What's Considered Success for Next Season?

[The Huddle]

I too am torn between what I would like to see and what I suspect I will see.

On the one hand, 2007 will be Year 4 of Gibbs II. Given carte blanche by Snyder to redesign the team, he has assembled a coaching staff unmatched in both name recognition and years of experience. The roster is populated primarily by players he and his coaches hand-picked. Both are supplemented by payrolls that are either at or near the top of the league.
Everything Gibbs has been asked for he has received, with Snyder quietly sliding into the background.

Considering all that, anything short of an 11-5/12-4 season and a division title should be inexcusable.

In reality, this team will be starting a still-green quarterback, seeking (still) a consistent #2 wideout, and attempting to rebuild a shattered defense with what we can only assume will be at least in a large part the same cast of characters who brought you this year's debacle.

Looking at it from that angle, I think 8-8 is a reasonable mark, maybe 9-7 with a few breaks.

Personally I feel that the Redskins need a counterweight to Gibbs in the form of a GM who has some degree of autonomy (i.e., who can at least appeal to Snyder in the case of a dispute in much the same way Beathard appealed to The Squire back in the good ol' days).