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Washington's trade proposal was a complicated three-team deal that would've sent Jason Campbell, Chris Cooley and a fifth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns, Brady Quinn, LaRon Landry and a first-round pick to Denver and Cutler, Tony Scheffler and a third-round pick to Washington. Snyder would then have dumped Jim Zorn as coach and hired Mike Shanahan a year earlier than he did to reunite him with Cutler. [SunTimes]
My head is about to explode. My initial reaction is I can't imagine this current Redskins team without Chris Cooley or Laron Landry. On the flip side, if this deal went through, Shanahan would have been in here last year, which means the entire 2009 season (Jim Zorn, Campbell, Sherm Lewis, swinging gate, 4-12) would have never happened. I'd trade anything in the world for that.
One less year of Cerrato is a world of a difference. Even if the Skins traded for Cutler, its' safe to say the Redskins would have still drafted Orakpo. Looking at the rest of Cerrato's 2009 picks, not one of them is contributing today and half of them aren't even on the roster.
1/13/13 - Brian Orakpo, DE/OLB, Texas
3/16/80 - Kevin Barnes, CB, Maryland
5/22/158 - Cody Glenn, ILB, Nebraska
6/13/186 - Robert Henson, OLB, TCU
7/12/221 - Eddie Williams, TE, Idaho
7/34/243 - Marko Mitchell, WR, Nevada
And of course, the Albert Haynesworth acquisition would have never happened. I always said I was thankful the Redskins never traded for Cutler, but the water is much clearer when you look at how horrible the roster management was. The Redskins are STILL trying to clean up the mess from last year.
It's worth mentioning that the Bears steam-rolled this trade by offering two 1st round picks. Luckily, the Redskins didn't bite on that (or maybe they never had the chance).
With two 3rd round picks, Shanahan surely would have used these picks more wisely. Chris Samuels was still playing, but I'm sure the Shanaplan would have had a backup contingency with Samuels and Randy Thomas coming off major injuries. The free agent list in 2009 was a stealth one with lots of OL. When we take a look back at the 2009 schedule, it's conceivable the Redskins could have made the playoffs given how close they were in so many games despite the three-headed-monster play-calling system. I doubt Shanahan would have kept Greg Blache on, but Landry (playing out of position) and Cooley (broken ankle) were not big contributors last year. With all those games the Redskins played close, not to mention the weak schedule, I'll buy it.
As for Cutler, yes, he has stunk worse than a rotten banana these past two years, but it's deeper than that. Like McNabb, he's in a new system and his play is dictated by his scheme. Mike Martz is killing him with the 7-step drop passes this season, which is a disaster play-call for an OL that cannot contain the edges...ever. In 2008, Cutler was the 3rd ranked QB passing for 4,526 yards with the Broncos. Shanahan would have used him properly here not to mention he would come in already knowing the system.