There isn’t a lot going on in Redskins Nation right now, at least not much that wasn’t going on for the last week anyway. Here are a few non-updates:
London Fletcher – Zip. Zilch. Nada. Donut. So stop asking me. There isn’t any new news, but frankly, every day that Fletcher is a free agent, oddly, both sides gain leverage. London gains leverage because with Curtis Lofton going to the Saints, there really aren’t a lot of options left in free agency at inside linebacker. The Redskins gain leverage because there obviously aren’t a lot of other teams throwing money at Fletcher, or he may have already departed. Unfortunately that means that the two may have moved into a stalemate. It’s easy to say, “Give him more money,” but the Redskins have little to spare after the cap penalty. Something creative needs to be done cap-wise because with what will likely be a fairly short-term deal of 2 or 3 years, there isn’t any time to pro-rate out bonus money. Time shares on Dan Snyder’s yacht?
The Cap Penalty – On Sunday, the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys filed a grievance against the NFL and the NFLPA to have $46 million in salary cap penalties overturned. This mess is just getting started. With the league meetings going on right now – the back-and-forthing is endless – as in edless drivel that makes me want to put a fork in my eye. Maybe two.
DeMaurice Smith – Was quietly re-elected this past week as the NFLPA’s Executive Director; seemingly rewarded for doing an end around to get the salary cap number up. Twenty-eight NFL teams will receive $1.6 Million of additional cap space due to the penalties given to the Redskins and Cowboys. Well played D.
John Mara – Gets the “I’m an assclown and I’m wearing an asshat” award this week. Hey John, we already know that your ‘impartiality’ led to two teams in your division losing a substantial amount of cap money, if you keep screaming about how innocent you (and the league) are, we’re going to have to start to wonder if maybe you aren’t just a little bit guilty. The Giants aren’t usually worthy of the same venom that we Redskins fans tend to cast in the direction of Cowboys and Eagles fans, but perhaps in 2012, while we’re licking $36 Million worth of wounds, we can make an exception.
Pro Days – Both Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck had their Pro Days last week – both looked great. Some Redskins fans seemed to think that Griffin looked a little more accurate in his throwing, but Luck also spent most of his day throwing into a wind. Both are dreamy to a quarterback-starved franchise of two decades. RGIII going to Indy may make a good talking point in the doldrums of an offseason, in my opinion, it’s not much more. Luck will go to Indy – RGIII to D.C.
RGIII – As of 8pm last night, the draft is exactly one month away. That leaves a lot of Redskins fans excited and in need of some RGIII mania. Be sure to check out our new RGIII Flash Countdown.
Did You Know:
Perhaps you have already heard this tidbit of info, perhaps you haven’t. If you believe in fate, you might believe that it has some bearing on whether or not Andrew Luck is selected first overall by the Indianapolis Colts.
Andrew Luck’s father was also a quarterback in the National Football League. He is now the athletic director at (his alma mater) West Virginia University, but from 1983-1986, he was the quarterback of the Houston Oilers.
Oliver Luck was selected 44th overall by Houston in 1982. As a frame of reference, he was the third quarterback taken that year, the second was Jim McMahon by the Bears. Oliver spent his rookie season on the bench… looking… watching… waiting for an opportunity… some of it behind an NFL legend winding down his career – none other than Archie Manning. Yes, the father of Peyton and Eli Manning, played with the father of soon-to-be-drafted Andrew Luck. Luck didn’t actually supplant Manning as I have heard some say – Archie was actually traded after three games (to the Minnesota Vikings) and the Oilers backup Gifford Nielsen took over. However, Nielsen was ultimately pulled later on in the season, after losing seven straight games. Luck got his chance in week 11 against the Detroit Lions, and led the Oilers to their first victory on the season. He finished the season 2-4.
So Luck may not have replaced Manning per se, but Andrew Luck’s father WAS the starting QB for the Oilers at the end of 1983, when Manning had been the starter to end the 1982 season.
So that proves about absolutely nothing. But in the offseason, we connect dots for fun, not just to make pictures.
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Hail!!