Redskins Still Looking for a Receiver

With the draft approaching the Washington Redskins still have a huge need at the wide receiver position. With two big names still on the market, Brandon Marshall and Terrell Owens, will the Redskins finally make their typical big off season move? The media has started to wonder if such a move is coming and for good reason.

Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan had the leagues top passing attack with the Houston Texans last year and definitely doesn’t have the pieces in place to repeat that in Washington. So will head coach Mike Shanahan and owner Dan Snyder make a move? That’s been a pretty popular question the past few days.

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Mike Shanahan said “We don’t talk about who’s on our radar screen for obvious reasons, but we do have a plan. And sometimes we’ll wait to see what the market value is relative to the price, how many guys might be out there. But we’re going to constantly try to upgrade our football team, and sometimes it has to do with salary as much as has to do with just getting depth. And maybe after our minicamps, maybe after the draft, some guy will be out there, and we’ll gobble him because we think he has a chance to improve our football team.” (Washington Post)

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So out of the two big names, which receiver is more likely? Let’s look at Marshall first as he’s the one Coach Mike has actually commented on.

The Denver Post reports that Shanahan was actually asked about a reunion with his former receiver. “You’ll just have to wait and see,” Shanahan responded smiling. “Can’t share that with you.” At the moment, I’d think coach would lean towards hiring a former player of his as he’d already know what he was getting from said player, and the player knows his playbook. Mind you the playbook would be different with son Kyle running the offense but I’m sure it won’t be too different.

There would be one major complication thou in bringing in Marshall, and that’s if it is done before April 15th Shanahan would have to work out a trade with his former team. Could the two put their issues aside and come to agreement on a trade? I’d say yes, especially if the Redskins include their second round draft pick, 37th overall.

So let’s see T.O. is he actually an option? It’s kind of hard to tell as Shanahan as actually not said anything other then the “We don’t talk about who’s on our radar screen” comment. Most of the speculation is fueled by the Denver Broncos pursuit of Owens in 2006 before he signed with the Dallas Cowboys. If Shanahan goes after Owens there are more plus and minuses then any other player out there.

Now I did say recently that Owens career has been in a steady decline, but honestly would be a tremendous upgrade over anything that the Redskins currently have to offer, sorry Santana Moss but its true. Owens would give son Kyle a legit wide receiver and someone who can still at times be a game changer when given the chance.

He’d also bring some swagger to the Redskins offense something that they haven’t had in years. Yes, they’ve got attitude (Clinton Portis) but haven’t had that player that can take over the game and bring an entire unit the confidence to succeed. Can you also imagine the hype when Owens plays his former teams, Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, twice each a season.

Now the negative side, what if the Redskins start losing or Owens feels he’s not getting look at enough (it happens every year). The ‘Skins already have one hot head in Portis adding another could be very detrimental to team chemistry if things go wrong. Is that something that a coach in his first season with a new team, even a famed veteran coach, wants to deal with? Not sure, but if Shanahan considered him in 2006 then he’ll definitely consider it again.

I have no doubt that both players would be huge upgrades for the ‘Skins. Both players would instantly be the teams number one, letting Santana Moss play in as the teams second receiver, a role he’s probably better suited for at this point in his career.

At the same time both players have the negative attitude. When it comes to Marshall’s thou no one knows what his relationship with Mike Shanahan was actually like, only those two know if things got as bad as some people think it did.

So who would I go with? Now I don’t expect the Redskins to do anything till right before the draft, or maybe after (if they decide to go the T.O. route). Shanahan is very big on waiting for the prices on all players to come down before making a splash, so that’s leading me to believe he’d go with Owens.

If it was me thou, I’d trade the Redskins second round pick, as well as a later round pick to the Broncos for Brandon Marshall. Marshall is much younger and more talented, he’s also played under Shanahan before so the two have an idea of what to expect.

Who do you guys think the ‘Skins should go after?