobbing with famous players or closing big deals, but demanding accountability is the second most important thing good owners do. (The most important is to hire a competent general manager. That's more important than hiring a competent coach.) You are the only one who can hold people accountable. We need you to be good at it. Do that, and you are on the first step toward building a winning organization that can sustain success over the long term. If it's you that's overlooking homegrown, rising stars in favor of famous names from somewhere else, then you should take a look at your results and step aside for the professionals.


Put your team on a strict financial budget, and by budget, I mean both cash dollars and salary cap dollars. We fans admire your willingness to open the checkbook to bring in talent for unlimited dollars, but it’s a double-edged sword. When there are limits, you get a lot smarter spending your money. You learn that it’s OK if free agents walk away when they price themselves out of the market. You get smarter about the next player alternative. And you take a good look at talent already on your roster. You find people who can move up and you groom them to start. They stay longer at a reasonable cost.


It may surprise you to know that we fans invest in players who grow before our eyes. We love it when a LaVar and Champ and Fred and Jon mature with the team. Believe me, we are as invested in Chris Cooley as in Santana Moss. We have high hopes for Jason and Rocky and Carlos and Derrick and Kedric and Khari. Ladell is a success. We want to win with them. We'll miss them more than the stars you bring in to replace them.


You and your management are failing to spend your money wisely. Because you have so much to spend, you buy everyone at any price. That doesn't work. We are not building fantasy teams here. Not saying you should be cheap, but the sky is not the limit, either.


Here's what to do when you get excited by that trade prospect, take his 2006 stats and discount by a third. Cut every free agent’s prior performance by a third. Then, compare that to the performance of the players now on the roster. If the current player's performance is the same as that outsider's discounted stats, let the new guy walk, or, at least offer less to sign him. Save your cap dollars.


Free agents need time to fit in. For a single season, the guy already in your system will give you more than that free agent in his first season here. I assure you, Andre Carter will be better this year just because he's been in your system for a year. A lot of those decisions are left to the coaches and general managers (if you had one). Only you can impose financial discipline.


Restore the draft as a source of talent. The Redskins overvalue free agency as a source of talent. Think about this. Stalwarts Jon Jansen, Chris Samuels, Champ Bailey, Fred Smoot, LaVar Arrington, Sean Taylor and Jason Campbell (maybe) came to the Skins by the draft. In your ownership, Santana Moss is the only traded player better than the man he replaced. Shawn Springs is good, but he’s no Champ Bailey. Clinton Portis was traded for Bailey. He's one of the top five at his position, but Bailey is simply the best.

All of these issues come from your desire to win now. Change the goal to winning over the long term. The team that is built patiently, can contend for the playoff consistently. Consistent playoff contenders are much better postioned to go all the way and are a lot more fun to watch.

Don’t be so quick to give up those multiple draft choices for trades. Maybe when you see what Mike Shanahan, a consistent contender, does with that third round draft he got from you through Atlanta, you will start to get it.




Daniel Snyder Photo: William E. Amatucci Jr./WireImage from here.

Rosenhaus

Cooler heads are prevailing in the Lance Briggs trade story, or hype. Today's Post quotes Joe Gibbs calling the news "Just a bunch of rumors." Vinnie Cerrato, Daniel Snyder's mini-me, is quoted "we don't comment on rumors." Everybody take a chill pill and calm down.

Hogs Haven goes in depth on how the story came about, citing several sources, the most intriguing of which is Tandler's Redskins Blog. Rich Tandler is the dean of Redskins bloggers. He writes infrequently, but incisively, on his blog. He repeated Jay Glazer's tale of how Daniel Snyder and Briggs and his agent Drew Rosenhaus got to talking in a Phoenix bar about Briggs. That seems to have triggered Snyder's acquisitive instincts. Somewhere in the conversation, Snyder threw up, figuratively, the "proposal" of trading the Skins #1 pick for Briggs and Chicago's #1 pick to Rosenhaus who called the Bears and the "confirmed story" was off and running. Confused? go to Hogs Haven (several stories) or Tandler's for the full account.

Rosenhaus is said to be one of Snyder's favorite agents. I don't see how that serves the Redskins. The team, Snyder in particular, get mentioned in every story about every disgruntled player. I suspect agents, especially Rosenhaus, of surfacing those rumors to bid up offers for their clients.

The Lance Briggs case is instructive on several levels. Briggs is operating on his rookie contract. He was (under)paid the league minimum $750,000 in each of his past two Pro-Bowl seasons. In his place I would not only want to be paid top dollar, but would want to recover the income my past performance warranted. What's more, he wants to participate in this year's super heated free agent market.

Enter super agent Drew "the Shark" Rosenhaus with combative tactics to force new terms: the claim of unfairness; the threat to hold out; the stated refusal to play for the team; participating at the bare minimum to meet contract requirements. We've seen these tactics before. Turn on your wayback machine to Terrell Owens and his gay adventures in Philadelphia in 2005. (I haven't had so much fun blogging since.) T.O. is repped by Rosenhaus.

The Bears have a legit general manager in Jerry Angelo who can play brinkmanship as well as the next guy. He won't be bullied by the tactics, or panicked into a trade. I think he will call Briggs' and Rosenhaus' bluff to sit out ten games. Maybe $7.2 Million isn't the most Briggs could get, but it's still ten times more than he made last season. The Bears may be pushed to move if and after Briggs no-shows. Until then, I'm not so sure. No one on the Redskins plays that role, except Joe Gibbs. He's suspect, but may have done good service slowing up a Briggs trade.

The Redskins should pay close attention to the Lance Briggs case. It may fore tell their future. Chris Cooley is a premier, pass catching tight end playing on his 2004 rookie contract. He is scheduled to make $850,000 this year and will be a free agent in 2008. Alge Crumpler signed a six year, $14.325 Million contract in 2004. Jeremy Shockey is working under a contract that will pay him $850,000 this season, $2.2 Million in '08, and $3.0 Million in '09.

Cooley is performing better than his pay. Fans would like the Skins front office to find more like him: competent role players who can grow with the team and signed to affordable contracts that parallel their playing life. Briggs would like the freedom to negotiate a deal in this unusually rich free agent market. If Rosenhaus were Cooley's agent, Chris might want the same. If Rosenhaus is Cooley's agent next season, he might use the same tactics, if the Redskins name him a franchise player. Hmmm.

If that happens, at least Resenhaus won't drop Snyder's name as a potential suitor.

Trivia: Drew Rosenhaus represents: London Fletcher-Baker, Santana Moss, Clinton Portis and Sean Taylor.

Photo: Drew Rosenhaus and Terrell Owens, sportsillustrated.com from here.