Whose day was worse Tuesday — Wall Street traders or Redskins fans? The money market is shaky, but the sure collapse is heading to Redskins Park.
The Redskins didn’t just take a step back by naming Vinny Cerrato the executive vice president of football operation — they fell into the black hole of double-digit loss seasons for the next five years. Owner Dan Snyder is showing he learned absolutely nothing from coach Joe Gibbs’ tenure. Snyder is reverting to the poor decision-making process of the past that will once more crash a franchise that was finally showing life after eight years under his control.
Goodbye Gregg Williams. Farewell playoff hopes. Say “see ya” to any chance this team might return to its glory days after a recent playoff run.
Look for coach Jim Fassel to show up real soon because Williams sure isn’t Cerrato’s choice. Williams is a threat to Cerrato by knowing more about football than the latter. Fassel is surely next after nearly getting the job before Gibbs surprisingly returned in 2004. That means offensive guru Al Saunders is gone, too. So is free agent quarterback Todd Collins.
It’s enough to make you become a Cowboys fan … almost.
Seriously, what has Cerrato done to inspire confidence in becoming the supposed head of the Redskins’ football operations? To be nice, he found some reserves that proved helpful last season. The drafts haven’t been awful over recent years compared to the first few tries. But this is lukewarm praise at best.
Cerrato is not a salary cap guy. He’s not a strong presence to keep Snyder from recklessly spending on free agents. This was proven from 2000-03 before Gibbs came.
No, this is Snyder attempting to deflect criticism over the team needing a competent general manager by promoting Cerrato. Nothing really changes except the title. It’s still the same two people running things. Fans are smart enough to see through this thinly-disguised move.
If Snyder truly wanted to win, Bill Parcells would be running the operation instead of taking over Miami. There’s no way Snyder would have done so because Parcells would have actually run the operation and know what he was doing. Can’t have competent people like Marty Schottenheimer and Gibbs manage the team and make Snyder spend his time elsewhere. Like in the owner’s box toasting a win.
For all the criticism Gibbs endured in recent years, everyone overlooked the Hall of Fame coach doing the impossible — making Snyder look like a good owner. Now Snyder is on his own. Oh, I forgot, he has a new executive vice president of football to help. I feel so much better now.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at rsnider@dcexaminer.
