The state of the Redskins remains unclear at best

Mar. 15, 2017

Kirk Cousins recently said he asked owner Dan Snyder what the team’s direction was. That contradicts previous reports that said Cousins went to Snyder to demand a trade after being franchise tagged for the second consecutive year. Now I don’t know which actually occurred. I do know what Cousins says he said has caused me to wonder the same thing. What is the direction of the franchise? Better yet, do they have a direction?

Let’s start with a little history. Since Snyder took ownership in 1999 the Redskins have won two playoff games with the most recent coming in 2005. In that span of time they’ve never won more than 10 games in a season. Norv Turner was canned in 2000 despite a playoff appearance in 1999 and a 7-6 record the following season before getting the boot. Marty Schottenheimer was fired after one season of 8-8 football. Then there was the failed experiment known as Steve Spurrier who promptly returned to the SEC after two seasons of being bad. Joe Gibbs returned for four seasons but could not bring back the glory of the 1980s and early 90s. Then Snyder took the complete opposite approach and hired Jim Zorn whose previous job description was “QBs coach.” Two years later Mike Shanahan came to DC but John Elway and Terrell Davis did not and Shanahan was gone after 4 years. The jury remains out on Jay Gruden. With the exception of Zorn and Spurrier, all the other coaches experienced success in the NFL from playoff appearances to Super Bowl titles but not in DC. Who is the one constant in all of this? That would be Dan Snyder.

This is Dan Snyder. He owns the Washington Redskins.

No stability at the quarterback position hasn’t helped. Signing Jeff George was a disaster. Patrick Ramsey was just bad. Mark Brunell was probably past his prime. Jason Campbell was just bad. Donovan McNabb was definitely past his prime. We know what happened to Robert Griffin III. In some respects, the jury is still out on Kirk Cousins. And then there were just terrible free agent signings that included Jeff George. Deion Sanders was signed in 2000 to a seven year deal. He played one season and retired. Adam Archuleta got a six year deal in 2006 and he also spent just one year in Washington. Antwaan Randle El got a 7 year deal in 2006. In his four years in DC he never had more than 53 catches. Anybody remember the name Albert Haynesworth? This dude makes Ndamokung Suh look like a choir boy. Who was ultimately calling the shots on these disaster deals? That would be Dan Snyder.

Let’s talk about Scot McCloughan who has worked for NFL teams since 1994. The Redskins hired him as general manager in January of 2015 and coincidentally the Redskins posted back to back winning season for the first time since 1996-1997. So naturally this offseason we started to see issues manifesting themselves concerning McCloughan. He wasn’t at the scouting combine, and although I don’t give a rat’s behind about the combine itself, it’s still probably something a general manager of an NFL franchise should attend. The Redskins said McCloughan was tending to a family matter. Then news came out that McCloughan was no longer part of personnel decisions within the organization. Well that’s not good considering that’s basically what a GM does. And then on the first day of free agency (which is the first day of the new NFL season) Scot McCloughan was fired. I’ve seen reports saying it was due to an alcohol problem which was also cited when McCloughan exited San Francisco. I’ve also seen headlines it was because McCloughan wanted to trade Kirk Cousins. Meanwhile, Cousins was said to have “demanded’ to be traded but has since denied those reports. Confused? I know I am. Considering all the reports swirling about McCloughan, it’s not surprised he was ultimately canned. It is surprising the soap opera feel to how it all went down. I take that back. We’re still talking about the Washington Redskins. Who are owned by Dan Snyder.

Speaking of Cousins, he’s been franchise tagged for the second straight offseason. So it is perfectly reasonable to assume that he asked for a trade considering Kyle Shanahan would love to have him out in San Francisco and the 49ers would pay any amount of money after dealing with Colin Kaepernick kneeling at the beginning of football games and not the at end of them. Apparently Dan Snyder doesn’t want to trade Cousins. Well for the love of Darrelle Revis pay the man! The Redskins haven’t had a quarterback be this productive since I have no idea because I’ve already researched their quarterbacks enough and the list is too nauseating to go through. And considering free agency options are normally never good and the draft crop is less than stellar, the Redskins don’t have better options. So on one hand Snyder is right not to want to pay Cousins franchise money. But considering all the ill-advised contracts he’s doled out through the years this should be a no-brainer. Once again, it’s the Redskins. And Dan Snyder.

Kirk Cousins would probably like a long-term contract

But of course Jay Gruden gets a two-year extension after three average seasons that include one “whoops” playoff appearance that was a quick wild card exit. Last year the season started with Gruden letting his defensive coordinator allow Antonio Brown to run laps around Bashaud Breeland while Josh Norman twiddled his thumbs on the other side of the field. It ended with a lackluster effort in Week 17 when the Redskins came up smaller than Muggsy Bogues in a game that could’ve sent the Redskins back to the playoffs. I guess they can’t handle too much success too often.

So what am I saying? Mostly the Washington Redskins are bottom of the barrel garbage and much of this can be attributed to Daniel Snyder either being too much of a buffoon or hiring too many buffoons that do buffoon-like things. The direction of the franchise? No one knows.