And so begins the new era of the Redskins.  Resisting the urge to up the ante for Chad Johnson, the Redskins instead figured out that trading down for more picks was the way to go. I could quibble with the amount we got in the deal.  Because essentially I felt like the 1st and 3rd we gave them is roughly equal to the two 2nds we got so the 4th for 5th swap was really our only net profit.  But the key is that the Redskins did something smart teams do– They took advantage of market inefficiencies. 
The difference in cost between [...]

He just couldn’t resist it.  Months of discipline and careful spending have been flushed down the toilet.  Let’s face it, it’s not FUN to keep your core players and expand through the draft.  There’s no immediate gratification.  Dan Snyder had to try to throw all his draft picks at the Bengals to get a big splash for his team.  We’re just lucky that the Bengals are crazier than we are.
 We don’t know all the details, but unless the escalation clause that turned that third round pick into a first rounder involved us winning the superbowl, we offered waaaay too much for a 30 year old disgruntled wideout.   [...]

ESPN is reporting on their nightly radio program that the Arizona Cardinals have rejected a trade offer from the Washington Redskins that would send talented wide receiver Anquan Boldin to the Redskins for an undisclosed number of draft picks (presumably including at least one 1st round pick).   This is the second time that the Redskins have made an attempt to throw draft picks and money to acquire an established wide receiver, and the second time they’ve been denied.  The report has yet to surface on the ESPN web site but I’ll add a link when it becomes available…
As of now, [...]

ESPN is reporting here that the Washington Redskins offered the Bengals what effectively would have been a 1st round pick this year and a 1st round pick next year.  All this in exchange for grumpy, outspoken Chad Johnson.  The Bengals refused the offer and informed other NFC East teams that Johnson is not on the trading block.  It’s probably for the best.  Two 1st round picks is too much to give for an aging disgruntled star who’d no doubt want to get a giant new contract to go along with his new team. 
 This officially puts to rest DW’s Pipe Dream of getting [...]

Anyone who has been tracking my obsession with Chad Johnson knows I’m convinced, convinced we can have for a second round pick and we would be insane not to offer it.  Well, Floyd Reese on ESPN’s Sportscenter said he would be willing to offer a 1st and a 2nd for Chad and he wouldn’t be surprised if someone offered that or at least two 2’s.  Screw it, then.  I don’t want him.
However, Reese might be a former GM for a reason, and Drew Rosenhaus definitely seemed convinced that the Bears or Redskins would make an offer that would pry Johnson [...]

When you see something you want to blog about, an article or a video or whatever, the first thing you try to do is come up with your “take” or your “spin” or whatever you want to call the thing that separates blogging from merely linking to the news.  And when I first saw this article about former Redskins WR Michael Westbrook and what he is doing now, I was planning on a series of jokes about how he went from hitting Stephan Davis for free to getting paid to hit people.
But a funny thing happened on the way to [...]

2008 Washington Redskins Schedule
Sept. 4 (Thurs.)     @New York Giants (7pm)
Sept. 14                New Orleans Saints (1pm)
Sept. 21                Arizona Cardinals (1pm)
Sept. 28                @Dallas Cowboys (4:15pm)
Oct. 5                    @ Philadelphia Eagles (1pm)
Oct. 12                  St. Louis Rams (1pm)
Oct. 19                  Cleveland Browns (4:15pm)
Oct. 26                  @Detroit Lions (1pm)
Nov. 3 (Mon.)        Pittsburgh Steelers (8:30pm)
Nov. 9                   Bye
Nov. 16                 Dallas Cowboys (8:15pm)
Nov. 23                 @Seattle Seahawks (4:15pm)
Nov. 30                 New York Giants (1pm)
Dec. 7                   @Baltimore Ravens (1pm)
Dec. 14                 @Cincinnati Bengals (1pm)
Dec. 21                 Philadelphia Eagles (1pm)
Dec. 28                 @San Francisco 49ers (4:15pm)
Now that we’ve all had time to digest the schedule for a few days, it’s time to take a closer look at what the schedule means for us, the Redskins fans.   Here’s the breakdown…
The Good:

Only two away games [...]

Octopus, a regular poster over at The Landry Hat, shared an encounter he had with Fred Smoot. Although he’s a lousy Dallas fan, I’ve found him to be reasonable and credible so I thought I’d share his brief encounter with greatness.
“I was living in Herndon, VA in 2001-03.  I went to a 7-11 after work one day I saw a guy in the store.  I walked over to the guy and said ‘Hey dude, are you Fred Smoot?’  He said ‘Why do you think I’m him?’  I told him I thought it was him because it looked like him and [...]

The NFL has released it’s full schedule for 2008.  You can find it here.  Washington has been given a good amount of exposure this year, including an opening season Thursday night away game against the Giants, a Sunday night home game against the Cowboys, and a Monday Night home game against the Steelers.  I’ll have more commentary on this over the next few days, but for now let us simply bask in the glory that is our next schedule…
Sept. 4 (Thurs.)     @New York Giants (7pm)
Sept. 14                New Orleans Saints (1pm)
Sept. 21                Arizona Cardinals (1pm)
Sept. 28                @Dallas Cowboys (4:15pm)
Oct. 5                    @ Philadelphia Eagles [...]

In  honor of Pac Man Jones applying for re-instatement today, we link to this classic from The Onion from over 5 years ago. Long before Jones made it rain, the NFL had an “image problem.”  Get over it NFL, and let him back in.
-DW