With Taylor in tow, Skins should shoot for Favre

By Connor Byrne  |   Tuesday, July 22, 2008  |  Comments( 24 )

Washington Redskins
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By sending future second- and sixth-round draft picks to the Miami Dolphins for defensive end Jason Taylor on Sunday, the Washington Redskins made it obvious that they're serious about winning a championship in the near future. Why else would they have dealt valuable selections away for a soon-to-be 34-year-old who isn't sure he has more than one or two seasons left in his tank?

While Taylor remains an at-times dominant player (evidenced by his 11 sacks and four forced fumbles in 2007), the fact is that the Redskins -- who needed a pass rusher after recently losing DE Phillip Daniels for the season because of a torn ACL -- gambled by acquiring the six-time Pro Bowler, onetime defensive player of the year and future Hall of Famer.

Redskins executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato disagrees with that assessment, however, contending that Taylor could be somewhat of a long-term solution for the Redskins.

"I'm 100 percent positive he'll play longer than one year," said Cerrato.

The opinions of a front-office executive aside, the organization is shoving all its chips toward the center of the table; it's been nine seasons since the free-spending Dan Snyder purchased the Redskins, who have accrued just three playoff appearances and two postseason victories during that span, and he covets a championship more than Harvey Dent wants revenge in "The Dark Knight." And last February (when the NFC East rival New York Giants came out of left field to win a Super Bowl) was just one more punch to Snyder's psyche.

As it stands now, it's going to be hard for Washington to compete for much this year. The Redskins still have two seemingly better teams in their division (Dallas and the Giants) and respectable Philadelphia, which is looking to bounce back from an 8-8 campaign, to contend with. Additionally, the Skins employ a rookie head coach in ex-Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks guru Jim Zorn, who is taking over for Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs. Oh, and one more thing: Starting QB Jason Campbell, although quite promising, is undoubtedly the worst passer in the division. He's definitely not on par with either Tony Romo or Eli Manning, and 31-year-old Donovan McNabb remains the better of the two. (Remember, it was backup QB Todd Collins, not Campbell, who led the Redskins to a 4-0 finish and a playoff berth late last season.)

So what's Washington to do?

Well, just as the Redskins were able to pluck a highly decorated defender off the trade market in the middle of summer, a legendary quarterback has a future that's in limbo (or Lambeau). Of course, that's a reference to the Green Bay Packers' Brett Favre, the retired-but-maybe-unretired great who surprisingly tossed 28 touchdowns and led his team to a 13-3 record last season but could end his career elsewhere. For Snyder and his obsession with big-name players, Favre seems like a perfect fit.

The main problem: Packers general manager Ted Thompson isn't keen on the notion of trading Favre and his three-year, $39 million contract to another NFC team. With that said, Thompson and his Green Bay cohorts are intent on having Aaron Rodgers take the reins from Favre, a 17-year veteran who still hasn't filed his return papers with the league office.

Assuming Favre does consummate his comeback, which is the likely scenario, there aren't going to be many teams calling Thompson and clamoring for the 38-year-old's services. Most clubs, for better or worse, are content to ride it out with their current signal-callers. Washington could do the same, but Snyder's franchise isn't exactly one built on patience and conservativeness.

As phenomenal as he's been throughout his career, it's not going to take that much to acquire Favre because franchises generally aren't willing to surrender high draft choices (i.e., first-rounders) for one- or two-year solutions. Further, as mentioned previously, demand will be low. Other than the Redskins, the only teams that might be able to work out a Favre trade are Baltimore, Carolina and Tampa Bay. Favre possesses the right to nix any trade and the Mississippi native and resident, according to reports, oddly doesn't want to play in a warm-weather climate; that would rule out the latter two options. As for the Ravens, well, why would Favre accept a trade to a five-win team with a horrific offensive line that just lost keystone left tackle Jonathan Ogden to retirement?

That's why Washington, from a football perspective, makes perfect sense for Favre.

For one, Zorn is a disciple of Mike Holmgren, whom Favre played under and won a Super Bowl with in Green Bay. Favre, then, is quite familiar with the West Coast offense that Zorn is at the helm of. Also, more than any other team in the league that might call the Packers about Favre, the Redskins have a chance to flourish with No. 4 on their roster. An offense including Favre, a stable group of linemen, running back Clinton Portis and pass catchers Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle El, Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly, Chris Cooley and Fred Davis would be lethal, and it would complement a defense that was the NFL's eighth-ranked unit last season and just improved by bringing in Taylor.

The 6-foot-5, 226-pound Campbell -- whom the Redskins spent a first-round pick on in 2005 -- is intriguing, but he's certainly not in Favre's stratosphere. The future is important, yet this is a win-now sport. And by nabbing Taylor and Favre in one summer, the Redskins would send a message to the rest of the NFL, especially the Giants, that they're gunning for a Super Bowl.

The 10th season of the Snyder era is about to commence; isn't it finally time for the Redskins to truly make their mark?

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