A.J. Smith to be Redskins GM?

If it's us or the Raiders, to quote shakespeare "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark".

I won't get excited or even optimistic unless something solid, like an offer to McCloughan, happens. If he has his pick of jobs, especially between us and the Raiders, even with as bad as things are, our overall situation is more stable than Oakland. We don't have stadium concerns, we're in OK shape cap wise and have some flexibility with cuttable veterans that won't impact our future cap too badly.

I'd prefer him over AJ Smith and definitely over Allen. Glad that we are looking outside of the 'family' to get this mess fixed. Maybe Snyder finally is realizing that his way is a failure.

Exactly. I want to see him being introduced before I get excited. This may be something as small as a phone call.

Bruce doesn't need to remove himself from personnel matters for it to happen. Snyder could do it. Bruce might not like it but I doubt that he would quit over it.

Snyder could do it but didn't.

You don't expect Snyder to demote his drinking buddy and best snitching buddy, do you?

SnyderAllen is still trying to sell us Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. But this time it has an AJ Smith ornament on it. Big deal.

Bruce doesn't need to be removed from having the responsibility for this to work favorably for the Redskins. Any good manager recognizes his own shortcomings and hires people to help fill the gaps.

Bruce could hire AJ Smith or Scott McCloughan (or both) and let them make the draft picks and free agency recommendations. Bruce could empower them to do that.

Then Bruce could remain in the position of negotiating contracts. AJ Smith could say hey we need to sign X player and Bruce could handle the negotiations, which has been a strength if you're evaluating him fairly. Look at the DJax contract, no risk, high reward.

So let AJ Smith or Scott McCloughan pick the players, but don't let them pick the price. I think it could work really well.

From Rich Tandler:

So, would Bruce Allen be willing to give up control of football operations? Here's what he said when asked:
“I don’t mean to be repetitive, but if we can find a winning formula that’s going to help this team win on the football field, we’ll absolutely do it, and that includes me,”

It's a pipe dream to think that Bruce will be removed from personnel matters.

Everyone here knows that Bruce sucks at personnel. But Bruce himself seems to have no idea. And he is in charge. So, he can empower advisers, but in the end it will be his show because he doesn't know better.

Thinking that Bruce will remove himself from personnel matters is unrealistic.

SmootSmack can probably verify how much of Rapoport's info actually winds up being true, but I did ask him, via Twitter, if McCloughan was indeed interested in joining the Redskins, and Rapoport responded by saying "He is". So, there is interest between both parties. Now, what that means, I have no idea.

Bruce doesn't need to be removed from having the responsibility for this to work favorably for the Redskins. Any good manager recognizes his own shortcomings and hires people to help fill the gaps.

Bruce could hire AJ Smith or Scott McCloughan (or both) and let them make the draft picks and free agency recommendations. Bruce could empower them to do that.

Then Bruce could remain in the position of negotiating contracts. AJ Smith could say hey we need to sign X player and Bruce could handle the negotiations, which has been a strength if you're evaluating him fairly. Look at the DJax contract, no risk, high reward.

So let AJ Smith or Scott McCloughan pick the players, but don't let them pick the price. I think it could work really well.

Exactly. Hiring McCloughan only makes Allen look that much better. Why in the world would he not go for this? Because he wants to be the head chief that picks all the players? This isn't Vinny Cerrato.

SmootSmack can probably verify how much of Rapoport's info actually winds up being true, but I did ask him, via Twitter, if McCloughan was indeed interested in joining the Redskins, and Rapoport responded by saying "He is". So, there is interest between both parties. Now, what that means, I have no idea.

Rap is very well connected. I lean on his info a lot

Rap is very well connected. I lean on his info a lot

This still seems like a longshot, would you agree? It seems more likely that Smith steps into the head personnel role than McCloughan based on his closeness with Allen and the fact he's already 'in house' I would assume, especially the way the Redskins do business.

Ideally McC coming in from the outside with a completely fresh set of eyes and given full control of scouting and personnel would give us some legitimate hope for the first time since the '90s.

This still seems like a longshot, would you agree? It seems more likely that Smith steps into the head personnel role than McCloughan based on his closeness with Allen and the fact he's already 'in house' I would assume, especially the way the Redskins do business.

Ideally McC coming in from the outside with a completely fresh set of eyes and given full control of scouting and personnel would give us some legitimate hope for the first time since the '90s.

Yeah it's certainly much more a long shot than Smith. And I do have concerns about McC. I didn't realize that the Redskins had been using him as a consultant of sorts during the season.

Scot does have ties to Allen though, through his father/brother