1. As I said two weeks ago, Giants fans are going to be hard to live with...for a long time.
2. In the last two seasons, the Redskins are 3-0 against eventual Super Bowl champions. No...it does not make me feel even a little bit better.
3. Some of you may recall me pulling hard for the Redskins to consider Kyle Orton last offseason. My thinking was that the Denver Broncos were going to feel compelled to let Orton go with Tim Tebow in the mix. I was not advocating trading anything for him--only a moron trades for a quarterback that is about to be released (unless said quarterback saves Hall of Fame head coach's life). Unfortunately, the Broncos were unprepared to unveil their circa 1947 offense in September, and Kyle Orton wasn't made available until midseason.
Here's the deal: Is Kyle Orton an upgrade over Rex Grossman? I think he is...but this would not be the first time an NFL team was forced to ask themselves that question. Somewhere around 2008ish, Lovie Smith and the Chicago Bears were wrestling with this horrendous conundrum. It is amazing to me that a recycled quarterback controversy involving two mediocre signal callers on a team led by its defense would be a SIGNIFICANT UPGRADE to the current quarterback situation in Washington.
4. If the Redskins are indeed going the free agent route to bring in a quarterback, to me that means that we are already in the process of trying to trade back in the first round. That would be the most likely play for Bruce Allen, and he has proven rather adept at the strategy. I am not suggesting that Kyle Orton would be our franchise guy, but a player like Orton could give the Redskins the ability to spend another draft shoring up the depth of the roster in key spots--like the offensive line. There may not be a player that a team wants to give up the boat for at #6, but surely Bruce Allen can find a dancing partner. Instead of the "Best Player Available" strategy, I am calling for the "Best Deal Available" strategy. Bruce Allen should be willing to take less than what pundits will suggest the #6 is worth if that is all that is available on draft day. I am not saying we should be stupid about it, but if we can add a couple decent picks in this draft as well as a good-to-great pick in next year's draft, I think we have to do that.
5. By the way, if we do sign Kyle Orton or Matt Flynn, there is a chance we could have a draft next season dedicated to being able to really take the Best Player Available at each of our slots. Assuming whomever we sign has a decent season (BIG assumption...probably dumb assumption), Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan could hit their fourth year together with a shot to add one or two pieces that could put the team into position to contend. Then again, they could use a decent incumbent as cover for a top draft pick to come in and learn behind. Sooooooooo...yeah, predicting what is going to happen here is as awful of a game as it ever has been.
6. One thing I am pretty sure about is that Peyton Manning is not coming to D.C. in 2012 (which really means there is a 10% greater chance he is coming now than there was 15 seconds ago). Peyton does not care about money--he will get it wherever he goes. He wants a chance to win, and he needs a team that is set to make a run. On one hand, you could argue that if you add Peyton Manning to any team, they are automatically a contender. On the other hand, I have a hard time seeing Peyton becoming convinced the Redskins are built to benefit the most from adding his arm and brain. While each of us could easily add up the additional wins this team would have earned with a healthy Manning as our quarterback, we could also easily predict his demise behind our offensive line. Then again...if we use our #6 overall pick on an offensive tackle, and our cap space on a top free agent guard, our offensive line all of a sudden is one a guy like Peyton could agree to play behind. (Get used to this game, by the way...or put a different way: get used to continuing to play this game.)
***Bonus: If for whatever reason we do sign Peyton Manning, I would like to see us draft a center in the 3rd round. I would love to see a stud center come into the league and cut his teeth snapping the ball to Peyton. That kind of thing could pay off for a decade after Manning leaves.