Washington Redskins: Like It or Not, Danny Boy Must Back Off

Daniel Snyder has been owner of the Washington Redskins for a decade now and it's safe to say that with Danny Boy: Less is more.

Snyder brings a no-holds barred, carefree spend to win mentality. Unfortunately in the NFL, this approach doesn't often work.

Norv Turner had something going after the 1999 season, but Snyder quickly killed that with a super spree in 2000. Deion Sanders, Mark Carrier, Bruce Smith, and Jeff George all came in and the Skins slumped to an 8-8 season. Turner was fired.

Marty Schottenheimer came in the following year and the Skins started 0-5. But Marty ball requires that the players buy in to the system and the owner stays out of the picture.

The players bought in and finished the year 8-8; Snyder couldn't handle being left out so he fired Marty.

Besides, there were bigger and better things to be had. Steve Spurrier was hired and this was the golden boy Snyder had craved all along.

However, Spurrier possessed no work ethic, no heart, and no ability as an NFL head coach. After two losing seasons, Spurrier resigned.

In this disgusting process, the Skins had managed to rid themselves of countless draft picks. There was little hope for the future as the Skins had a roster full of ex-Florida players from the Spurrier team and little else.

But Snyder had yet another way to captivate us. Joe Gibbs returned in 2004 and with him came Clinton Portis and Mark Brunell.

It took Gibbs a season to get his offense in gear. After a 6-10 season, Gibbs took his team to the playoffs at 10-6.

The offense needed an upgrade in the offseason so Snyder went all out. He signed Antwaan Randle El and traded for Brandon Lloyd. These moves were questionable from the start. The Skins gave up multiple draft picks for Lloyd, who was not a sure thing while they paid Randle El big money to simply play in the slot and return kicks.

Lloyd was a bust, rarely seeing playing time while Randle El was more of the same. He has posted his usual receiving numbers (far from the 30 million dollar range) and has been the worst kick returner in the NFL since his arrival.

The Skins struggled offensively that year with the addition of Al Saunders. They went 5-11 and turned the reigns over to Jason Campbell.

In 2007, the Skins barely made the play-offs and Gibbs resigned. Jim Zorn was hired to take his place. Snyder announced he would be stepping back while letting Vinny Cerato handle the decisions.

Snyder left in his wake countless busts in the free agent market and a limited amount of draft picks, most of which failed to pan out. Here's a brief list of the disastrous moves under Snyder.

Jeremiah Trotter (FA), Deion Sanders (FA), Mark Carrier (FA), Taylor Jacobs (2nd round), Bruce Smith (FA), Jeff George (FA), Danny Wueffrel (FA), Shane Matthews (FA), Patrick Ramsey (1st round), Trung Candidate (trade), Brandon Lloyd (trade), Laveraneous Coles (FA), John Hall (FA)

The Skins have experienced almost no success with Snyder, going 2-3 in the playoffs in ten seasons. They have only made the playoffs three times. There has been little consistency or organization. Players have been overpayed and the many haven't fit the system.

Snyder is really the bane of the team and as time goes on, I've been slowly convinced that unless he backs off completely, there's no way this team will succeed.

Sure he has said that Cerato is in charge, but we all know Cerato is his little puppet. Snyder can't resist making decisions. I think he's a football fan who thinks he knows football really well.

I can see him watching the Steelers win a Super Bowl. He see Randle El throw the touchdown pass and he's thinks, "we need that on our team." So he goes out and offers him 30 million dollars.

Fred Smoot was paid ridiculous money to come back. Why do that? There was little demand for him and he had been struggling with the Vikings. He wasn't worth $25 million, but Snyder gave it to him.

Now he has an aging team. He finally has some draft picks, but he's right at the salary cap ceiling. His decisions the past ten years have really hurt the team and they might not recover for another several years.

And to top it all off, word on the street is that no one wants to come coach in DC. Jim Zorn might not be around another year. Who will it be? Cowher won't come unless Snyder shuts up and gets rid of Cerato. Singletary (my choice last year) is going to stay in San Francisco.

Snyder has certainly burned plenty of bridges. If he wants any left, he might want to tone it down and simply sign the checks rather than telling coaches whose checks he'll be signing.