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Albert Haynesworth has his defenders and they come from the Worldwide Leader in Sports: ESPN.

The first is a case presented by freelance writer Patrick Hruby who makes a pair of analogies so ridiculous he must have written them tongue-in-cheek.

In An Albert Haynesworth defense motion, Hruby cooks up a story about a pastry chef facing new work conditions.

"Imagine you're a pastry chef. The top pastry chef in New York. A bunch of restaurants want you. One restaurant offers you more money than the others, plus the opportunity to run the dessert menu. You take it. A year later, the same restaurant switches to an all-fondue format and demands that you become a sous chef, chopping chocolate-dippable fruit wedges in the back room."

Hruby says Big Al has a right to act out in frustration. I get that. He says anyone so annoyed at being jerked around would call in sick and check the want ads. I get that too. Then he insults Redskins fans by says we should direct our ire over his position at some of the team's decision makers for striking the bonus-rich deal with Haynesworth.

Where the bleap has this guy been since game three last season? In making his case, Hruby omits a few key points.

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Fan ire's already been directed at the decision-makers, one of whom is already gone, the other urged to fire himself.

As for Hruby's analogy, if that guy is indeed the best chef in town, he could and would quit and get a better job anywhere.

That's exactly the deal Haynesworth was offered by Mike Shanahan. We'll let you out of your contract. Make your best deal anywhere and you're free to go--as long as you don't take the big bonus to stay.

Guess what? The great chef found out that he's not so much in-demand. His last restaurant refused to take him back. Maybe he's lost some skills or has a bad attitude. The other joints in town know that conditions change all the time. If they don't change, they will lose. They need chefs who can help them. Nobody else loves him like his current restaurant. If he stays, he might become a better chef.

ESPN's Jemele Hill makes the more serious argument in The stakes in Mike Shanahan's leverage.

Hill wonders if the Redskins are overplaying their hand. With so much at stake, with a Pro Bowl quarterback under center, Washington needs a Pro Bowl season from Haynesworth to get anywhere this year.

"The last thing this team needs is a distraction of this magnitude before the season even begins."

Preseason is just the time to get distractions out of the way. Haynesworth played better than given credit for last year. It was not a Pro Bowl performance, largely because of conditioning. What's the issue now? Conditioning.

It's football. What happens when an injury forces coaches to move players to different positions? Can't Haynesworth do what Lorenzo Alexander did last year and play on the defensive and offensive line? (Come to think of it, Big Al would be a pretty fierce tackle. But don't mention that to Shanahan.)

Here's what will happen if Shanahan goes too far. The veteran team captains will whisper in Shanny's ear: enough. Shanny will whisper in the strength coach's ear: your watch is too slow." The strength coach will declare Haynesworth fit without ever saying whether he passed or not. The coach will mumble something about employee confidentially.

Whispers may already have gone into Shanahan's ear. Commissioner Roger Goodell visited Redskins Park. He met privately with Haynesworth. Hmmm.

This whole issue is a crises only to Haynesworth. Sooner or later, he and the coach will resolve it like men, professionally and quietly.

Point After: Goodell said he passed the conditioning test. Right. So did I. So did you. And your grandmother.

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Over the past two offseasons, the much maligned Washington Redskins front office addressed the two biggest weaknesses on the team--the offensive and defensive lines. Along the way, Danny Snyder upgraded the head coach and quarterback while adding the first general manager since Charley Casserly.

That brings wide receiver to the top of the fix-it list.

Failure to get this done cannot be laid completely at the feet of Vinny Cerrato. The Skins have tried and failed to build an elite receiving corps since Art Monk and Gary Clark retired. Desperate Redskins fans were elated with rumors of Washington's interest in San Diego wideout Vincent Jackson.

Slow down there, cowboy. There are six reasons why Jackson won't have an impact on the Redskins' 2010 season.

1. Jackson may not be available. Charger GM A.J. Smith has the inconvenient habit of not renegotiating contracts when players hold out. He will not talk trade with Jackson's camp until Jackson signs his Restricted Free Agent tender. Jackson says he'll stay out for as long as the CBA allows (10 games) and Smith is preparing the Chargers to compete without him. This impasse will end sometime, but there is no end in sight now.

2. Jackson may go to Seattle. The Seahawks are just as desperate for a wide receiver threat as the Redskins. Their No. 1 draft pick is just as good as Washington's draft pick. Bottom line: Jackson is just as likely to play for the Chargers or the Seahawks as the Redskins.

3. Jackson is only good for 13 games this season. Fortunately, it will be the last 13 games in the season. The NFL suspended Jackson for three games this season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. That means Jackson won't be available for Washington's home game against Dallas September 12.

4. Jackson missed the Redskins OTAs. By the Haynesworth precedent, that means he can't practice with the team until he passes the Shanahan conditioning test. We don't know what shape Jackson is in. Bringing him on board now adds spice to the Haynesworth stew. Mmmm, delicious.

5. Will the Jackson accept what he is worth? Not what Jackson wants; what he's worth? Jackson wants a deal comparable to Brandon Marshall's contract with Miami (four-year, $47 million, $24 million guaranteed). Jackson's value may be half to one-third less. With Washington anxious to show how they've changed, would they pay the big bucks just to land a flashy player who will solve all their problems? Would Jackson be happy with a six year, $30 million contract with $10 million guaranteed? Would he happy with that deal a year from now, if he's trumped by another wide receiver contract? Would he restructure if the Skins need to adjust to a new salary cap? Would he show up while a deal is being worked out? See where this is going?

6. Does Jackson fit the Redskins offense? This is the big one. The Redskins are a West Coast team. Jackson plays in a Downfield Offense team. He will have a steep learning curve when he arrives, if ever. He missed the OTAs, is missing training camp and will miss at least three games this year. There's a price to be paid for that. The currency is time. It cannot be avoided.

Don't get the idea I'm opposed to landing Jackson. I'm all for it. He would be the best receiver on the roster. But, there's a but. However good Jackson looks on paper, adding him now won't do much for the Redskins this season.

Now 2011, that's another story.

Over the past two offseasons, the much maligned Washington Redskins front office addressed the two biggest weaknesses on the team--the offensive and defensive lines. Along the way, Danny Snyder upgraded the head coach and quarterback while adding the first general manager since Charley Casserly.

That brings wide receiver to the top of the fix-it list.

Failure to get this done cannot be laid completely at the feet of Vinny Cerrato. The Skins have tried and failed to build an elite receiving corps since Art Monk and Gary Clark retired. Desperate Redskins fans were elated with rumors of Washington's interest in San Diego wideout Vincent Jackson.

Slow down there, cowboy. There are six reasons why Jackson won't have an impact on the Redskins' 2010 season.

1. Jackson may not be available. Charger GM A.J. Smith has the inconvenient habit of not renegotiating contracts when players hold out. He will not talk trade with Jackson's camp until Jackson signs his Restricted Free Agent tender. Jackson says he'll stay out for as long as the CBA allows (10 games) and Smith is preparing the Chargers to compete without him. This impasse will end sometime, but there is no end in sight now.

2. Maybe Jackson goes to Seattle. The Seahawks are just as desperate for a wide receiver threat as the Redskins. Their No. 1 draft pick is just as good as Washington's draft pick. Bottom line: Jackson is just as likely to play for the Chargers or the Seahawks as the Redskins.

3. Jackson is only good for 13 games this season. Fortunately, it will be the last 13 games in the season. The NFL suspended Jackson for three games this season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. That means Jackson won't be available for Washington's home game against Dallas September 12.

4. Jackson missed the Redskins OTAs. That means he can't practice with the team until he passes the Shanahan conditioning test. We don't know what shape Jackson is in. Bringing him on board now adds spice to the Haynesworth stew. Mmmm, delicious.

5. Will the Jackson accept what he is worth? Not will they pay what Jackson wants; what he's worth? Jackson wants a deal comparable to Brandon Marshall's contract with Miami (four-year, $47 million, $24 million guaranteed). Jackson's value may be half to one-third less. With Washington anxious to show how they've changed, would they pay the big bucks just to land a flashy player who will solve all their problems? Would Jackson be happy with a six year, $30 million contract with $10 million guaranteed? Would he happy with that deal a year from now, if he's trumped by another wide receiver contract? Would he restructure if the Skins need to adjust to a new salary cap? Would he show up while a deal is being worked out?

6. Does Jackson fit the Redskins offense? This is the big one. The Redskins are a West Coast team. Jackson plays in a Downfield Offense team. He will have a steep learning curve when he arrives, if ever. He's missed the OTAs, is missing training camp and will miss at least three games this year. There's a price to be paid for that. The currency is time. It cannot be avoided.

Don't get the idea I'm opposed to landing Jackson. I'm all for it. He would be the best receiver on the roster. But, there's a but. However good Jackson looks on paper, adding him to the roster now won't do much for the Redskins this season.

Now 2011, that's another story.

I'm pretty much on record at this point saying that the Redskins will regret the McNabb trade.  Thing is, I don't think anyone inside Redskins park is actually going to regret trading for McNabb.  It's easy to look back at the Jason Taylor trade, see a paltry 3.5 sacks, and just call it a bad deal.  Vinny Cerrato admitted as much when he cleared Taylor for the $8 million dollars of cap space his release created.  It's much harder to evaluate a trade in a negative light if McNabb throws for 3,400 yards and 22 TDs as starting quarterback of the Redskins in 2010.

Those numbers are no "3.5 sacks", that's an above average quarterback season.  And, if you poll the peoples, that's the expectation for McNabb's season in Washington this year.  Sure, the Redskins have managed to post a 4-12 record with identical quarterback numbers, but you can win with 3,400 yards and 22 TDs.  And with the running game that the Redskins are flashing in training camp, chances are they probably will win with those numbers.  The larger picture is that those numbers would mean little in a season where all phases of the team weren't ready to compete except the passing game.  It remains to be seen how close to competing this roster actually is, but if the Redskins decreased their total of wins by one (a conservative total) in each of the next three seasons by trading two picks for McNabb, it seems like they'd be looking for much more than just a one win increase this year.

McNabb's acquisition would require both a playoff berth, and considerable success in the playoffs to make sense for the Redskins in the long term.  If the Redskins merely make the playoffs under McNabb, it wouldn't be clear exactly how that's different from what Jason Campbell has already accomplished here.  If there's a little bit of a playoff run, then it will be much easier to feel good about the trade.  But if McNabb is one of the offensive leaders on the best offense the Redskins have had in the last five years, are we really going to criticize the deal that brought him here if the team declines in future seasons?  Even one good season could take a very legitimate criticism of the McNabb trade, and make it hard to critique honestly.  It still hurts the future, and it still might not have brought much return, but if there's a tangible improvement in the offense in 2010, people are going to point to that.  I know, because I did it when Mark Brunell was here.

But today, we have an interesting tidbit from ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, referenced to in the linked post at Hogs Haven.  Sal notes that, in the wake of more Favre retirement talk, McNabb's people might have their eyes set on a bigger prize: starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings.

It's not a bombshell.  Pretty much no one expected Favre to play past this year anyway (at least, he doesn't have an NFL contract past this year), and McNabb had his eye on Minnesota at the time he was acquired.  This is not a distraction.  McNabb is all in for the 2010 season with the Redskins.  But, as fans are just now finding out, McNabb has a lot of options for football after the 2010 season, and the Redskins have to convince him that this is where he should finish his career, and also, he has to convince the Redskins to postpone a much needed rebuilding movement.  If the Redskins want McNabb, and McNabb wants to be a Redskin, what happens in Minnesota is irrelevant.  The second to last thing McNabb wants at this point in his career is to bounce around the league unable to find the kind of stability he once had in Minnesota.  The last thing he wants is to get locked into a long term contract on a franchise with no direction.

This is why it's best for the Redskins and McNabb to postpone an extension for about five to seven games of the 2010 season, and really evaluate how he takes to the system and what the Redskins truly have.  Fans need to ignore what happened in Philadelphia, and analysts -- ahem -- must ignore what the Redskins traded for McNabb.  It's a sunk cost.  The Redskins realize that McNabb and Mike Shanahan could be just a one year marriage, and that it's the on the field play that could determine if there's more here than just a lukewarm relationship.

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Brett Favre informed the Minnesota Vikings that he is retiring. Again. Maybe.

With Brett, you can't be sure. Maybe he is frustrated because his ankle hurt this morning. Maybe it will feel better tomorrow. What's certain is that the Vikes are a better team by far with Favre than without him. With Favre, they will contend for the Conference title. Without him, the Vikings are in the running for a wild card.

Why is this good news for the Redskins? For a week or so, the football talking heads will focus on Favre instead of Albert Haynesworth. And because the Vikings are on the Redskins' schedule November 28. Mike Shanahan is 2-3 in regular season games against Favre, not counting the win over the Packers in the 1998 Super Bowl. Joe Gibbs never beat a Favre-led team.

We have Favre just where we want him. Off the schedule.

Point After: Jason Reid--Shanahan not sold on Favre retirement.

(Vikings owner Ziggy) Wilf confident Favre will be back

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Time was when the very name"Colt Brennan" would guarantee 600 hits to a blog site. Most of them from Hawaii.

Brennan got the best possible news from the Washington Redskins today. They dropped him.

Hard as that sounds, it gives Brennan time to sign with another team early in training camp. Time is in short supply for Brennan who will be 27 on August 16, the age when quarterbacks with potential are already starting. Brennan was third on the Redskins depth chart and fading, tainted as a Vinny Cerrato draft pick.

Hawaii fans loved Brennan. In time, Washington fans loved him too for his infectious personality and the impression, in 2008, that he was a playmaker. His march to start was interrupted in 2009 by injuries to his hip and hamstring. The Redskins placed him on injured reserve.

Were Brennan any younger, the Shanahans might have been willing to develop him. He was unlikely to start next season with Donovan McNabb on the roster. That made it too expensive to use a roster spot on him.

Brennan never impressed pro coaches the way he impressed Hawaii fans. I blame June Jones for that. Jones is out of the NFL. So is his Red Gun offense of the 'Nineties, even though the league is more pass happy now. Brennan did not come out of Jones' system with the mechanics favored by the pros.

Still, we all pulled for the guy who was everybody's favorite underdog and who had a series of weird connections to the Redskins.

June Jones other quarterback of note was Jeff George with the 1995 Atlanta Falcons. Did I just use Colt Brennan and Jeff George in the same sentence?

Brennan won the 2006 Sammy Baugh Trophy, awarded to the nation's top college passer.

Washington released Brennan to make room for John Beck acquired by trade today from the Baltimore Ravens. Jim Zorn, former Redskins head coach, is the quarterback coach in Baltimore. So, Brennan is cut to make room for a Jim Zorn cast-off.

Now, Brennan's football future hinges on what he learned from Zorn. 

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Mark Schlereth told us to expect Mike Shanahan to run crisp, up-tempo "full go" practices and reports of the first weekend of the Washington Redskins training camp bears him out.

An AP story by Joseph White says Redskins players see Shanahan's practices as "pure football."

"I've been very impressed by the way we practice. I couldn't ask for anything more but for us to just go out there and run a ton of plays," tight end Chris Cooley said Saturday. "It's unbelievable how much of our offense we've installed being here in two days. We probably ran 100 plays out there today. There's something that can't make up for actually running the plays and seeing them work against the defense."

White's story says that Shanahan's morning practices are long, with players in shoulder pads and shorts. The players are told to hit, but not tackle, when running 11-on-11 plays.

Gone are the creative drills and gimmicks of the Jim Zorn era. Says Devin Thomas, "It's just pure football, back to the basics and do what we got to do."

Spence at DC Pro Sports Report confirms all this in his impressions of Redskins training camp.

"Things move crisply under Mike Shanahan. There is no screwing around. No tossing beach balls at quarterbacks. No chit-chat. No wasted space. Horns move the players from drill to drill and the coaches move the players during the drills."

Spence goes on to describe player performance in the first three days of camp. Clinton Portis is a bright spot.

"...Portis is a new man out there. He looks quicker than he has in years. He has real burst and acceleration, something we’ve seen precious little of in recent years. Right now, he looks as good as anyone on the team. It shows what Portis can do when he actually works in the offseason instead of loafing for six months."

That's good news. Portis has been the best talent on the offense since his arrival in 2004. That may not be true now with Donovan McNabb on the roster, but Portis remains the class of the running backs by far. Passing draws most of the attention by fans, but Shanahan's offense needs running to win.

Forget that stuff about Shanny not winning Super Bowls without John Elway. He never won Super Bowls without Terrell Davis. He might have if he hadn't traded Portis to Washington. True he got Champ Bailey and he scammed Danny Snyder out of an extra draft pick used to select Tatum Bell. But Bell was no Portis.

Portis believed that he was underpaid after rushing for 3,099 yards and 29 touchdowns in two seasons in Denver. Shanahan believed Portis was a system running back who could be replaced by any warm body. They were both wrong. These guys bring out the best in each other. Portis is just as critical to Shanahan's offense as he was to Joe Gibbs'.

We're not buying into any 10-win hype for the 2010 Redskins. I'm not making my predictions until after the third preseason game. I do predict that watching Clinton Portis will be big fun for Redskins fans and that Shanahan's early steps now will make the Skins an 11-win contender in 2011.

Portis will be part of that offense, too.

See also Rich Campbell's piece for fredericksburg.com, It's all according to Shanahan's plan.