Let me just lay this out there: I don’t think there’s any chance the Redskins make a deal with the Chargers to acquire Vincent Jackson. Not for a second- and third-round draft pick, at least.
However…
We’ve seen some weird things happen in DC and I don’t think anyone would be surprised to see Jackson in week five wearing Ricky Sanders’ old number (it’s available). Surprised? No. Happy? Depends on the price paid. It doesn’t take much research to find cautionary tales of over-payment and under-performance during the Dan Snyder era and, collectively, Redskins fans are perpetually the abused spouse in this relationship. No matter how many times we’re wronged, we’re quite forgiving when that new car shows up in the driveway—even if it took a second or third mortgage to get it.
We endured Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, Patrick Ramsey, Adam Archuleta and Brandon Lloyd on the field. Off the field, we saw Marty Schottenheimer fired after a .500 recovery from an 0-5 start, draft picks discarded and… Steve Spurrier. Last season alone, we saw a head coach lose play-calling duties to a part-time Bingo caller, Haynesworth show up to town presumably just to test our oxygen supply and a ban on signs at FedEx Field enacted mid-season—only to repealed three weeks later due to public pressure.
Throughout that tailspin called the Redskins’ 2009 season, it felt like a significant shift was occurring in the fan psyche in response to these gross missteps by management, causing groups to sprout up looking to buy the Redskins or wear black to a game in protest as some kind of “Burgundy Revolution“.
Now, it seems that the discontent for management has been neatly packaged up with the game day disappointments, assigned their respective scapegoats, and placed in the rear view mirror.
You may want to check the side view, too: Objects may be closer than they appear.
Let’s revisit:
- 12/17/09 – Vinny Cerrato resigns, Bruce Allen hired as GM
(Snyder: “Obviously this has been a very disappointing season. We disappointed everybody. Ourselves, fans. With everything that happened, it was time for change.”) - 1/4/10 – Jim Zorn is fired
(Snyder: “This has been an extremely difficult season for our organization and for the fans… [Allen and I] are both determined to do whatever it takes to build a championship team. That process begins today.”) - 1/5/10 – Mike Shanahan hired
- 2/7/10 – NFL season ends. Free agency begins. Plenty of rumors and speculation is printed, but all is quiet in Ashburn.
- 4/4/10 – On Easter Sunday, three months to the day after Zorn was ousted, the Redskins announced that Donovan McNabb had come save our struggling franchise. Shanahan, Allen and McNabb: DC’s very own trinity.
There’s the big name we were all waiting for.
After the McNabb signing, we saw Willie Parker and Larry Johnson brought in. To the credit of those making the decisions, the compensation for the big names this time around does not seem like they will cost the Redskins their future—that is, assuming McNabb’s performance stays strong and we don’t resent the loss of even more draft picks.
When Willie Parker was cut, no one was surprised. It was unlikely the Redskins would carry all three of their veteran backs through the regular season. But, when it was announced yesterday that Larry Johnson had been released, it seemed a bit…odd. Why after two games and only four uneventful carries? Was that really a fair evaluation in the RB game day competition? His release was explained as “preparation for this week’s game against the Rams.” Really?
I want to be as optimistic as every other Redskin fan out there that knows there were some very good years not so long ago. I want us to get back to those so-called “glory years.” But, I’m wary. What if our mediocrity hasn’t been Spurrier and Zorn and Cerrato? There’s a slight whiff of something in the air. Will Jackson be the next big splash? Are we coming back once again for more abuse?
Shanahan may be denying all reports on Jackson, but we’ll find out part of the answer today at 4:00pm.
Redskins365 