Om Field: Interpreting the Silence

[Om]

Interpreting the Silence
March 10, 2010

Few would have bet that five days into free agency, the Washington Redskins would have signed just one player—a journeyman offensive guard.

No, if you had been forced to bet your own money, you would have bet that by sun-up on Day One, the Redskins would have landed players like DE Julius Peppers, LB Karlos Dansby or LT Chad Clifton. Maybe more than one.

And yet here we are.

As Day Six of the 2010 free agency period slides uneventfully by, the lead story in the Washington Redskins universe continues to be their silence. With the exception of signing unsexy OG Artis Hicks (nothing personal big man) to an average contract (3 years, $9 million), the Redskins have kept their hands firmly buried in deep pockets, watching other teams earn the headlines.

Predictably, the reaction among Redskins fans and media has covered the spectrum ...

On one extreme are those critiquing the Redskins failure to launch (Losing the Offseason). On the other hand are those praising them—if with predictable snark—for showing restraint (Wisdom in Washington? 'Skins finally get smart).

And when I saw Matt Terl’s Official Blog headline yesterday, Redskins On Another Cereal Box, I have to admit to momentary jealousy over the fact I hadn’t come up such a clever way of pointing out that the Redskins have been missing in free agency action. Happily, as it turns out, neither was he.

Sorry Matt. Too easy.

The truth, as it almost always does, will turn out to be somewhere in the middle ...

More...

 

[Aston Gambino]

To be fair, if the site allowed me to have 12 options in the poll question about who the 'must have' free agent was, Artis Hicks and Maake Kemoeatu would have been 11 and 12. I only left them off because I felt it was obvious that's who they were targeting.

A great read, as always.

 

[Neophyte]

We think we know, but we don't know.

 

[Riggo-toni]

Quit frankly, the bottom line is the ShanAllehan already knows this season is going to be a complete bust, so it makes no sense to eat up future cap room for a year when the team does not even have a remote chance of sniffing the playoffs.

 

[Aston Gambino]

Might deserve it's own thread, but as it goes right along with the "We have no idea what's coming next" theme ....

... I think we just signed TE Sean Ryan.

 

[@DCGoldPants]

Quit frankly, the bottom line is the ShanAllehan already knows this season is going to be a complete bust, so it makes no sense to eat up future cap room for a year when the team does not even have a remote chance of sniffing the playoffs.

I tend to agree....sort of. I don't think they believe the season is a bust per se. I just think they realize the current talent is as good or better than anything out there. So, they are looking to improve while installing their philosophy, system, etc.

 

[China]

Might deserve it's own thread, but as it goes right along with the "We have no idea what's coming next" theme ....

... I think we just signed TE Sean Ryan.

We need a TE? Is this guy just camp fodder?

 

[Aston Gambino]

We need a TE? Is this guy just camp fodder?

Could be. Could be a upgrade to Yoder. Could be looking to trade Cooley or Davis.

The new regime has already made it clear that it disagrees with quite a few things about the '09 roster, perhaps it also disagrees on the idea that we need two pass-catching TE's.

 

[the Omniscient]

This is the exact reason why I laugh when the experts say we definitely want Sam Bradford this draft. Really how do they know? Yeah, we definitely wanted Peppers, Dansby, Rolle, etc.... If we wanted them, we would have had them just like every other year. I heard Allen is an expert at spinning opposing teams into believing he wants one thing, when he is actually doing something else.

It is all wait and see with the new regime. We never know what they are thinking.

One thing that has me really excited about the new year is the coaching staff. I think we can all agree that the last coaching staff was in over their heads, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Maybe, just maybe, our o-line is not as bad as it looked last year (minus injuries). Maybe it was the scheme they were being taught, plus the coaching of Bugel (although a great skin) who, to my knowledge, never coached a WCO line. It was always about power running with Buges.

Remember the 6-2 run during the beginning of Zorn's tenure? I remember guys saying that the run blocking at that time was carried over from Gibbs and that only the pass blocking changed. For some reason, Zorn decided to put his imprint on the running game and that is where it went horribly wrong. I could be wrong, but I swear this is what I remember.

Maybe we are better than everyone realizes, maybe not. Time will tell.

 

[China]

Could be. Could be a upgrade to Yoder.

I didn't realize, until I found out today, that Yoder is an unrestricted free agent. So perhaps this guy is a replacement.