(photo by Brian Murphy)

If I’m Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, I’m strongly considering extreme measures right about now. How drastic, you ask?

I’d be so furious at this very moment that I’d strongly consider going to war with the National Football League after the cowardly decision to penalize the Redskins $36 million in salary cap space for front-loading contracts during the 2010 season.

In case you missed it, the Redskins were penalized for creatively restructuring the contracts of former defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and current cornerback DeAngelo Hall.

During the ‘10 season, Washington adjusted the deals of these two players to immediately absorb large cap hits during the uncapped year that normally are spread out over the length of the contracts. Apparently, this was deemed unfair because it gave the Redskins an advantage over other NFL teams who failed to work the system to their benefit.

So now, the Redskins, who were set to have roughly $31 million in salary cap space once free agency kicks off tomorrow afternoon, have some seriously difficult decisions to make as they continue to try and retool Mike Shanahan’s roster.

While I openly admit that I’m a ‘Skins fan and therefore will have a tough time remaining impartial when something like this happens, I feel strongly that this is something I wouldn’t be on board with regardless of whether my favorite football team was involved or not.

For starters, I’m not exactly sure how the league can penalize a team for how they choose to handle their team salaries during an uncapped year.

It’s an uncapped year. By definition, you shouldn’t be allowed to put a limit on how teams choose to handle their salary cap. If you can, then it’s not actually an uncapped year.

If there was a law or league rule that was violated, then show it to us in writing. If a team was strongly encouraged to not get creative with contracts, but didn’t actually break a law, then I ask again — how can the NFL punish a team for how they chose to handle team salaries in an uncapped year?

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(photo by Tony Gutierrez)

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, the Washington Redskins did the unthinkable — trading away anything and everything to the St. Louis Rams for the chance to land the most electrifying player in this year’s draft.

Rather than settling for lesser talent like Kyle Orton, Ryan Tannehill or whatever other lackluster options were out there, the Redskins parted ways with first-rounders in 2012, 2013 and 2014, as well as a second-rounder in 2012 for the chance to draft Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III and they aren’t looking back.

Anyone who heard my appearance on the LaVar Arrington Show with Chad Dukes last Thursday obviously knows my stance on the subject. For those who missed it, here’s how I ended the segment:

“You can’t win the division, let alone be a contender in the NFC East without solidifying the quarterback position. With that in mind, can you really skimp or settle or talk yourself into Orton or Tannehill because you didn’t want to pay the price for the one guy who looks like a legitimate franchise quarterback? I don’t think this is the time to play it safe and sit on your cards. I think this is the time to put your chips in the middle and go all in.”

Clearly, the current regime heard my take and it was enough to convince them to make one of the boldest moves in franchise history. (Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.)

While nearly everyone I’ve heard from since the trade went down has been ecstatic, there are a few skeptical fans out there who aren’t thrilled with the move. Just last week I wrote something tackling the most common arguments against trading for Griffin, but there’s a new stance that I can’t say I ever saw coming.

These disgruntled fans are attempting to make the single dumbest argument I’ve ever heard. It goes something like this:

“The Redskins won three Super Bowls without ever having a true franchise quarterback, so why on earth would they give up so much for any quarterback? Why not stick to the ‘Redskins way’ and build up the offensive line and receiver positions instead?”

While the answer should be self explanatory to anyone paying attention, I’ll go ahead and tackle it anyway.

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(photo by Sarah Glenn)

When it comes to the most important position on the biggest team in town, there is only one acceptable answer.

No, it’s not Peyton Manning. And for better or for worse, it’s not Andrew Luck either. At the end of the day, the player who has to be the face of the franchise for the Washington Redskins is Robert Griffin III.

Look, anyone familiar with my work knows I’ve been on the RGIII bandwagon for a while now. The way this young man carries himself on and off the football field has always impressed the hell out of me.

And as someone who spent two and a half years out of my life stationed at Fort Hood in the middle of nowhere Texas, I know where he came from and what he’s all about.

Having parents who both served in the U.S. Army has obviously helped Griffin to become a natural leader.

His teammates absolutely love everything about him and you’ll never have to worry about the 22-year-old getting his first big payday and letting the money go to his head or turning into some kind of raging ego case.

While every rookie comes with some risk, I continue to believe that Griffin is as close to a sure thing as you’re going to get these days.

As long as he ends up in the right system with a coaching staff that is willing and able to work with his skill set, I fully expect RGIII to become one of the most popular and marketable stars the NFL has to offer.

Wouldn’t it be nice for the Redskins to have a player like that?

That being said, I know that more than a few ‘Skins fans have concerns about Griffin. I know that not everyone is on board with the idea of acquiring the Heisman Trophy winner or the price tag that’s attached to moving up in the draft to land the Baylor standout.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to address some of the most common arguments I’ve heard by skeptical fans who are against Griffin landing in D.C.

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(courtesy photo)

For the last seven seasons, I’ve been fortunate enough to cover the Washington Redskins from the sidelines.

Even though the losses continue to pile up, I’m still living any NFL fan’s dream by being that close to the action.

During that timeframe, I’ve seen more subpar quarterbacking from the likes of Mark Brunell, Jason Campbell, Donovan McNabb, Rex Grossman and John Beck that anyone should ever be subjected to, which is why I’m firmly on board with the idea of the Redskins aggressively pursuing a franchise quarterback this offseason.

Now, I watch as much college football as any casual fan, but I would never pretend to be an expert. And even though I’ve put together a checklist of what head coach Mike Shanahan looks for in a quarterback, I’m not going to pretend to be qualified enough to definitely say which rookies best fit .

So I turned to a gentleman by the name of Matt Waldman, who runs a website called The Rookie Scouting Portfolio. While there are a million people out there who attempt to break down film of college players, I’ve always been blown away by Matt’s detailed approach.

If you’ve not familiar with Waldman’s work, you owe it to yourself to check out his reports on the pocket presence of Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill,* the field vision of Virginia Tech running back David Wilson and the route running of Baylor receiver Kendall Wright.

*Spoiler alert: The Tannehill stuff is particularly relevant considering the draft needs of a certain local football franchise. Might not be a bad idea to bookmark that one.

Here are a few questions I came up with about the top-tier college quarterbacks and what Waldman had to say about each. Enjoy.

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(courtesy photo)

Thanks to ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Shefter, football fans now have the chance to see what (soon to be former) Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning might look like next season.

Assuming Manning’s health gets to a point where he can resume his playing career, Manning might very well end up playing in Miami, Arizona, New York or … heaven help us … Washington, D.C.

Personally, I think the two most likely destinations for Manning in this image would be with the Cardinals or the Jets. I still believe the Dolphins will take a run at Green Bay quarterback Matt Flynn and the Redskins should focus their attention on drafting and developing a rookie quarterback rather than reverting back to old habits and chasing after other team’s star players.

Call me crazy, but something about spending money on a 36-year-old who has undergone four surgeries in the last two years just doesn’t seem like the smartest move the Redskins could make this offseason.

Either way, thanks to Shefter for finding a new and creative way to link Manning to the burgundy and gold.

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Steve Young. John Elway. Brian Griese. Jake Plummer. Jay Cutler. Donovan McNabb. Rex Grossman. John Beck.

As you’ve hopefully put together by now, each of these gentlemen had the pleasure of playing under coach Mike Shanahan at some point during their respective careers.

I bring them up so they can serve as the starting point for an intriguing question — what exactly does Shanahan look for in a quarterback?

What traits, tendencies and skill set does the two-time Super Bowl winning coach prefer when it comes to his offense’s most important position?

If nothing else, answering that question could go a long way towards figuring out who might be taking the snaps for the Washington Redskins during the 2012 season.

Regardless of whether they choose to acquire a player via the draft, free agency or trade, the front office is going to have to take a detailed look at the players who are available and determine which guy best fits Shanahan’s version of the West Coast offense.

After watching Shanahan’s offense over the last two years, it’s not difficult to see how he prefers to attack defenses — by spreading the field and controlling the ball with short to intermediate passes and then mixing in explosive plays occasionally to try and catch opponents off guard.

And while Mike Shanahan developed a reputation in Denver for taking seemingly any running back and turning him into a thousand-yard rusher over night, things haven’t gone quite the same here in our nation’s capital.

Maybe it’s because the Redskins have lacked a dominant ground game during Shanahan’s two years in D.C., or maybe it’s because the team is often playing from behind, but Washington finished each of the last two seasons in the top five in pass attempts. Detroit, New Orleans, New England and Atlanta were the only teams to throw the ball more often than the Redskins in 2011.

In a perfect world, the Redskins would be able to strike a better balance between the passing game and the ground attack. Short of that, getting a quarterback who simply brings more to the table than they take from it would be huge for this franchise’s stability.

So when you hear talk about the team rolling the dice on Peyton Manning, Kyle Orton or Matt Flynn or walking away from the draft with Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill or a lesser-known rookie, feel free to to keep this checklist in mind.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

If there is a defining characteristic of the Washington Redskins during the Daniel Snyder era, it’s that every year the front office talks itself into believing the franchise is close to turning the corner toward respectability which can only mean they’re just one or two moves away from contending with the big boys.

What happens next is well documented.

The Redskins cut corners and throw money at any available players with name recognition because, let’s be honest, it’s more fun to try and win now rather than build for tomorrow. So they steal headlines throughout the offseason and then proceed to return to irrelevance once actual football games begin.

Rinse, wash, repeat.

Sure, once every few years they get lucky enough to back into the postseason, but more often than not Washington’s journey ends with yet another 10-loss season.

Of course, as anyone who has followed professional football in the last decade or so knows, the vast majority of the high-priced free agents the Redskins land are ultimately known more for their bloated contracts than anything they do on a football field. But, really, who is keeping track anyways?

In related news, the NFL Network put together a top 10 list of the worst free agent signings of all time. It should come as no surprise that first place on that list was awarded to “anyone to the Redskins.”

No seriously. The Redskins have made so many terrible decisions in free agency over the years that the good folks at the NFL Network couldn’t pick just one. They basically awarded Washington the lifetime achievement award for giving out awful contracts.

“Over the last decade and a half, no team has taken a more active role or spent more money in free agency and gotten less in return than the Washington Redskins,” the narrator said.

What follows during the five-minute segment is a trip down memory lane featuring such D.C. legends as: Deion Sanders, Dana Stubblefield, Adam Archuleta, Antwaan Randle El, Bruce Smith, Jeff George and Albert Haynesworth.*

*Look, I fully admit that every once in a while a free agent signing does work out, but guys like London Fletcher, Andre Carter or Marcus Washington are the exception to the rule. The franchise strikes out a helluva lot more often than they hit a home run when it comes to free agency.

And yet, lucrative free agent signings are as much of a staple in our nation’s capital as corrupt politicians, museums and monuments.

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