Donovan's Contract Extension Is Not a Story But Donovan's Contract Extension Is Not a Story Is a Story

How many times will he do this?

As far back as 2008 there have been stories linking Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb to his former position coach and offensive coordinator Brad Childress in Minnesota, after the Vikings NFC Championship loss in January 2010 whereafter Brett Favre said he needed to step away from football and contemplate his future, Dono was linked again to Minnesota in trade rumors.

Now since the moment Brett Favre announced on 3 August to a Minnesota journalist that he was leaking a story that Brett Favre was set to retire and not play his 20th NFL season in 2010, a story that turned out to be all kinds of bullshit needed to fill Brett's giant ego- ah fuck it, Mike Florio, take it away:

We've been insisting that, before Favre returns, he needs to persuade everyone that he won't return. Just like he did last year.

Since that moment there has been an interesting undercurrent of speculation about Donovan McNabb and the Minnesota Vikings. The story goes like this:

Donovan has always wanted to play for Brad Childress; this of course is not just a player preference, like Brett Favre Dono would be attracted to the Vikings because they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender, behind Minnesota's line Brett had his best year ever and the Vikings were one game from the Super Bowl.

With no Brett in 2010 the Vikings would go back to mediocre behind Tarvaris Jackson and come 2011, if there is football at all, the clamor to get a solid quarterback into the Metrodome before the core of this Vikings team falls apart would become a shriek.

Meanwhile back in 2010 with Brett out of the way in Minnesota in 2011, Dono would hem and haw and fail to sign a longish term deal with the Redskins and that despite his protestations to the contrary, Dono would be one and done in Washington then off to Minnesota, a team that has become to addicted to old quarterbacks like me to Dame Judi Dench. Read about it here and in comments here by none other than our own lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery.

That Brett decided to come play football in 2010 does not necessarily foreclose these possibilities, unless Brett comes really close to a Super Bowl once again and is injury free I think he will actually retire after a round twenty years.

So if Dono does not sign a contract with the Redskins, it does not need to be because Brett is or is not with the Vikings; playing on a one year deal Dono could sign with whomever he wants, he could even sign for a year with the Jets then go join the Vikings in 2012 as a 35 year old :0

None of this isreally the point though, the question I have is, why has Donovan McNabb not signed a contract extension? The Redskins are a team that has traditionally been free with cash and had no problem convincing players contract terms were generous. From the standard form six year thirty million dollar contract that Chris Cooley and Brandon Lloyd and Adam Archuleta and London Fletcher all signed to the whopper hundred million dollar matzoh that Albert Hayneswoth signed, the Redskins are adept and comfortable playing at the top of the market.

There must be something going on, some reason Dono and the team are not moving on a deal. It is either Donovan that wants to wait and see or the team does. Given what I know about the team and how they like to pay players as if they are going to retire in Washington, it seems logical to me that the team would be ready to talk and this is all on Team Donovan for not making it happen.

BUT, what if this is new real actual general manager Bruce Allen insisting on not putting the cart in front of the horse? Perhaps testing Dono and his agents, letting Dono know he cannot walk all over the team the way Brett has in Minnesota. Maybe they are not close in negotiations. Maybe no one put an tasker in Bruce's calendar.

You will recall I have written before that Bruce Allen and head coach Mike are playing with house money this year, that there is nothing they can do to screw it up worse than it was when they got here and I think that also includes losing Donovan McNabb. If he is gone and we hear later that there was just no way to work out a deal that worked for the team economically I will cheer it on principle alone.

Another angle is the timing, Dono restructured his contract in Philadelphia in June of 2009, he arrived in Washington on that contract with one year, this season, remaining on it.

Somewhere, early after Dono's arrival in Washington, I read that the reason the team could not tear up Dono's contract and give him a new one was due to a league rule prohibiting two contract actions in the same year, that would have meant that Dono was ineligible for a new contract until June of this year, and so for all of April, May and at least part of June there was nothing that could happen by rule. For the third time I ask, if anyone out there has the rule or a citation please drop it in comments or send me an email.

The timing would matter if Dono was waiting around for Brett to decide whether he wanted to play again, then decide whether to sign an extension with Washington based on his early projections of options for 2011.

Donovan left a hero in Philadelphia, even if Eagles head coach Andy Reid is doing his best to sully the legacy, the fans there seem to realize it was the team that did Dono wrong and not vice versa. If Dono talks this big about wanting to retire a Redskin and then bolts to another team in the face of a fair offer from Washington there is are going to be a lot of Redskins fans pissed off at Donovan McNabb.

I bought your jersey Donovan, do not make me need another next year.



Donovan McNabb: Jonathan Newton / Washington Post from here.

The Last Con - Part Two

He thinks it's all a game

Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth found every reason not to come hang out with his football team, even after they paid him more than 30 million dollars to. Finally with a mandatory minicamp upon us, Albert revealed his devious plan: keep the money and demand a trade MWAHAHAHAHAAA. What he does not realize is now the guys on the other side of the table are grownups. The Curly R's two part series on the Albert Haynesworth trainwreck concludes.

Part One: You Hurt My Feelings and Besides I Already Have the Money
Part Two: Under New Management

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Let us set things straight here from the outset: Fans would be pissed off at this situation no matter the year, no matter the coach, no matter the player. Sean Gilbert, Dana Stubblefield, Deion Sanders and more recently Brandon Lloyd, Adam Archuleta and even Clinton Portis have all felt the sting of Redskins fans turning on them. The fact that the team decision makers behind these fiascos were mostly incompetent was and always will be beside the point.

Now that we have that straight we can examine the Albert Haynesworth situation through the lens of Washington's new management team, an executive group that had nothing to do with Albert's signing in the 2009 offseason:

1. Albert and his contract can be hung right around the neck of former shadow general manager Vinny Cerrato. Even if was entirely Dan Snyder's doing, new actual general manager Bruce Allen and head coach Mike Shanahan have a disappeared and plausible scapegoat at the ready.

2. Mike Shanahan is thick in the new sheriff in town portion of his tenure, he was out of football for a year after losing a struggle over power in Denver and he is heavily invested in the Redskins job as vehicle to demonstrate to the football world that he is competent to the highest levels of football authority. Vague threats from Albert's agent are only going to get coach Shanahan's dander up, I bet you he is already working on his who the fuck do you think you are dealing with speech.

3. In February, before Albert was due his big check on 1 April, the team pushed back from the table in the run up to the 21 million dollar bonus he got that day and told Albert and his agent the team would release Albert if Team Albert could another club to sign with, presumably that new team would assume part or all of the 1 April bonus. They could not and I suspect that was less because of interest or lack thereof by other teams and more due to the demotivating presence of such a large guaranteed check, my guess would be that couple calls were made then they said fuck it, let's take the money and deal with it later. Another option of course could have been a mutually acceptable delay in the payment while gears turned. That did not happen either.

Either way, the team made it clear IF YOU TAKE THE MONEY YOU ARE ON THE TEAM (op. cit.). Management will not take kindly to Albert trying to have his cake and eat it too.

4. Albert has sabotaged any real or realistic opportunity to move him for fair compensation. No one has seen him play or had a chance to evaluate his conditioning so there are football questions. Clearly there will also be character questions about a guy that will take 32 million dollars before playing a thirteenth game with a team and still bitch about scheme and role before even coming in and trying it out. While we as fans may see it as Albert being an asshole, every general manager in the league is looking at it clinically, wondering if I bring him in how long until he does this to us? The Redskins owe him no favors at this point so why would they entertain taking an obvious loss on moving him when he can be of use disgruntled in burgundy and gold?

Albert has made a grave miscalculation. You see, he thinks with his contract that he calls the shots. And misguided and immature as that viewpoint is, it is not entirely without justification. In years past with Vinny Cerrato and Dan Snyder trying to be really smart behind closed doors then folding like deck chairs in public, yesterday would have been the beginning of a negotiation that would have ended with assurances that Albert can be Albert in whatever defense the team plays, that the team quote remains committed to the investment made in Albert Haynesworth unquote. Being so unqualified in football decision making inevitably led to that old management team getting pushed around. A lot.

No indeed, this management team could not give a rat's ass about Albert Haynesworth. This situation is a guaranteed public relations slam dunk for Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan. If they work things out with Albert then that means Albert backed down and we know who is in charge. The team benefits from Albert's play and the fans put anger on hold.

If things do not change and Albert is forced to stay with the Redskins, then 2010 will be a seven month walk of shame for him, every broadcast team is going to have a camera fixed on him the entire game, every pained, disgusted or blank expression on his face all season will be seen on every highlight show. Even better will be if he sits out and racks up ten grand a day in fines. Either way football fans have turned on him and we will have fun mocking him and lay none of the blame for his lack of productivity or wasted salary on management.

And if the team does part ways with him, either by cutting him and taking a potential salary cap hit in the future, or by trading him for a ham sandwich or by buying him out, whatever the means does not matter, then fans will forgive whatever the consequences because no matter the cost in the short term, this is a long term decision to improve the team.

Albert thought he could call the shots or walk away with more than 30 million dollars for twelve games' work. And he still may but I can tell you what, he will not get out unscathed and he will never get another contract close to what he got last year, he has assured his legacy is one of greed and selfishness, not commitment to winning. The days of overpriced veterans coming to Washington and running the show are over.



Albert Haynesworth: Reuters Pictures from here.

The Last Con - Part One

Bait and bitch

That thud you heard this morning was Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth's public image falling dead to the floor in Washington, the death certificate will list cause of death as ACUTE STUPIDITY. Today The Curly R returns with a two part series on Albert Haynesworth's flameout and the likely consequences him and for the team.

Part One: You Hurt My Feelings and Besides I Already Have the Money
Part Two: Under New Management

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In case you missed it, Albert Haynesworth has reappeared, not to attend the mandatory minicamp that started today where he would have shown off his no doubt chiseled physique sculpted in the cauldrons of a private training regimen so rigorous and so far exceeding anything head coach Mike Shanahan could conceive with his paltry thirty five years experience as a football coach that media heads would turn, Jason Reid would blush John Keim would stammer and Rich Tandler would later admit that it moved.

No, Albert reappeared to tell the world through his agent that he will not be attending the mandatory minicamp and further that he demands a trade, and all because he has been lied to. By the team. Now, in the past and presumably in the future.

Here are the empiricals: Albert showed for the very first day of team activities, not to work out but to tell coach Shanahan that he would be pursuing his own offseason conditioning in order to get back to the Pro Bowl level he showed in 2007 and 2008. Then the team paid Albert 21 million dollars bringing his total compensation in one plus seasons to 32 million dollars. Later we learned there were some hard feelings, even after getting a 21 million dollar hug, about how 2009 went down and whether Albert got to be Albert. With Vinny Cerrato and that former management regime in the rearview at this point, everything was possible.

Even the distant early rumblings that the switch to a 3-4 base defense under new defensive coordinator Jim Haslett was not going to work for Albert, Redskins fans were more or less comfortable that for the money Albert was getting and new actual general manager Bruce Allen's desire to turn the Redskins into a winner on the fly without a huge multiyear reclamation project that the two sides would work it out and move forward. And in 2010 the Redskins would once again possess a dominant defense and everyone gets to claim victory.

Now Albert is out with a trade demand and an accusation that he has been lied to, that owner Dan Snyder's big promises - and big checkbook - of letting Albert be Albert were not kept, that former defensive coordinator as old school as you can still get Greg Blache held Albert back and forced him to conform to a scheme that called for Albert to occupy players while teammates made the backfield plays and that no way in hell is he ever going to play in a 3-4 as a nose tackle.

Forget for a moment that Albert seemed out of shape in 2009, got winded easily and as predicted missed a quarter of the season. But remember that when he was having a good game last season, he was having a great game. Now think about what he has done this offseason and what he is asking now.

Albert just made the biggest mistake of his career.


The Last Con concludes tomorrow with part two, Under New Management.



Albert Haynesworth: Reuters Pictures from here.

Kiddie Contract

So then I lay under the bus like this...

A little light has been shed on why things are happening they way they are this week and it has to do with verbiage in Redskins head coach Jim Zorn's contract, verbiage that no top drawer NFL coach would tolerate.

Brief review of timeline: Redskins lose to Chiefs, in the aftermath of the game Sunday night coach Zorn meets with shadow general manager Vinny Cerrato who suggests coach Zorn relinquish playcalling to lighten the heavy load of running the whole team. Coach Zorn does not disagree he is overburdened and agrees to turn playcalling duties over to a person to be determined later who turns out to be offensive consultant Sherman Lewis who has been out of football for five seasons and been with the team for less than three weeks.

Today's reporting reveals that in that meeting after the Chiefs game coach Zorn initially refused to concede then, and get this, the lawyers were right there with copies of coach Zorn's contract. It was pointed out to coach Zorn that his contract mandated compliance with the owner's requests, apparently any and all requests, even those pertaining to principle coaching duties.

Today's Washington Post story lightly references this interaction with the lawyers, some additional detail can be found in today's Washington Express, the tabloid daily I pick up on Metro, it is owned by the WaPo and runs mostly condensed WaPo content. There is no link to the Expressified version of the story and I wonder why it was not present in the WaPo full version. The link to today's Express issue in PDF is here, the story is on page 15. Here is the portion of the Express piece relevant to coach Zorn's contract:

Three sources said Zorn has told associates that before he left FedEx Field for home Sunday evening, he had discussions with Redskins laywers in addition to Vinny Cerrato, the team's executive vice president of football operations. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Zorn was told by the Redskins officials that he would be fired if he did not give up his play-calling responsibilities.

The lawyers, who the sources did not identify, produced Zorn's contract and reiterated to him that he had to do as Redskins owner Daniel Snyder wished. Through a team spokesman, Zorn and team officials declined to comment.

"They went to the point of pulling out his contract and said, 'You have to do whatever the owner tells you to do,'" [Hall of Fame receiver and coach Zorn's friend Steve] Largent told a Seattle radio station.

I presume one of the lawyers present for this interaction was David Donovan, the team's general counsel. There are a few takeaways from this story:

1. Redskins coaches should always be accompanied by their lawyers. If the team is going to pull horseshit like sic the lawyers after football games then coach Zorn should be represented as well.

2. The well is so polluted that one side of the arrangement is now talking through its attorneys.

3. Coach Zorn signed a really weak rookie coach contract if the owner has the ability to list the head coach's coaching responsibilities, dictate who has them and how the team is coached.


As I read on another blog today and cannot find the link to, Jim Zorn is a popular guy in the NFL, a lot of the guys he played with are still around in official capacities, a lot are in the NFL advocacy business and he has touched many current and former players. Dan Snyder is not popular. Although coach Zorn may not score another two million dollar per year deal in the near future, he will not hurt for work. So I hope this is coach Zorn sticking to his principles as his nuts get cut off again and again and not him desperately hanging for a legitimate firing so he can get paid.

Does anyone really think Mike Shanahan or Bill Cowher would accept this type of clause in his contract? Does anyone think these guys or any name brand NFL coach would want to come here, even if such a clause were not in his contract, after watching how this team has treated this coach on the way down to the gutter? Rich Tandler:

Players, coaches, scouts, and all other prospective employees will be considerably more difficult and more expensive to come by now that people know that the guy in charge left Jim Zorn twisting in the wind when Zorn was guilty of nothing more than being unable to coax any production out of an offense that had been left without a competent line due to the incompetence of Dan Snyder and his sidekick Vinny Cerrato.

You judge character by seeing how people treat those with no power over them. In this instance, Snyder is coming up way short.

Dan Snyder and Jim Zorn: Nick Wass / AP photo from here.