Collinsworth blames cap for Redskins' woes

[riggofan]

This interview with Cris Collinsworth should be required reading by Redskins fans frustrated by this season:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/ ... skins-woes

If you were going to ask me what I think is best for the organization, I think what's best is to convince Robert that Mike Shanahan can take him to the next level. ...This offense has been number one, number one, number one, number one through eternity so we know it works and then you put someone with [Griffin's] physical skills into it. When I saw they made this trade I said, 'Oh my god this is going to fantastic. This is going to be the greatest offense we've ever seen.' Unfortunately, the unforeseen came into play and that was the salary cap hit. Anyone who could have foreseen $36 million taken off that team after that trade and after giving up the draft picks, so now not only are you not going to have the draft picks, you're not going to have the money to spend on free agency. Thirty six million, you're talking about at least the best six players on your team being taken off it. If you go to any team out here and take $36 million off it this late in the year when attrition starts to really kick in, I want you to find any team that will be above 3-8.

You've got to hit the right players. But I thought the tough part about it was that when the announcement was made -- on the eve of free agency. You say would they have made the trade for RG3 and given up all the draft picks if they had known they'd take a $36-million hit? My guess is no. [Then you would say], ‘OK, we're going to take a $36-million hit? Fine, I'll tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna go completely young, get rid of all our older players. And we're gonna take this core of newly drafted young key players and play with them for two years while the salary cap hit is underway and then in year three we're gonna explode on the scene.' But when they didn't know when they made the RG3 trade and they gave up all the draft picks, now you can't get the free agents to make the rest of the team. You're dead. The fact that they made the playoffs last year is much more a miracle than the fact they've won three games this year.

[welch]

I think Collinsworth is right. Every time I say to myself, "Self, they should have kept the draft choices, drafted Tanehill and Cousins, and..." I remember the cap penalty. That changed things.

[gibbsfan]

At this point its all a blur.

[hanburgerheel]

I will concede that the cap hurts, but it does NOT explain or justify the sub-par and inept product that has been seen in 2013. A 4-year staff that needs a salary cap to be lifted to make a 3-9 team become a 9-3 team is really reaching. Collinsworth just hasn't been paying close attention to this club.

[riggofan]

I will concede that the cap hurts, but it does NOT explain or justify the sub-par and inept product that has been seen in 2013. A 4-year staff that needs a salary cap to be lifted to make a 3-9 team become a 9-3 team is really reaching. Collinsworth just hasn't been paying close attention to this club.

Uh actually it explains ALOT. It explains why we have guys like Tyler Polumbus starting at right tackle. You clearly weren't paying attention in math class.

[SkinsJock]

I will concede that the cap hurts, but it does NOT explain or justify the sub-par and inept product that has been seen in 2013. A 4-year staff that needs a salary cap to be lifted to make a 3-9 team become a 9-3 team is really reaching. Collinsworth just hasn't been paying close attention to this club.

Uh, actually it explains A LOT. It explains why we have guys like Tyler Polumbus starting at right tackle.
You clearly weren't paying attention in math class.

I am still glad that we have Robert at QB - I agree that we may not have made the trade had we known about the cap hit but I am VERY glad we have an exceptional QB - these guys (or somebody with NFL smarts) will find a way to add the talent to make things work better here

Having QB like Robert changes the dynamics a lot

[Deadskins]

No cap hit next year, and even if we gave up what turns out to be a high 1st rounder, that just means all of our other picks are high in their round too. And in 2015, we'll not only have all of our money, but all of our picks too.

[SkinsJock]

No cap hit next year, and even if we gave up what turns out to be a high 1st rounder, that just means all of our other picks are high in their round too.
And in 2015, we'll not only have all of our money, but all of our picks too.

I know it's 'old' but we have to be patient …

I can see it now though … we'll have a decent year in 2014 and the nay sayers will be mad because we don't have a high first round draft pick in 2015

[riggofan]

I agree that we may not have made the trade had we known about the cap hit but I am VERY glad we have an exceptional QB - these guys (or somebody with NFL smarts) will find a way to add the talent to make things work better here

Yeah I don't really know what to make of that theory. This franchise has been so completely starved for a franchise QB, I'm not sure that we still wouldn't have made the RGIII trade even if we had known about the cap penalty. I don't care who the coach is. You're not going to win anything without a QB.

[riggofan]

No cap hit next year, and even if we gave up what turns out to be a high 1st rounder, that just means all of our other picks are high in their round too. And in 2015, we'll not only have all of our money, but all of our picks too.

Right on. I don't remember you being such an optimistic poster. I guess we've reached that throw in the towel portion of the season where we have to start looking on the bright side for next year. And yeah, it will suck to hand the Rams a top five pick, but there is a silver lining.

I wanted to add something here, because I've been defending Shanahan a lot lately. Truthfully I think I'm in the same boat as SkinsJock in that I don't have an especially strong opinion on him one way or the other. I'm just believe the smart thing to do would be to keep him one more year and maybe see if we can upgrade the def. coordinator. I'll be really curious to see what Snyder does at the end of this year. There is no question that five or ten years ago, Snyder would fire him, eat the $7m and start throwing money at the biggest name he could find.

I don't know. I just want to see patience and competence for a change instead of "let's make a big splash and excite the fan base"!

[hanburgerheel]

Make sure you save (or concoct) an excuse for when this cap-lift miraculously doesn't make a difference when the same inept coaches and staff exist. Keep the imagination churning. Maybe Collinsworth will have the answer.

[Irn-Bru]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Collinsworth is basically right on the mark. And I hadn't really thought about the fact that the penalty was laid on us immediately after we had made the trade for Robert. In retrospect it's a lot easier to see the way the impact built up like it did: "cap penalty" suggests a one-year problem but it really was a devastating hit two years in a row, and the timing couldn't have been worse given the trade we had just made.

Ayone who thinks this shouldn't be a part of the discussion regarding the state of the team is fooling themselves. As riggofan points out, that was the difference between Polumbus and a more competent upgrade. It's also been the difference between having starters at safety instead of rookies and backups.

Whether Allen/Shanahan are here next year or not, one thing I will always admire them for is the way they refused to mortgage our future in dealing with the cap hit. No shuffling contracts to make 2014 and 2015 more difficult; they took the full hit right now so that the team has a brighter long-term future. It certainly has had an impact on their job security, but it was the right thing to do, and this fan is grateful for it.

[riggofan]

Make sure you save (or concoct) an excuse for when this cap-lift miraculously doesn't make a difference when the same inept coaches and staff exist. Keep the imagination churning. Maybe Collinsworth will have the answer.

Yeah I'm sure the answer is to wheel Bill Cowher out of retirement. Yay! New coach!

[Irn-Bru]

Just one more turn of the revolving door oughta do it . . . this time will be different, I swear!

[Irn-Bru]

I forgot to add: I was very impressed when Collinsworth had the guts to say on national television last night: "Of course, I still need someone to explain to me how you can be penalized for violating the salary cap in an uncapped year — that doesn't make any sense to me." As common-sense as the position is, that's still a bold statement for a color commentator to make. Especially with Mara/Goodell likely to hear about it.

[riggofan]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Collinsworth is basically right on the mark. And I hadn't really thought about the fact that the penalty was laid on us immediately after we had made the trade for Robert. In retrospect it's a lot easier to see the way the impact built up like it did: "cap penalty" suggests a one-year problem but it really was a devastating hit two years in a row, and the timing couldn't have been worse given the trade we had just made.

Ayone who thinks this shouldn't be a part of the discussion regarding the state of the team is fooling themselves. As riggofan points out, that was the difference between Polumbus and a more competent upgrade. It's also been the difference between having starters at safety instead of rookies and backups.

Whether Allen/Shanahan are here next year or not, one thing I will always admire them for is the way they refused to mortgage our future in dealing with the cap hit. No shuffling contracts to make 2014 and 2015 more difficult; they took the full hit right now so that the team has a brighter long-term future. It certainly has had an impact on their job security, but it was the right thing to do, and this fan is grateful for it.

Me too, man. Excellent post. (Not that any of that has made this season less painful to watch.)

[riggofan]

I forgot to add: I was very impressed when Collinsworth had the guts to say on national television last night: "Of course, I still need someone to explain to me how you can be penalized for violating the salary cap in an uncapped year — that doesn't make any sense to me." As common-sense as the position is, that's still a bold statement for a color commentator to make. Especially with Mara/Goodell likely to hear about it.

Thought the same thing!

[riggofan]

Make sure you save (or concoct) an excuse for when this cap-lift miraculously doesn't make a difference when the same inept coaches and staff exist. Keep the imagination churning. Maybe Collinsworth will have the answer.

Yeah the coach with two super bowl rings is "inept". Tell me which of us has the wild imagination.

[hanburgerheel]

Make sure you save (or concoct) an excuse for when this cap-lift miraculously doesn't make a difference when the same inept coaches and staff exist. Keep the imagination churning. Maybe Collinsworth will have the answer.

Yeah the coach with two super bowl rings is "inept". Tell me which of us has the wild imagination.

I'm not a Broncos fan. He might even be an Eagle Scout and won the Pinewood Derby as a Cub Scout. I see what I see as a coach of the Burgundy & Gold. I'm content to be patient and see this cap-lift reveal even more glaringly what a crap operation the Shanny & Son experiment is. You can keep him for another 10 years for all I care. His record speaks volumes and those numbers are not imaginary.

I will also give Collinsworth props for saying the glaring truth of "How do you get penalized in a year where there was no penalty?" It's not going to make any difference now, but it is a good question to ask publicly.

[riggofan]

Make sure you save (or concoct) an excuse for when this cap-lift miraculously doesn't make a difference when the same inept coaches and staff exist. Keep the imagination churning. Maybe Collinsworth will have the answer.

Yeah the coach with two super bowl rings is "inept". Tell me which of us has the wild imagination.

I'm not a Broncos fan. He might even be an Eagle Scout and won the Pinewood Derby as a Cub Scout. I see what I see as a coach of the Burgundy & Gold. I'm content to be patient and see this cap-lift reveal even more glaringly what a crap operation the Shanny & Son experiment is. You can keep him for another 10 years for all I care. His record speaks volumes and those numbers are not imaginary.

I will also give Collinsworth props for saying the glaring truth of "How do you get penalized in a year where there was no penalty?" It's not going to make any difference now, but it is a good question to ask publicly.

It was a good question two years ago, man. Give the NFL credit though. They wrapped that thing up tight legally so that the Redskins had no recourse whatsoever, no matter how unfair and crazy it was.

Not sure if you saw my post about Shanahan earlier, but honestly I don't have a strong opinion about him to where I think he's the greatest coach ever or anything. I just think when frustrated fans are on here trying to tell us all that this guy who has coached football for 30 years, won two super bowls, and coached in the NFL for longer than some fans have been on this Earth is inept and doesn't know what he's doing, the argument loses all credibility.

Sorry, but like it or not, fans need to come to terms with the fact that there is more to the Redskins' troubles this year than "Shanahan sucks". I realize I'm just spitting in the wind here. Our answer to everything over the past fifteen+ years has been "fire the coach" or "start the back-up QB". No reason to expect anything different, I guess.

[Kilmer72]

No cap hit next year, and even if we gave up what turns out to be a high 1st rounder, that just means all of our other picks are high in their round too. And in 2015, we'll not only have all of our money, but all of our picks too.

Right on. I don't remember you being such an optimistic poster. I guess we've reached that throw in the towel portion of the season where we have to start looking on the bright side for next year. And yeah, it will suck to hand the Rams a top five pick, but there is a silver lining.

I wanted to add something here, because I've been defending Shanahan a lot lately. Truthfully I think I'm in the same boat as SkinsJock in that I don't have an especially strong opinion on him one way or the other. I'm just believe the smart thing to do would be to keep him one more year and maybe see if we can upgrade the def. coordinator. I'll be really curious to see what Snyder does at the end of this year. There is no question that five or ten years ago, Snyder would fire him, eat the $7m and start throwing money at the biggest name he could find.

I don't know. I just want to see patience and competence for a change instead of "let's make a big splash and excite the fan base"!

The problem is Burns needs to go and if Snyder says "you need to make a change at Def Coordinator if you want to make a contract extension", he may be stubborn about it. He has fired DC before but this had also lead to him getting fired in Denver.

[hanburgerheel]

[quote="hanburgerheel"

Sorry, but like it or not, fans need to come to terms with the fact that there is more to the Redskins' troubles this year than "Shanahan sucks". I realize I'm just spitting in the wind here. Our answer to everything over the past fifteen+ years has been "fire the coach" or "start the back-up QB". No reason to expect anything different, I guess.

Fair enough. But, you can't fire the OWNER either. I mean, there are countless factors that must align, sure. But, I couldn't care less what a coach's past success with different teams amounts to. I've seen nothing except one 7-game stretch that impressed me ad he actually did as much wrong during that stretch as he did right. In fact, he did more to derail it than he did to keep it on-course in that period.

[(d)oink]

Bottom line, I feel like there should be a trophy for anyone who has to listen to Chris Collinsworth for 4 straight quarters.

[SkinsJock]

Collinsworthless did add that, because of what Mike had done and was doing, this franchise in his view, would be a big deal in 2015

It did sound like he's a big fan of Robert too

[Irn-Bru]

Bottom line, I feel like there should be a trophy for anyone who has to listen to Chris Collinsworth for 4 straight quarters.