Posts tagged DanielSnyder at FanHouse

Daniel Snyder owns both the Washington Redskins and the Washington radio station ESPN 980, and in a bizarre bit of corporate synergy, Snyder has hired Vinny Cerrato, who already has the title of executive vice president of football operations, to host a show on the station.

If it seems to you that Cerrato -- whose duties include all the day to day football operations of the organization -- ought to have better things to do than arguing with Fred from Fairfax, well, you're not alone. It turns out that the on-air hosts on ESPN 980 think it's ridiculous that Cerrato is joining their ranks, and even though it's likely to anger the guy who signs their paychecks, they're not afraid to say so.

Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog reports that two ESPN 980 hosts, Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin, spent a good portion of their show today ripping Cerrato for taking the radio gig instead of spending all his time trying to make the Redskins better.

You've got questions. I've got answers. If not, I'll make them up. Each Thursday at 1 p.m. EST, I answer your queries on all things related to the NFL. If you have a question, send it over to NFLMailbag@aol.com. Don't forget to include your name and location. Click here for the archives. Rock'n'roll.

I know that this feature is slated to run on Thursdays, thus making this a day late. The Thursday season opener threw things off this week, but the mailbag will be running every Thursday from here on out. I wasn't hung over and I didn't forget. OK, I was a little hung over. Anyways ...

Was it a good move for the Carolina Panthers to dump Brett Basanez, a QB who'd been with the team for some time, knew the offense, and was relatively young with some upside, and instead bring in Josh McCown, who very well may be a decent backup but shouldn't be starting in this league, whereas Basanez possibly could have one day been a starter?
- SoulCitySigma1914, Greensboro, NC

Basanez did make a solid impression entering this year after two years mostly on the Panthers' practice squad, enough that a few teams gave him a look when the Panthers released him. That being said, the Panthers have a "project" quarterback that they like in Matt Moore, and they want to win now. Jake Delhomme is no sure thing, performance- or health-wise, so the Panthers probably wanted a backup with game experience who could come in if needed without disturbing too much. Basanez isn't that guy. Neither is Moore. Plus, I have to say, I've always liked McCown. Though four teams disagree. But what do they know? One of them was the Raiders ...

We all know that Jason Taylor, Bill Parcells and Daniel Snyder are very happy about the deal that sent Taylor from Miami to Washington.

But what about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones?

He should care because his former head coach (Parcells) who has been busy hiring away former Cowboys as players, coaches and front office personnel just sent the 2006 Defensive Player of the Year to Jones' biggest rival.

Interesting.

As many of you know, Parcells exit from Dallas wasn't a heartbreaker for Jones (or Terrell Owens, for that matter). Despite that, it seems as if they have worked together just fine as colleagues of sorts since Miami's new GM and head coach were with Dallas last year. Also, the two teams made a trade before the draft.

Still, it has to sting for Jones to see Parcells send Taylor to the Redskins for only a 2nd and 6th round pick -- especially since the Skins were desperate after two defensive ends went down in practice. Washington may not be an elite team, but they are strong enough to be in the postseason again and could give the Cowboys some trouble in their two meetings.

Now Washington, who lacked a decent pass rush, just got a guy that gave Tom Brady fits.

Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, perhaps more than any other professional sports owner, likes to control the way his team is covered. That's true in small ways, like the team looking to hire a blogger, and in big ways, like Snyder buying as many radio stations as he can.

After Snyder reached a deal yesterday to buy three local AM radio stations, Paul Farhi of the Washington Post wrote that the purchase "gives Snyder control of sports talk radio in Washington. It thus gives the owner of the most popular and closely followed sports franchise in the region ownership of the biggest broadcast outlets for commentary about his team."

Is that a good thing? One of Snyder's new employees, WTEM hosts Steve Czaban, doesn't seem to think so. Czaban said on the air yesterday, "We're being swallowed up by the big burgundy-and-gold empire."

If Redskins fans worry that they'll lose an independent voice evaluating the team, there is something they can do: Contact the FCC, which has to approve Snyder's purchase before it becomes official. Barring some kind of FCC action, Snyder is about to be signing the checks of the people who talk about his team on the radio.

The Redskins' decision to cut wide receiver Brandon Lloyd was a decision they had to make, as Lloyd was one of the most overpaid, underachieving players in the NFL.

But while Lloyd won't drop any more passes or disrupt any more practices in Washington, he's not done hurting the Redskins. Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post reports that the Redskins have designated Lloyd as a June 1 cut for salary cap purposes, which means that Lloyd will count $5.5 million in dead cap space for the Redskins in 2009.

It's a reminder how costly the Redskins' decision to trade third- and fourth-round draft picks for him and give him a new contract with a $10 million signing bonus was. Lloyd has talent, but that talent doesn't translate into on-field results to anywhere near the extent necessary to justify such a huge contract. Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is done paying Lloyd, but he isn't done paying the price for signing him.

When guys like Norv Turner and Wade Phillips get their third chance to run a NFL team without much success on their resume, my thoughts always turn to Jim Fassel. In seven years as head coach of the Giants, Fassel went to a Super Bowl, won two divisions and went to the playoffs a third time. C.V.'s with far less have gotten second jobs in pro football.

Last week, there appeared to be a pretty good chance that someone finally would. Fassel met with Redskins owner Daniel Snyder several times and, after being a finalist before Joe Gibbs got the job in 2004, seemed like a good bet to become Washington's next head coach. The 'Skins hired the inexperienced Jim Zorn, though, and Fassel was again left without a chair when the music stopped.

He's pretty sure the six games he spent as Ravens offensive coordinator in 2006 are the reason why.

"My biggest mistake was going to Baltimore. That was the biggest mistake. I don't think I needed to do that and when I went there and it was such a mess and got caught up in all that stuff...I can't tell you how many people have told me if you'd have just stayed out and done TV and radio and that stuff, it would have changed the whole perception of you."

Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson has made no secret that he would love to leave Cincinnati, especially if he could leave for a team that would give him a new contract with an eight-figure signing bonus.

Enter Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, a man who has never met a big-name wide receiver he wouldn't love to give an eight-figure signing bonus. Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post reports:

Numerous league sources, including some with direct knowledge of conversations between Snyder, Cerrato and recent head coaching candidates, have affirmed that the Redskins have interest in trading for Cincinnati wide receiver Chad Johnson, with two league sources saying Johnson is eager to land a hefty new contract from Washington.

Acquiring an elite receiver is Snyder's top priority, league sources said. The Bengals have said they have no intention of trading Johnson, but his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is working quietly to broker a deal, the sources said.

I'm a Chad Johnson fan, and I'm sure he could be a fine addition to new Redskins coach Jim Zorn's offense. But I just don't think the Redskins need to use their salary-cap space on another highly paid wide receiver. They'd be much better off investing in the offensive line, but Snyder likes to make headlines, and no offensive lineman can make headlines like Ocho Cinco.

Via PFT.

With the Redskins' head coaching search over, owner Daniel Snyder is ready to move on. He discussed the time consuming process and is pleased with the hire:

"I appreciate our fans' patience during this process. We promised a full search and we stuck to that promise.

"I also want to thank Joe [Gibbs] for his daily encouragement to stay the course, be patient, and fully interview everyone we identified as a potential head coach. I also want to thank all the candidates for their time and hard work. They are all strong coaches and good people."

VP of football operations Vinny Cerrato: "Our process was designed to identify the best candidate and it did. Jim is the only coach we offered the job to, contrary to some reports."

Yes, it was time consuming. It has been just over one month since Joe Gibbs retired as head coach and the search has taken the Redskins everywhere. It blew up the staff (Al Saunders and early favorite Gregg Williams were both fired) and brought in candidates from everywhere onto the radar. Now, Jim Zorn is the man. As Riggo's Rag said, "I can't figure out whether I'm excited because we have a new coach or because I like Zorn."

Former 49ers and Lions head coach Steve Mariucci has been rumored as a potential head coach of the Washington Redskins, and he is reportedly interested in getting back to coaching.

But he hasn't spoken publicly about the job, so I asked him today. He was at the Super Bowl media day in his role as an NFL Network commentator, so I asked him if he's going to coach the Redskins next year. He wouldn't answer, twice declining to say when I asked him directly if he's interested in the job.

My bet is that he is interested, especially if Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is interested in paying him the $5 million a year or so that the Lions have paid him for the last five years (Mariucci continued to collect on his five-year $25 million guaranteed contract even though he got fired midway through his third year). I have my doubts about whether he's really Snyder's top choice, though.

If we have learned anything from this entire Redskins' head coaching search, it's this: Daniel Snyder of old is back in charge. Now he's firing guys he interviewed for the job. Send help!

"The process of selecting a new head coach continues, although no hire is planned until after the Super Bowl so as not to distract from the championship game as well as to keep open all our options."

-Daniel Snyder

During the four years that Joe Gibbs was around, Snyder stayed down a bit. He, like all Redskins fans, saw Gibbs as an icon and tried to let Gibbs do his thing. Notice how Gibbs became the leader during the Sean Taylor tragedy and Snyder followed his lead. In the weeks since, he's turned the Redskins back into a laughingstock. I mean, all he's offering is a head coaching job on a playoff team that has one of most rabid fanbases in the NFL. A franchise that is backed with as much money as any.

It's also a franchise that is helmed by a man who ... well, I don't know what he's doing. He did hire Jim Zorn to be an offensive coordinator. That makes three guys who run the Redskins offense (joining Joe Bugel and Don Breaux; Al Saunders is gone). Sorry, but wouldn't a head coach want a bit of control over his staff?