The Redskins Problems Start and End With Dan Snyder

Since Snyder has taken over he hasn’t been afraid to spend money as the Redskins have been consistently near the limit as far as the NFL’s salary cap goes. After making the postseason in 1999, Snyder went out and signed Pro Football Hall of Famers in defensive end Bruce Smith and cornerback Deion Sanders. The Redskins also had two of the first three picks of the 2000 NFL Draft which they used on linebacker LaVar Arrington and offensive tackle Chris Samuels respectively. Expectations went through the roof for the ‘Skins but they finished the 2000 NFL season with a record of 8-8 and they fell short of the postseason.

After the losing continued to mount in D.C, Snyder had seen enough and in 2004 he reached out to the most successful coach in Redskins franchise history in Joe Gibbs. Gibbs was the Redskins head coach from 1981-1992 and during that time the organization won their only three Super Bowl Championships. In his second stint in Washington, Gibbs was able to get the Redskins to the playoffs twice, but following the death of safety Sean Taylor in 2007, the writing was on the wall that Gibbs would retire for good.

The Redskins fiasco continued in 2008 when Jim Zorn was hired to be the team’s offensive coordinator before a head coach was even hired. Subsequently Zorn ended up becoming the Redskins head coach as no one else would take the job.

After two disappointing seasons under Zorn, in 2010 Snyder hired Mike Shanahan to be the Redskins head coach after he had a stint as the head coach of the Denver Broncos which included two Super Bowl Championships. In Shanahan’s first two seasons in D.C., the Redskins record was 11-21, but the collective theory was that the team was only missing a quarterback. 

In the 2012 NFL Draft the Redskins played  “let’s make a deal” with the St. Louis Rams. The ‘Skins moved up from the sixth overall selection to the second slot to select quarterback Robert Griffin III who was coming off of a season in which he won the Heisman Trophy at Baylor University.

Griffin dazzled in his rookie season in the NFL as he helped the Redskins win the NFC East for the first time since 1999 which was also Snyder’s first season as the team’s owner.

All wasn’t well with Griffin and the Redskins in 2012 as he suffered a damaged ACL late in the season. Griffin took the field for the Redskins in their NFC Wild Card Game versus the Seattle Seahawks, but the leg injury hindered him as Washington lost. Griffin had off-season surgery to repair his knee and he was unavailable to participate in the team’s off-season training activities as well as training camp. The results have shown in Griffin’s play this season as his completion percentage which was 65.6 in 2012 is down to 60.1 this season. Griffin’s play isn’t the only problem with the Redskins this season as their defense is tied for 22nd in the league.

Since Snyder purchased the Redskins, the team’s record is 104-133. Over that the period the Redskins have had 7 different head coaches with none of them lasting more than four years. Over that span the ‘Skins have had 15 different starting quarterbacks as well.

Snyder has been a lightning rod of controversy this year as well. Several Native American groups have been protesting and demanding for the Redskins to change their team nickname which has been offensive for a long time. The icing on the cake surfaced last Sunday when ESPN.com reported that Shanahan wasn’t thrilled with the relationship that Snyder has with Griffin. According to the article by Dan Graziano, Shanhan wasn’t pleased in the manner in which Snyder put Griffin above the other players on the team. 

Following the Redskins Week 11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Griffin was critical of the team’s game plan as he felt as if the Eagles knew what was coming. Redskins wide receiver Santana Moss responded by being critical of Griffin as he felt that the quarterback needed to take more “accountability”. 

Snyder understands the dynamic of having a player with the talents of Griffin on his team from a business standpoint as far as marketing a franchise quarterback which the Redskins have lacked since Joe Theismann in the 1980’s. But when Griffin was drafted by the Redskins it gave their fan base hope. However from an organizational aspect it is tough to get the other 52 players in the Redskins locker room to buy in when they see Griffin being put on a pedestal; especially when he has yet to accomplish that much during his brief NFL career. As an example New England Patriots starting quarterback Tom Brady has been in the NFL now for 14 seasons. Brady is a three-time Super Bowl Champion along with being a two-time NFL MVP. Brady is the face of the Patriots franchise, but Patriots owner Robert Kraft has never put his star quarterback on a pedestal. This mindset allowed the Patriots to complete the 2008 NFL season with a record of 11-5 despite the fact that Brady was lost for season to an injury in Week 1. Yes, Brady was a sixth round pick in the draft compared to Griffin being the second overall pick, but the organizations that win in the NFL are the ones that put the team first instead of the individual.

Snyder was a fan of the Redskins before he purchased the team. Every move that Snyder attempts to make appears to blow up in his face which was further illustrated during last Sunday’s 45-10 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs as the team appears to have fallen apart. The Chiefs took a 38-10 lead to the dressing room at halftime and by the third quarter there were more empty at FedEx Field than we are accustomed to as the attendance for the game was only 56,247 even though the stadium has a regular seating capacity of 85,000. Snyder loves to see a full stadium cheering for the Redskins, but right now he simply cannot win for trying. If the regular season were to end today the Redskins would have the second overall pick in the draft, but as a result of the trade in 2012 to acquire Griffin, their first round pick for 2014 is the property of the Rams. More than likely Snyder and the Redskins will have a new head coach in 2014 as Shanahan’s days in D.C. appear to be numbered. It will be a tough task for the Redskins to find the right head coach to lead them because it is an intimidating aspect if the starting quarterback is put above the rest of his team. Every time that the Redskins appear ready to turn the corner they end up starting over from scratch; again. That falls at the feet of the man in charge who is Snyder and for the Redskins and their fans, something has to give.