Tag: Daniel Snyder (Page 4 of 5)

Will the Redskins ever win under Snyder?

When it comes to examining the Washington Redskins, let’s take our foot off Jim Zorn’s neck for a second, shall we?

Since Daniel Snyder purchased the Redskins in May of 1999, they’ve had a winning record only three times in those 10 years (1999, 2005, 2007). In each of those winning seasons, they went to the playoffs but advanced no further than the first round. (And in 2007, they didn’t even make it past the first round.)

During Snyder’s reign as owner in Washington, the Redskins have been aggressive in free agency, inking notable names Bruce Smith, Jeff George, Deion Sanders, Jeremiah Trotter, Jessie Armstead, Randy Thomas, Lavernous Coles, John Hall, Phillip Daniels, Marvin Washington, Shawn Springs, Antwaan Randle El, Adam Archuleta, Andre Carter, London Fletcher, Fred Smoot, Jason Fabini, Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall.

But where has it gotten them?

This past offseason, Snyder made Haynesworth the richest defensive player in NFL history and so far, the Skins have an ugly win against the Rams and a loss to the previously 0-19 Lions to show for it. Granted, it’s still early and Washington can turn things around, but a team doesn’t lose to the Lions without having massive internal bleeding.

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Zorn to keep his job for now

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter via his Twitter page, Redskins head coach Jim Zorn’s job is safe for now. Schefter says that Zorn calls the plays, works well with Jason Campbell and would be too much to replace in the middle of the season.

Zorn’s ability to win in the NFL was already questioned last year after the Skins lost six of their last eight games. But a 1-2 start this season with an ugly home win over the Rams in Week 2 and an embarrassing loss to the Lions on Sunday has put his job on life support.

There’s really no excuse for Washington to be 1-2 when two of the three opponents on their schedule to start the season were the Rams and the Lions. Ironically, the only game in which they looked halfway decent was against the undefeated Giants in Week 1.

The Skins host the 0-3 Bucs in Week 4, travel to Carolina to play the Panthers in Week 5 and then host the Chiefs in Week 6. Those are three winnable games for Washington and if they aren’t at least competitive, one would imagine that Daniel Snyder wouldn’t hesitate to make a midseason move by firing Zorn.

But as Schefter reports, the problem is that Snyder would not only be replacing a head coach, but an offensive play caller as well. Chances are that even if he wanted to replace Zorn, he doesn’t have all the pieces to pull off a move like that right now.

This next three weeks are going to be crucial for Zorn and it’ll be interesting to see if he can save his job.

Skins’ Snyder to go after Vick? Don’t count on it.

According to a report by the Washington Post, the Redskins made a “quick and unanimous” decision to pass on signing suspended quarterback Michael Vick if he were released by the Falcons (which is inevitable).

Some figured that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder would consider making a move for Vick because well, Snyder usually makes decisions without completely thinking them through and signing the troubled QB would certainly play into his consistently clueless thought process. But Vick would have been a horrible fit for Washington for a couple of reasons.

Outside of the obvious reasons not to pursue Vick (i.e. he could be suspended by the league, he’s nowhere near in NFL game shape, and the little fact that he used to breed dogs in order to fight them in his spare time), he simply isn’t a good fit for the West Coast Offense.

When he became head coach of the Falcons in 2004, Jim Mora naively hired buddy Greg Knapp as offensive coordinator because he thought Knapp could teach Vick the WCO. The problem was, Vick’s main struggles surrounded around his inability to set his feet properly, making quick reads and getting the ball out of his hand in a timely manner – skill sets that are imperative for a quarterback to have in order to be successful in the WCO.

Vick not being an ideal fit to run the WCO would have been reason enough for the Redskins not to pursue him – pissing off Jason Campbell would have been another. Snyder has done a horrible job instilling confidence in Campbell this past offseason and if Washington actively pursued Vick, it might have sent Campbell off the deep end. I realize Campbell doesn’t have massive upside, but he does have potential and with a little support, he might even become a reliable QB for the Skins in the near future.

Either way, don’t look for the Skins to pursue Vick – Snyder be damned. It just doesn’t seem like an ideal fit when you look at the situation realistically.

Dolphins bring back Jason Taylor

Free agent defensive end Jason Taylor signed a one-year, $1.1 million contact to re-join the Dolphins. The deal also includes a $400,000 signing bonus.

The deal is a good one for Miami, as Taylor will earn just $1.1 million in base salary, with incentives that could bring him another $400,000. He had been contracted to earn more than $8 million with Washington this season.

Rumors have linked Taylor to Miami since he was let go by Washington earlier this year, but the Dolphins seemed to be unwilling to go that route as they attempted to build their roster through the draft and younger free agents.

But coach Tony Sparano told Joe Rose on 560-AM on Tuesday that, with the draft complete and still lingering needs on defense, the front office would be taking another look at the Taylor situation this week.

“My heart has always been in Miami,” Taylor said in a statement. “I’m truly motivated to call myself a Dolphin again.

This is just another example of Bill Parcells getting the best of a situation. Taylor pissed Parcells off last year when he skipped the Dolphins’ voluntary off-season workouts and stated how he wanted out of Miami. So Parcells found a dope in Daniel Snyder and shipped Taylor to Washington for a second round pick in 2009 and a sixth round pick in 2010. And look how everything turned out – Taylor is back in Miami at a drastically discounted price, the Dolphins drafted Pat White with that second round pick, they still have the sixth rounder in their back pocket for next year and the Redskins are left with nothing.

Parcells wins again.

Campbell to demand trade if Redskins draft QB

According to NFL.com, quarterback Jason Campbell says he’ll demand a trade if the Redskins draft a quarterback at this weekend’s NFL draft.

Even though the article doesn’t specify, I’m sure Campbell means he’ll demand a trade if Washington selects a quarterback in the first round. I highly doubt Campbell would be upset if he was watching the draft this weekend and at the bottom ticker it read: Round 6, Pick 186 Washington Redskins: Graham Harrell, QB, Texas Tech.

Personally, I don’t blame Campbell for demanding a trade if the Skins take USC Mark Sanchez at No. 13 or better yet, trade up to get him. Daniel Snyder has put Campbell through the ringer this entire offseason by attempting to trade for Jay Cutler and then talking with free agent Byron Leftwich (now with the Bucs). Snyder has shown little support for Campbell over the past month and things appear to be coming to a head this week as the draft approaches.

The Washington Times speculates that if the Skins trade up to get Sanchez, they have a trade partner for Campbell in the Jets. That scenario certainly makes sense, but it would obviously be contingent on whether or not Washington could land Sanchez, which might be hard given that Seattle could be interested in him at No. 4.

Another scenario to keep an eye on is what the Browns do with Brady Quinn. If Seattle passes on Sanchez and Cleveland loves him at No. 5, the Browns could send Quinn to Washington and then the Redskins could trade Campbell to the Jets. But at this point, that’s way too much speculation and while it’s fun to talk about all of the scenarios, fans are usually left disappointed at the lack of big trades that occur on draft day.

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