Piling on with the Snyder-bashing...

[Kittymama]

Just as a break from the draft talk--& because it's so fun, a few more Little-Napoleon-is-a-Moron" tidbits:

Did anyone see "Sports Reporters" on ESPN this past Sunday? They were talking about the Cavs & how their season tanked after the new ownership took over. One reporter said the Cavs new owner is "the Dan Snyder of basketball." To which Mike Lupica responded laughingly--"Did you just compare him to DAN SNYDER?!?! Come on, he's (the new Cavs owner) not THAT bad!" LOL

Then there's this bit from ProFootballTalk.com. I take what they say there with a grain of salt, but I gotta agree with this one:


SNYDER NEEDS TO STEP ASIDE

The Redskins' 2005 offseason quickly has become one of the worst in the free agency era, perhaps second only to the Dolphins' disintegration of 2004.

First, receiver Laveranues Coles, whom the Redskins crowed about so deftly stealing from the Jets in 2003, forces his way out of town, despite a staggering cap hit.

In return, the 'Skins pick up receiver Santana Moss, who is staying away from the team's involuntary voluntary workouts unless and until he gets paid like the player he never really has been.

Then, second-year safety Sean Taylor decides to boycott the involuntary voluntary sessions due to his displeasure with a contract that curiously bears his signature at the bottom, and a date of less than a year ago.

Next, linebacker LaVar Arrington sounds off on the manner in which the team has handled his knee injury, chiding in the process the organization's revolving door of coaching staffs during Arrington's five seasons with the team.

Then, the 'Skins give up their first-round selection in 2006, a third-rounder in 2005, and a fourth-rounder in 2004 for the Broncos' first-round choice in 2005, the 25th overall pick. Although virtually everyone thinks that the Redskins got fleeced, the 'Skins believe that they got the better end of the deal, even though the team's 2006 first-rounder very likely will be a top five pick, if not the first overall selection.

Finally, the guy whom the Redskins acquired when they got scalped by the Broncos for cornerback Champ Bailey and a second-round pick last year is now taking up for his former "U" teammates Moss and Taylor for their decision to stay away from offseason workouts.

The difference between the Fins' free-fall of a year ago and the Redskins' experience this time around is that, for Miami, the 2004 offseason was an aberration. In D.C., the 2005 experience is the natural extension of five prior offseasons involving ownership-driven power plays that eventually petered out.

Through every bone-headed (in hindsight and, in some instances, foresight) move, there's been one common denominator.

Owner Dan Snyder.

As one league insider told us months ago, knowing what you know is far less important in this business than knowing what you don't know. Snyder, like most owners who derived their fortunes in other contexts, believes that he's smart enough to figure out the game of football. He isn't.

And like most really rich guys who wear suits all the time, Snyder surrounds himself (consciously or not) with people who say what he wants to hear.

An industry source put it best in this e-mail we received on Wednesday: The "Redskins are hopeless as long as Snyder plays what I call 'the critical owner position' and refuses to hire someone who knows what he's doing to do what [Bobby] Beathard and [Charley] Casserly used to do (which is why Gibbs won Super Bowls). Vinny [Cerrato is] almost as clueless as Dan -- maybe more so because he's supposed to know something. So they throw away next year's high No. 1 and two other picks to get No. 25 in a bad draft after losing [linebacker Antonio] Pierce, Coles, and [cornerback Fred] Smoot."

Other league insiders agree -- Snyder needs to (as Magic Johnson once said during his stint as an NBA analyst) "get out the way." Sure, the organization is making a ton of money, but it will never, ever win a championship until Snyder looks in the mirror and realizes that, when it comes to hiring coaches and picking players, he doesn't know what in the hell he's doing.

[k19]

so true so very true

[Hoov]

And the best part is we get to play them twice every year !! Haha

[Sarge]

OUCH..............and true.

[Native Born Fan]

uhhh....

[Roughneck]

Slamming the Washington Redskins.

It's good to know there will always be at least one thing that Zone Members can agree on.

[Scotman]

He's the best thing to happen to the 'Boys in a long, long time.

[LA=Pancakemaker]

Gibbs is a bit outta touch too.

[stag hunter]

To say that the skins possibly traded away the number 1 overall pick next year is pretty outlandish

[Billy Bullocks]

I don't even know if you can blame Gibbs. Snyder is an idiot. My friend's uncle is a partial owner, names Drasner, and I clown on him so hard. He has no choice but to like the skins...i tell him all the time to slap Snyder and say thanks from all the Cowboys fans.

Seriously though, the era in which you can just purchase a championship is over. Sure you can build a new stadium with your money Danny Boy, but please, leave the personell decisions to a GM. Thank God Jerrah is lettin Parcells make hte personell moves around here.

[Sarge]

Originally Posted by stag hunter

To say that the skins possibly traded away the number 1 overall pick next year is pretty outlandish

Perhaps - but it's not outlandish to say they gave away a top 10 pick next yr.

[Danny White]

Originally Posted by LA=Pancakemaker

Gibbs is a bit outta touch too.

I agree. I think a lot of this year's bad decisions can be traced directly to Gibbs. He has been absolutely clueless in his return.

[Arch Stanton]

Originally Posted by stag hunter

To say that the skins possibly traded away the number 1 overall pick next year is pretty outlandish

Perhaps, but the are 0-2 before the season starts.

[zagnut]

Originally Posted by Billy Bullocks

I don't even know if you can blame Gibbs. Snyder is an idiot. My friend's uncle is a partial owner, names Drasner, and I clown on him so hard. He has no choice but to like the skins...i tell him all the time to slap Snyder and say thanks from all the Cowboys fans.

Seriously though, the era in which you can just purchase a championship is over. Sure you can build a new stadium with your money Danny Boy, but please, leave the personell decisions to a GM. Thank God Jerrah is lettin Parcells make hte personell moves around here.

I'm not complaining but I think their problem has more to do with a lack of patience. Personnel decisions are made by their personnel guy, Vinny Cerato (sp?), and the coach/coaches. Salary decisions are made by their salary cap guy. Snyder isn't making these decisions. Snyder gives ulitimate approval, but that's what every owner does.

The area where I feel he's been at complete fault is not letting things develop over time and possibly having a flawed organizational plan to begin with (giving away draft picks for vetrans). If he had just stayed with Marty Schottenheimer, they probably would have done alright for themselves. Instead, every couple of years the football team has a new daddy. We had the same problem between Parcells and Jimmy.

[Kittymama]

Originally Posted by Danny White

I agree. I think a lot of this year's bad decisions can be traced directly to Gibbs. He has been absolutely clueless in his return.

Absolutely! I think he bought too much into his own publicity last year. He's a terrific coach, but reality is that he coached before FA, when you could easily dump a player who wasn't working out. Yes, Snyder is willing to go wallet-to-wallet with anything Jack Kent Cooke did, but he's never grasped the concept of salary cap escalation. Even more damaging, he's created a team of nothing but mercenaries who are purely interested in grabbing a fat payday before they retire. They long since ceased being a "team."

Joe also doesn't have Bobby Beatherd. Beatherd played a major role in getting good players, & could run interference between Gibbs & Cooke, so Gibbs could focus mostly on coaching. To his credit, Snyder did make an effort last year to let Gibbs call the shots on a lot of things. But what Joe didn't realize was how truly disfunctional the entire organization is--& how much time he was going to have to devote to fixing the behind-the-scenes problems as well as trying to turn around a disaster of a team. And short of a complete housecleaning, which they just can't do because of the salary hits, he's never going to be able to overcome the mercenary mindset that has developed in this team. There literally is not a player on that team right now that anyone could name who is playing for the deadskins for any other reason than money. Not one "team" guy. Even "team" guys who went there (like Coles, when he first was signed) were poisoned over the years by the mercenary mindset. Joe is never going to be able to overcome that.

What I do think the Denver trade did, tho, was indicate that this coming year is his last shot. People talk about this year being "now or never" for Parcells--well, I'd say even more so for Gibbs. (At least the Boys are talking about trades to get more picks for next year, plus Henson waiting in the wings--I think there's a pretty good possibility he comes back to finish out his contract, at the least.) They willingly give up next year's 1st-round pick! Sorry, but there's no way Gibbs is "building for the future" with that kind of action. They're grabbing 2 first-rounders this year & are hoping that something pans out from it. I'm willing to predict right now that he doesn't come back next year. If they have a winning season, he can walk away having "fixed" the franchise. If they don't (which they won't), well, Little Danny has never had a coach last longer than 2 years, period. And either way--a coach in his late 60s is going to stick around for next year when he'll have no draft choices & massive salary cap woes? Ain't happening.