Looks Like Someone Has a Sixpack of the Mondays

1. No word yet on the root cause of all the errors on the site today. Given it kept me from logging in and posting this Sixpack all day, we simply can't rule out Bill-from-Bangkok. Nothing can keep me from posting Sixpacks on Monday though, save for the occasional government holiday, or an all-day bender on Sunday, or a refusal to face the reality of the Redskins, or a binge-watching marathon (of any show), or if I just bought a new PS4 game, or if my laptop is all the way across the room from my couch where I am laying down. It's called commitment, y'all.

2. I will now transition from the "Take an OT at ALL COSTS!!!" portion of my offseason concerto, to the far more popular, "OF COURSE trading back is the best possible outcome for the Redskins."

3. OF COURSE trading back is the best possible outcome for the Redskins. (Subtle transitions are the hardest.)

4. The good news is that when you pick at or before #5 overall, there is almost certainly going to be a player sitting there when you pick that could come in and immediately impact your ability to win. When your roster has as many holes as Washington's roster does, you can almost pick a hole at random and fill it. (In the past, this point would have been illustrated by casting a hunk of Swiss cheese in an adult film, and then discussing the variety of options which the male lead could consider in the penultimate scene for a movie entitled, "The Cheese Never Stands Alone." But that is not how we do it here anymore.) So if the Skins are forced to make a pick at #5, we will get a pretty darned good player. I would be hard-pressed to assume this is most attractive option McLovin' is considering. He HAS to be hoping for a trade-back, right?

5. Chances are there will be players available at #5 overall that many teams covet. There ALWAYS are, but the issue comes down to price. What will a team pay to move up and what will a team accept in payment to move down? The religious adherence to the infamous Trade Value Chart causes many deals to never get done because some general managers are more worried about looking like they got fleeced, instead of risking that perception to land a player they believe will take them to the next level. Luckily for the Redskins, when they lock in on a target, they load up both barrels (plus the obligatory second-round pick that Washington throws into every single deal they do). Which team do you think will gamble the most to move up? On the other hand, how much leeway are you willing to give McLovin' to take a potentially below market deal to move back and pick up additional draft choices? For my part, I am willing to do the deal being floated out there that nets the Redskins this year's first and second and next year's first and third from Philadelphia. I have heard some say it isn't enough. If that deal got done, I would be ecstatic. I might even take a hair less (like a fourth instead of a third in the subsequent draft)--but this is just to illustrate that I would be aggressive in the trade-back strategy. If Dan Snyder needs any kind of convincing, I would remind him that this deal allows him to stock an extra second rounder that he could use in any number of ways: tipping the valet, the Halloween treat bowl, club seats season ticket package giveaways, etc.

6. Clearly, the world is watching Chip Kelly. We all know he thinks his offense can only achieve its full potential with Mariota under center. I don't think for a second that the Jets will let Mariota fall past them (at this point). That means that the Eagles would have to move into the top five for a chance to land the Oregon product. The problem I keep running into is: what stops one of the teams above us from doing the Mariota deal with the Eagles--or Jets? What stops the Jets from just jumping a couple of spots up to eliminate us from the equation altogether? Clearly, there is just about no deal that can be done between Philly and Washington until during the first round of the draft. Mariota has to be on the board when we are on the clock for any possible chance at this. At that point, the Jets will have either fallen hopelessly in love with Mariota--which will cause them to make their move--or they will have bowed out of the Mariota game, potentially allowing Philly to gamble that he falls to a more affordable spot in the draft. Man...the next two months are going to be hell on ulcers and blood pressure in Redskins Nation. Here's hoping that Amari Cooper wows the pants off someone in the next six to eight weeks!