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.

Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan isn't just conditioning DE Albert Haynesworth's body. He's conditioning Albert Haynesworth's, and the entire team's, mind by insisting that Big Al pass the conditioning test. So writes ESPN's Adam Clayton is his article Shanahan shows he's in total control.

Haynesworth failed to complete the mandatory conditioning test in the required time on his attempts Thursday and Friday. He gets another shot today.

Shanahan's actions must have a similar impact on Danny Snyder and Vinny Cerrato. Shanny's hammer has fallen hardest on players selected and once touted by those gentlemen.

Haynesworth got a message from Shanahan and skipped the off-season activities for his own workout. Not good. Clinton Portis got a message from Shanahan, for whom he played and disputed in Denver, and participated in the off-season with more effort than he did for Jim Zorn and Joe Gibbs. Either or both receivers Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas could be displaced by senior citizens. Ladell Betts, once assessed as a starting-caliber rusher, dumped and not on any team's roster.

Yup. Quite a message. Hard on players, owners and front office minions. And hard on Shanahan if he doesn't win.

Clayton made three other observations about the Redskins.

Donovnan McNabb is a good fit for the Redskins offense. He's athletic, accurate and Shanahan's call for five and seven step drops means McNabb can buy time for plays to develop. That's one way to adapt to a line with question marks.

Are the receivers good enough? Clayton didn't come out and say "no," but he suspects we'll see more two tight end sets to take advantage of Chris Cooley and Fred Davis. Draw your own conclusions. Mine is that Kelly and Thomas won't be much better than they have been. That makes them better than Brandon Lloyd, but not as good as Rod Gardner, who was much derided by the time he left the team.

Will the switch to the 3-4 defense work? Switching to the 3-4 usually requires transition time, but Clayton points out that the Chargers, Cowboys and Packers made that transition smoothly. The Redskins could be next, thanks to Albert Haynesworth and nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu.

Smooth transitions are to be observed, not predicted. The Redskins success with the 3-4 hinges on the health of Kemoeatu who weighs in at 350 pounds. Back-up nose tackle Kedric Golston is a lightweight at 310 pounds. If Kemoeatu can't go, it's bad news for the Skins if Golston steps in on a regular basis. Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett will want Haynesworth at nose tackle instead.

Which brings us back to conditioning Haynesworth's mind.

Points After: QB Sam Bradford signed his deal with the Rams Friday night. Now it's safe for Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Donovan McNabb to work out contract extensions with their teams. None of these gentlemen would want, nor do they deserve, to be paid less than a rookie. Their signings should fall like dominoes next week.

Fred Davis made a poor first impression with the Redskins last year by over-sleeping for an OTA. Now he's seen as a key cog in the offense and nobody mentions that screw-up. Keep that in mind for this episode with Haynesworth. It's likely to have a similar ending. Fairness demands that I point out that Davis was a Cerrato pick.

Most of the football world will focus on the Albert Haynesworth soap opera and give 15 minutes attention to the really important news out of the Washington Redskins training camp.

The Redskins have signed rookie offensive tackle Trent Williams, the team announced on Friday. The deal is reported to be for six years and worth a potential $60 million.

Williams is the first offensive lineman selected in the first round by the Snyderskins since Chris Samuels in 2000. That dearth of linemen draftees is attributed to football stupidity, but the Skins usually didn't have a lot of draft picks to work with. The team, for example, gave up two first round picks (16th and 24th) and a fourth and fifth-round pick to move up to make Samuels the third overall pick in the draft that year.

Williams has to fill Samuels' shoes and them were mighty big shoes. Samuels made six Pro Bowls and elevated the play of the entire line. Head coach Mike Shanahan likes what he sees in Williams' athleticism and mobility. Shanahan's West Coast Offense schemes call for backs that run with power, like Terrell Davis, or who are edge rushers, like the Denver version of Clinton Portis. That calls for linemen who are quick.

With the injuries and decline of Jon Jansen, the Redskins found themselves running away from the strong side of the O-line and more to the weak side where Samuels could open holes for the rusher. ("Weak side" because a tight end did not line up to the left of the tackle.) But that made the Redskins predictable on offense.

The addition of Jammal Brown at right tackle and Williams on the left gives Shanahan more playcalling options--on paper. Football isn't played on paper. It's played on television. We still have to see these guys on the field at game speed. Williams will make his rookie mistakes.

Drafting a left tackle is a foundation step. It can have immediate success, but tackles are not that "one last player" needed to make the Super Bowl. The Redskins went 8-8 in Samuels' rookie year. Tackle D'Brickashaw Furguson was the fourth overall selection in the 2006 NFL Draft and helped the New York Jets to a 10-6 season. The Cleveland Browns selected the highly regarded Joe Thomas in the first round of the 2007 Draft and went 10-6 that year, but have gone 9-23 since.

So drafting a talent like Williams can make double-digit wins possible, but only if he's in camp. By signing today, Williams missed but a single practice in pads. That's why his signing is THE news out Redskins camp today.

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(Sigh) Reader interest demands I say something about Albert Haynesworth. By now you've read that Big Al flunked his conditioning test again and will get another shot at it tomorrow (Saturday). Gleeful fans will see that as payback. I hope the Shanahans are not thinking that way. My opinion of them will go down if that's the case.

There are good management reasons for this approach, not the least of which is to keep faith with the players who bought into the program since January.

Danny Snyder never seemed to "get" that football is the most team-oriented of sports and that the effort and talent of your mid-tier talent was just as important that of the few elite stars on the roster. The Redskins, even under Joe Gibbs, never got the maximum from the middle.

If OTAs and "mandatory" mini-camps were really important to the owners, players would be fined more than pennies for skipping them. The big sanctions don't happen unless players blow-off training camp.

Shanahan has to be focused on winning and that means putting the most talented, most committed, best conditioned athletes on the field from top to bottom, and not playing those who do not meet all three criteria. The Redskins didn't put the best conditioned players on the field last year (looking at you, CP).

Haynesworth is the only player who must pass a conditioning test because he is the only player who skipped all the OTAs and mini-camp. Washington's conditioning coaches supervised everyone else's conditioning and knew where they were. No one knew for sure where Albert was, or what shape he was in. We just remember him as being gassed during games--a lot.

Shanahan has to keep faith with his management team too. If Haynesworth skates on the conditioning test because he's a star, then Shanahan has undermined all the coaches on his staff--a poor management move in any business.

If Haynesworth plays for the Shanyskins, he has to be in better shape. This is not a lesson lost on mid-tier guys, or any future Redskin. I'll bet you right now that Washington has 100 percent participation in next year's OTAs. In that regard, Haynesworth has done Shanahan a big favor.

There were whispers that Haynesworth was seen in Northern Virginia last June, but did not report for mini-camp. Could he have had an inkling then that he would take this test and didn't feel ready?

The Skins will gladly accept an offer of a first round trade pick for Big Al, but will be better off if an in-shape and angry in a good way Haynesworth is on this defense.

See also Haynesworth Situation About Setting A Standard on Redskins.com.
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Points After: Trent Williams signs his rookie contract before his Oklahoma teammate, QB Sam Bradford, first player selected in the 2010 Draft. Usually the No 1 pick sets the market for the rest of the draft. But training camps are open and teams can't wait. So Williams deal with the Redskins will set the bar for Bradford and the Rams.

Tweets by a couple of people say that Terrell Davis and Michael Pittman are at the Redskins training camp as coaching interns. Working for free for the sake of their careers. Heck, I would do it. Wait. That's what I am doing with this blog.