[What follows assumes that the lockout will be settled this summer and the new rules will be broadly similar to the old rules].
Year 1 - 2011 - Build The Worst Team in NFL History
A. Here is the current Redskins roster according to ESPN.com (not including the 12 draft picks). It has 74 players. On the train back from New York, I was bored so I copied it into a Word document, pretended I was a GM, and did the following:
CUT (50): Rex Grossman, James Davis, Chad Simpson, Keiland Williams, Darrel Young, Mike Sellers, Terrence Austin, Mike Furrey, Taurus Johnson, Malcolm Kelly, Santana Moss, Maurice Price, Roydell Williams, Fred Davis, Will Montgomery, Casey Rabach, Artis Hicks, Kory Lichtensteiger, Mike Williams, Xavier Fulton , Stephon Heyer, Clint Oldenburg (Offense); Adam Carriker, Phillip Daniel, Kedric Golston, Vonnie Holliday, Darrion Scott, Anthony Bryant, Joe Joseph, Maake Kemoeatu, Lorenzo Alexander, H.B. Blades , Robert Henson, Rob Jackson, Edgar Jones, Chris Wilson, Kevin Barnes, Phillip Buchanon, Macho Harris, Reggie Jones, Carlos Rogers, Byron Westbrook, Reed Doughty, Chris Horton, Kareem Moore, Sha'reff Rashad, Anderson Russell (Defense); Graham Gano, Josh Bidwell, Sam Paulescu (Specialists). [I understand some of these guys like Moss and Rogers aren't technically "cuts" because they have expired contracts].
TRADE (6) Chris Cooley (for a 4th in the 2012 draft); Jamaal Brown (5th); Albert Haynesworth (5th and 7th); Donovan McNabb (6th); DeAngelo Hall (6th); Rocky McIntosh (7th). Anyone from this list who can't be traded, even for a bag of footballs, goes on the "cut" list.
There are now 18 players on the roster.
B. Sign the 12 draft choices. There are now 30 players on the roster.
C. Look to sign only veteran free agents who have spent significant time (i.e., years) with one of these three organizations: Colts, Patriots or Steelers. The theory being that they know how an organization is supposed to be run and have good work habits that will rub off on the rest of the team. (For the same reason, I spared London Fletcher from the "cut" list). Applying this criterion, I did some Internet searching for lists of projected free agents and ended up signing three guys - Matt Light (OT), Ike Taylor (CB) and Jim Sorgi (QB). You'd have to overpay them to play here but that's ok, there should be plenty of room on the payroll after steps A and B above. There are now 33 players on the roster.
D. Fill out the remaining 47 slots (up to the training camp maximum of 80 players) with rookie free agents, practice squad guys from other teams, get a punter who played Australian Rules Football, get a soccer player to kick, hold an open tryout like in that movie with Mark Wahlberg. Just find young guys who are hungry and want to play, and let everyone compete for starting jobs on an equal footing at camp. By my count at least 15 of the 22 starting spots would be genuinely wide open, even before the inevitable injuries happen.
E. Psychological break with the past - put the three Lombardi trophies in storage, paint over the murals of the old greats, take down the Ring of Honor, no more alumni ceremonies. Treat the Redskins like an expansion team, to drive home the point (including to fans) that the glory days were 20-30 years ago and to dispel the sense of entitlement that continues to hang over everyone connected with the team. We all need to stop pretending that this is a "marquee" franchise anymore, because it makes everyone from Snyder on down thing we're always "one player away" from contending, when in reality we're at least 25 players away. They can bring all the memorabilia back once the Skins actually win something again.
F. You'd end up with a starting 22 that looked something like this:
QB: Beck; RB: Torain/Helu; WR: Armstrong, Banks, Hankenson; TE: Paulsen; LT: Williams; LG: [street FA]; C: [street FA]; RG: [street FA]; RT: Light
DE: Jarmon, Jenkins; NT: [street FA]; OLB: Orakpo, Kerrigan; ILB: Fletcher, P. Riley; CB: I. Taylor, [street FA]; S: Landry, Atogwe.
Year 2 - 2012 - Stockpile Premium Talent
Let there be no illusions. The team described above would be the worst team in NFL history, by a fairly wide margin. A team with 32 rookies (most of them not even drafted) would be lucky to win 1 game in the NFL. I honestly think, however, that Redskins fans would enjoy watching such a team much more than they have enjoyed watching most of the teams of mercenaries and spoiled brats that have been assembled over the past 20 years. Fans have become very cynical and negative about the Skins and at least this plan would get the poison out of the system and allow fans to root for players who are young, have a ton to prove, and who play really hard all the time.
A. Assuming no lottery in new CBA, we will use our "hard-earned" #1 overall pick to get Andrew Luck, our franchise QB of the future, as well as 13 other draft choices (including the 7 picks stockpiled by my trades in 2011).
B. The priority need areas by this point will likely be (1) interior line; (2) cornerback; and (3) nose tackle. In particular, unless I got lucky with one of my guys off the street who were starting at both guard spots and center all last season, John Beck is probably deceased by this point. I don't want that to happen to Andrew Luck so, to the extent I can't find good guards and centers with the first picks in Rounds 2, 3 and 4, the Skins will dip into the free-agent pool to bolster the O-line (again, with priority on bringing in guys from winning organizations).
C. The percentages say that at least a few of my 47 random guys off the street turned into real NFL players. Cut the others loose and bring in some new hungry guys. Hold another "Invincible"-style open tryout, I bet its a great PR move that makes the team look like real populists.
Year 3 - 2013 - Acquire Playmakers
Hopefully the Skins were able to go 5-11 or so in Luck's first season. Now we've gotten rid of all the cancers and built a young nucleus of Luck, Trent Williams, Orakpo, Kerrigan, Landry, and 2-3 guys I brought off the street that are now household names.
A. Having fixed the O-line last year, the goal in this year's draft is to get two of these three needs - (1) featured back; (2) #1 WR; and (3) shutdown corner.
B. We will open things up a bit more in free agency to obtain whichever one of the three key needs we didn't fill in the draft.
Year 4 - Luck Makes the Leap
In his second season, behind a much-improved O-Line and with a couple of decent playmakers, Luck becomes the best Redskins QB since at least Brad Johnson. At this point the Skins are hopefully a real NFL team again and are challenging for a playoff berth.
This is actually a very well thought out and insightful plan. I like it. I would like it even more if I felt there was a chance that the organization would listen to the more passionate, yet educated fans in Redskins nation. Our problem has been that trash has just been recycled from regime to regime, and part of the reason is because dumping that trash is too expensive and involved a lot of dead money in the previous two collective bargaining agreements. If the fanbase would agree to be patient and go through something like this, and if the ownership could stray away from the flashy draft choices and primadonna free agent signings, we could institute something like what you have proposed and really be set for not just 3-5 years, but 5-7 years because there is a lot of room for depth in your plan. Good Work, Michael. You aren't such a pessimist after all. Once you change your tone on your comments on facebook, I will allow them to remain up for public viewing ;-)
Posted by: Atul Sharma | May 01, 2011 at 02:54 PM