Breaking news: Gibbs denying reports of Coles

[sportscurmudgeon]

Folks:

I know that Danny Boy owns the team and it's his money and he can do whatever the hell he wants to do with the team and his money. I've been posting for the last couple of years that he is the motive force behind what goes on with the team but it's other folks here who say that he's learned from the past and he's mellowed and he's turned the football part of the operation over to his boyhood hero - - Joe Gibbs.

Would that it were so!

He is still making football decisions - maybe not all of them but he is still making a bunch of them. Of course he "can" do that and of course he has "a right" to do that. But by now, an objective observer has to recognize that Danny Boy is wrong far more often than he is right when he makes football decisions. That same objective observer would also have to recognize that he is right far more often than he is wrong when he makes business decsions.

So, since I root for a football team and not some corporate entity that files taxes with the IRS, I don't particularly care about how much money the franchise is worth and how much profit Danny Boy makes. I don't begrudge him one single dime, but I care about what happens on Sundays in the Fall and the Winter on NFL fields. I carea bout that about a thousand times more than I care about the skins having the biggest seating capacity in the league or the longest season ticket waiting list. I care about that about a million times more than the early-March news conferences where Danny Boy pats himself on the back for his latest brilliant personnel move - 90% of which turn out to be worth about a pinch of pigeon poop. I care about winning and losing. And the irrefutable fact about Danny Boy's record since he started making football moves here is this:

He loses more than he wins.

As long as Danny Boy is making the calls, what happens during actual NFL games involving the Redskins will not be pretty much of the time. One of these years, he'll stumble into a mix of events that will turn out a winner - maybe even a championship team - but it will only be by accident.

[JWsleep]

Here's my speculation about the whole situation (this may well duplicate someone else's post, but I've lost track):

End of last season: Gibbs says to his players, "if you want out, tell me, and we'll try to accomodate you." Coles is unhappy, says so, and negotiations begin--in good faith-- between Coles and the FO (INCLUDING Gibbs). Combine the hurt toe, the unhappiness, and the lack of a good passing game, and it's not insane, if they can manage the cap.

The only way a move works for the skins is if they can minimize the cap hit. That requires the Coles payback, in some form or other. Best case scenario: Coles pays back 5mil on the bonus, another team trades a reasonably valuable commodity, and compensates Coles with a new bonus. This has to be done BEFORE March 2 to make the cap hit fall in the right place for the skins. Releasing Coles is the worst-case for the skins, as far as I can tell: huge cap hit and no compensation. Thus, it must be a trade, and soon, with the weird Coles payback, which may violate union and/or league rules.

Still, all this is in motion: Coles's agent begins feeling out possible deals, as do the skins. Gibbs keeps talking to Coles, because a deal is VERY unlikely, and Coles is therefore going to be back next year, and the two sides will have to make the best of it. Still, Gibbs has kept his word to do what he can to move disgruntled players.

Then someone leaks the a version of the situation to the Post, but one stressing that Coles will be released. This effectively kills the prospect of a deal, I bet. Who would trade for a player that's about to be released? Anyway, who whould pay the big bonus money to a player with an attitude, declining production, and a hurt toe? Needless to say, Coles's agent is pissed. His client's trade value has been decreased.

The skins, at least in the person of Joe Gibbs, are pissed as well. It certainly looks like someone inside the skins organization has scuttled the possibility of a deal. So Gibbs goes on air to deny that Coles will be released. That's pretty much the only thing he said clearly in the press conference. And Gibbs seems unable/unwilling to lie. When he doesn't want to answer a question, he gives that hemming and hawing non-response thing. All he said is "NO RELEASE." I take it that's true: the only reasonable deal for the skins is a trade, and this also serve to prop up Coles's trade value.

Bottom line: unless some Portis-like trade deal comes up (Jets?), we're stuck with Coles. I figure we'll know by March 2nd. Then I hope Coles has surgery, gets his head together, and wakes up to the fact that things will in all probability be way better around here as far as long passing is concerned. I'm sure Gibbs is making sure that Coles doesn't feel unwanted, and that he's really a desired player, if things go that way. Again, Gibbs said as much. But if Coles wants out, Gibbs will try to accomodate him, because in the final analysis, he's a player's coach.

As for Danny, I'm not really sure why any of this is his fault, except signing Coles in the first place (which seemed a good move to me at the time). This is an exampe of Gibbs trying to keep his word, not of Danny-boy's meddling, IMHO.

(Sorry for the long post! It's February!)

[MTK]

Originally Posted by JWsleep

Here's my speculation about the whole situation (this may well duplicate someone else's post, but I've lost track):

End of last season: Gibbs says to his players, "if you want out, tell me, and we'll try to accomodate you." Coles is unhappy, says so, and negotiations begin--in good faith-- between Coles and the FO (INCLUDING Gibbs). Combine the hurt toe, the unhappiness, and the lack of a good passing game, and it's not insane, if they can manage the cap.

The only way a move works for the skins is if they can minimize the cap hit. That requires the Coles payback, in some form or other. Best case scenario: Coles pays back 5mil on the bonus, another team trades a reasonably valuable commodity, and compensates Coles with a new bonus. This has to be done BEFORE March 2 to make the cap hit fall in the right place for the skins. Releasing Coles is the worst-case for the skins, as far as I can tell: huge cap hit and no compensation. Thus, it must be a trade, and soon, with the weird Coles payback, which may violate union and/or league rules.

Still, all this is in motion: Coles's agent begins feeling out possible deals, as do the skins. Gibbs keeps talking to Coles, because a deal is VERY unlikely, and Coles is therefore going to be back next year, and the two sides will have to make the best of it. Still, Gibbs has kept his word to do what he can to move disgruntled players.

Then someone leaks the a version of the situation to the Post, but one stressing that Coles will be released. This effectively kills the prospect of a deal, I bet. Who would trade for a player that's about to be released? Anyway, who whould pay the big bonus money to a player with an attitude, declining production, and a hurt toe? Needless to say, Coles's agent is pissed. His client's trade value has been decreased.

The skins, at least in the person of Joe Gibbs, are pissed as well. It certainly looks like someone inside the skins organization has scuttled the possibility of a deal. So Gibbs goes on air to deny that Coles will be released. That's pretty much the only thing he said clearly in the press conference. And Gibbs seems unable/unwilling to lie. When he doesn't want to answer a question, he gives that hemming and hawing non-response thing. All he said is "NO RELEASE." I take it that's true: the only reasonable deal for the skins is a trade, and this also serve to prop up Coles's trade value.

Bottom line: unless some Portis-like trade deal comes up (Jets?), we're stuck with Coles. I figure we'll know by March 2nd. Then I hope Coles has surgery, gets his head together, and wakes up to the fact that things will in all probability be way better around here as far as long passing is concerned. I'm sure Gibbs is making sure that Coles doesn't feel unwanted, and that he's really a desired player, if things go that way. Again, Gibbs said as much. But if Coles wants out, Gibbs will try to accomodate him, because in the final analysis, he's a player's coach.

As for Danny, I'm not really sure why any of this is his fault, except signing Coles in the first place (which seemed a good move to me at the time). This is an exampe of Gibbs trying to keep his word, not of Danny-boy's meddling, IMHO.

(Sorry for the long post! It's February!)

I think at this point the situation is beyond repair, I just can't see Coles coming back now.

Best case scenario, we work out a trade for him, he gives up his $5M bonus, and the NFLPA ok's it. Both sides win.

Worst case scenario: He gives back the bonus but we end up having to cut him. We don't get anything in return, but at least we get some cap relief. We wipe our hands of this mess early on in the offseason and move the hell on.