Here we go with another edition of \u201cHow to Spend Dan Snyder\u2019s Money!\u201d Also affectionately referred to as \u201cWho Wants to be a Gazillionare!\u201d<\/p>\n
Fans are understandably nervous about the possibility of a lockout in 2011, but in the mean-time, it\u2019s looking like 2010 will go uncapped. The rumors of what the Redskins would do in an uncapped year began the moment someone realized this was an actual possibility.<\/p>\n
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\u201cLook out for Dan Snyder,\u201d they laughed, \u201can uncapped year and an owner that sees money as no object? It\u2019ll be like Y2K all over again!\u201d I\u2019m paraphrasing of course, but with every release of a high-priced free agent, the Redskins\u2019 name gets mentioned as a possible landing point complete with golden parachute.<\/p>\n
Time to face facts fellas; the Dan Snyder of \u201999, \u201900, and \u201901 is long since gone. He\u2019s not the \u201cwide-eyed know it all\u201d he once was. A decade of losing and marginal seasons will do that to ya. I put forth that Snyder has let his coaches make the player recommendations dating all the way back to the Spurrier era. Certainly were a lot of former Gators on the team back then.<\/p>\n
We have not seen a coach since Turner that has seemed unhappy with the personnel moves, and in most cases, we\u2019ve seen it reported that Snyder, while party to the discussions, has let his coaching staff have their say. Jason Taylor was a move that involved Zorn, Blache, Cerrato and Snyder. They each agreed it was the move that needed to be made; even the Washington Post reported it that way (and they have never gone out of their way to make Snyder look like anything but an idiot).<\/p>\n
Just prior to Michael Vick\u2019s release from prison, the Washington Post reported that Snyder asked if the team should go after him, and it was reported that Cerrato and Zorn both agreed that Vick was not a good fit for the team. Vick was eventually picked up by Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Many credited Cerrato as nothing more than a puppet for Dan Snyder; a straw-man to take all the blame. Even with Cerrato\u2019s \u201cresignation\u201d many felt it was nothing more than a scapegoating orchestrated by Snyder to take the heat off of himself. That could be true, but then it doesn\u2019t seem to fit very well with Snyder\u2019s next two moves. Snyder could have promoted someone from in house to Cerrato\u2019s position, and kept up the \u201cstraw-man\u201d game as many speculated, but he didn\u2019t. He picked up two of the most respected professionals in the league in Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan, and gave them control over all football decisions.<\/p>\n