[SmootSmack]

I had posted this on the old warpath site, but I'll post it again:

I have no beef with Snyder. There is no limit to what he will do to acquire talent for his team. Imagine if he just pocketed all the money he makes off the Redskins instead of reinvesting it in the team. I think the Redskins new strategy of poaching free agents entering their prime is a sound one. We see the Redskins as a football team, but they are first and foremost a businessl. In fact, the formal name of the Redskins as an organization is actually, "Washington Football, Inc." And as a business, they have zeroed in on the competitive advantage they have over every single other team in the NFL, which is that they are the most profitable cash-generating franchise. Because all teams share TV revenue, the only way to get a "leg up" on competing teams is to generat revenue from luxury boxes, which is unshared. And the Skins have the most of those. Because all teams have to equally comply with the salary cap for contracts, the only way to get an advantage over competing teams is to offer signing bonuses, which can be prorated over the term of a contract even if they are paid out as upfront lump sum. So it's not that Snyder and the Redskins FO think they're smarter than everyone else; it's a fact that this is an advantage the Redskins have. If they have money to use, why not use it?

The criticism of Snyder is particularly interesting in 20/20 hindsight. In Snyder's first year as owner, 1999, the Redskins made the playoffs and, in fact, were a point away from the NFC Championship. But keep in mind the Redskins finished that season 10-6 after barely beating a hapless 49ers team in overtime. Had we lost, we would have been 9-7 and hoping to catch a break. Instead, it was the first and last season under Norv that we made the playoffs and the first and last time since the magical '91 season. And that year, because the Redskins made it "over the hump" and the only thing new was Snyder, all the revisionist history was about how the success was thanks to the owner. Unlike Cooke (particulary John), the fable went, Snyder did not "tolerate mediocrity." No, unlike the stodgy and "patient" Cookes of the old money of real estate, Snyder was a product of the Internet age, so he demanded results "now". And so the story went that that "pressure" that he put on Norv and the team, is what put them over the top.

Of course, now that the Redskins are mired in a string of losing seasons (instead of squeaking into the playoffs by one game by beating the hapless 49ers in OT) all that has been turned upside down because now Snyder is a "meddler" who "interferes" and lacks a "plan". Interesting

Snyder will do everything in his power to help Gibbs win, and that's all any coach, player or fan could ask for