SI's Best and Worst Owners

[redshirtguy#45]

The giants won 7 championships?

family owned going back to the pre afl/nfl/merger suberbowl era... won nfl tiles

[thedevilhimself]

I know this is soley about football but I think they are way off with Danny being ranked the third worse owner ...

Which Owner was first in his pocket to help out the families effected by catrina, flaying players and ex players which owner allowed his QB in a vital period of the season (playoff run) let his QB use his private jet to fly across country to attend his wife while she was giving birth (other teams prevented backup injured players doing the similar) Which Owner embraced technology and backed the biggest team bbs, improve sports radio in the area, give unprecedented access to the players and coachesfor the fans ...

You have to remember that Danny did not take over the 1990 Redskins and run them into the ground . He took a franchise that had been a joke for the most part of the previous decade, a francise that top free agents looked at and laughed (Reggie White anyone) A franchise that was leaking money so badly that they considered moving out of the Wahington area, a franchise that drafted bust after bust after bust (Heath shula, Micheal Westbrook, Andre Johnson, Desmond Howard ... ) fumbled their way through the Sean Gilbert fiasco and set new team levels of futility loosing the battle of the least in 1997/8 going 0-8 .

Under the Danny we have gone to the playoffs 3 times, sure he has made his mistakes but if you think the Danny has final say on all the deals that go on, we would have Marc Sanchez lining up under C (We could have given more than the Jets if we really wanted), He would be throwing to Chad Johnson and on D Lance Briggs would beon D etc etc ...

[elkabong82]

And all that time with all those pieces they have had a better rushing attack than we have. What does that say about us then?

Actually, in '04 Denver did have the better TANDEM rushing attack, finishing 4th for TEAM rushing yards. The Skins were 21st. In '05 Skins were 7th, Broncos 2nd. '06 it was 4th Skins, 8th Broncos, '07 it was 12th Skins, 9th Broncos, and '08 it was 8th Skins, 12th Broncos.

As Longshot pointed out, Denver has spent a bunch of draft picks on RBs since the Portis trade. Sometimes their tandem overall has been better, sometimes not. All we've had to give up for the RB spot is a 2nd rounder, Denver much more. We had to trade Bailey, but our D has been fine since he's been gone, save for '06.

[jrfriedm]

I really don't think that Danny boy should be on the worst list. I think that he has done a lot of stupid things, but he has learned from them and does everything he can to help this team win.

Al Davis is by far and away the worst owner in the NFL. He should be given the life time worst owner award.

[VaBeachRedskin]

Actually, in '04 Denver did have the better TANDEM rushing attack, finishing 4th for TEAM rushing yards. The Skins were 21st. In '05 Skins were 7th, Broncos 2nd. '06 it was 4th Skins, 8th Broncos, '07 it was 12th Skins, 9th Broncos, and '08 it was 8th Skins, 12th Broncos.

As Longshot pointed out, Denver has spent a bunch of draft picks on RBs since the Portis trade. Sometimes their tandem overall has been better, sometimes not. All we've had to give up for the RB spot is a 2nd rounder, Denver much more. We had to trade Bailey, but our D has been fine since he's been gone, save for '06.

Denver spent 3 draft picks on RBs (1 of them being our 2nd rounder) and during that same time we spent 2 draft picks on RBs (well RB). Not really a bunch and thanks for showing me what I already knew about Denver having the better rushing attack since the trade.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

I really don't think that Danny boy should be on the worst list. I think that he has done a lot of stupid things, but he has learned from them and does everything he can to help this team win.

Al Davis is by far and away the worst owner in the NFL. He should be given the life time worst owner award.

al davis has 3 superbowl rings. he may be crazy now, but in terms of his lifetime as an owner, hes far from bad. hell, the raiders went to the superbowl in 02, and have won as many bowls as the redskins have if im not mistaken.

al davis over the past few years has been the worst owner, but for his lifetime, hes not on the list or even close.

dan snyder however, has all the makings of being on this list. tons of coaches, a losing record, lots of failed/funny free agent bungles, and a bad media image.

snyder could turn it all around, but for the 10 years hes been the owner, the redskins have been far from successful.

[squatch66]

the thing that bugs me about the little blurb about snyder is that they didnt even bother comparing the signings that they bashed him over. yes he deserved to be bashed over bruce smith, deion, jeff george, and the old guys that were just here to collect a check.

i can even give him a pass for arrington and arch because at the time arrington was our franchise player and arch was gregg williams' boy.

but if you compare the signings of smith, sanders, george, and the like to the signings that we made this offseason there is no reason to bash him over that. we signed three guys that are in their primes and are either major upgrades or had had success here already. i guarantee you that if any of the top five owners had made signings like these they would have been universally applauded as the kind of moves that elite teams make to take them to another level.

[phishisthegreatstuff]

he probably should be in the bottom 5. He hasn't had much success in the past 10 years. Although maybe since the redskins are the most profitable franchise in the nfl that should get him out of the bottom 5.

[Rocky21]

Snyder is nothing like Davis or Jones. He has ZERO to do with personnel.

Not according to Joe Jackson Gibbs.

A direct quote: “The three of us normally at the end of it try and come up with a final game plan for the draft," Gibbs said. [The three of us being Gibbs, Cerrato and Snyder.]

"Dan's philosophy is to be aggressive," Gibbs said. "We fall in the category of being more aggressive and it's based on Dan being as aggressive as he is."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042402340.html

“We talk a lot,” Gibbs says. “We are back and forth all the time. We work down the hall from one another."

“I count on his opinion. He’s very instrumental on the draft, the salary-cap, free agency, strategy on how the team should be built.”

http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/sports/1679.html

[TheLongshot]

Denver spent 3 draft picks on RBs (1 of them being our 2nd rounder) and during that same time we spent 2 draft picks on RBs (well RB). Not really a bunch and thanks for showing me what I already knew about Denver having the better rushing attack since the trade.

Again, your count is off. They've drafted 5 backs in that time. (Bell, Miree, Clarett, Torain, Hills) This year they signed a few backs (Arrington, Buckhalter, LaMont Jordan) and drafted Moreno in the first round.

[TheLongshot]

Not according to Joe Jackson Gibbs.

A direct quote: “The three of us normally at the end of it try and come up with a final game plan for the draft," Gibbs said. [The three of us being Gibbs, Cerrato and Snyder.]

"Dan's philosophy is to be aggressive," Gibbs said. "We fall in the category of being more aggressive and it's based on Dan being as aggressive as he is."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042402340.html

“We talk a lot,” Gibbs says. “We are back and forth all the time. We work down the hall from one another."

“I count on his opinion. He’s very instrumental on the draft, the salary-cap, free agency, strategy on how the team should be built.”

http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/sports/1679.html

I don't see how that contradicts what Art said. Certainly Snyder as the owner sets the philosophy of the organization. It doesn't mean he selects the players. In just about every article I've seen, Snyder typically doesn't get involved until the FO decides who they want and it is time to talk about money.

[AdmiralWaugh]

To Art's point - and to the SI nonsense that started this - Mike Silver formerly did this "best and worst" for SI before he left for Yahoo. In Silver's case he ranked EVERY NFL owner from top to bottom. In his years doing it for SI, Snyder was always among his top 5 owners. At Yahoo last year, Snyder was #3. His reasoning resonates with much that Art has said (glad to hear from you, Art)

Yahoo.com, Sept. 2008, Mike Silver ranks the NFL owners

"3. Washington Redskins - Daniel Snyder: When most fans hear Snyder's name, they blurt out words to describe him that might not be suitable for network television. Here's the first one that comes to my mind: Awesome. Snyder generates revenue like a money-printing machine (his team ranks first in the NFL, at a reported $312 million, and is also atop the league in sponsorship dollars), happily spends it to improve his franchise and makes his players - you know, the ones who destroy their bodies on Sundays for the pleasure of the masses - feel pampered and appreciated. He is the closest thing to former 49ers boss Eddie DeBartolo, and eventually he'll get the rings to prove it.

What went down Sunday at Redskins Park tells you all you need to know about Snyder's ownership style. While attending the Skins' first practice of training camp, Snyder and executive vice president Vinny Cerrato winced as veteran defensive Phillip Daniels went down with a knee injury. On their way to lunch in the cafeteria, they learned that Daniels had suffered a season-ending torn ACL. After sitting down with coach Jim Zorn and defensive coordinator Greg Blache, they began discussing their options. "I want to win," Snyder told the group. "Let's do what we have to do to win." Concluding that disgruntled Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor was by far the best player they'd have a chance to acquire, Snyder gave the go-ahead to make a trade. Before finishing his meal Cerrato was on the phone with Parcells, Miami's executive vice president of football operations, discussing a trade for the 2006 NFL defensive player of the year. By that evening the deal was done, with Washington giving up second- and sixth-round draft picks, and Snyder agreeing to shell out $16 million over two years, the remaining money on Taylor's contract. Because of Snyder's aggressive approach, the 'Skins were able to acquire Taylor before their NFC East rivals, the Giants, could work out a three-way trade with the Dolphins and Saints that would have sent Taylor to New Orleans for second- and fifth-round picks, followed by a swap of Taylor for tight end Jeremy Shockey.

Upon the trade's completion, Snyder sent his private jet to pick up Taylor's wife and children in the Dallas area; it then flew to South Florida to collect the newest Redskins player and transport him to training camp. That's the same jet that, last December, whisked quarterback Todd Collins up to Boston in time to join his wife (who'd been induced into emergency labor) before she gave birth to the couple's son. After Hurricane Katrina Snyder flew tight end Robert Royal to New Orleans to collect his family, who hopped aboard the jet and returned to Northern Virginia. And last December he chartered a 747 to fly the entire team to slain safety Sean Taylor's funeral in Miami. That move wasn't about winning; it was about doing the right thing. When Snyder finally hoists the Lombardi Trophy one of these years, it might be worth biting your tongue - at least in front of the kids."

[Boss_Hogg]

It's true, Snyder sucks as a football guy.

he is a great money-making/marketing man for the team, but he sucks at everything else.

[Rocky21]

I don't see how that contradicts what Art said. Certainly Snyder as the owner sets the philosophy of the organization. It doesn't mean he selects the players. In just about every article I've seen, Snyder typically doesn't get involved until the FO decides who they want and it is time to talk about money.

Art said Snyder has ZERO to do with personnel. When Joe Gibbs says Snyder is very instrumental on the draft, the salary-cap, free agency, strategy on how the team should be built, I'd say he was involved in personnel matters.

[MattFancy]

Good find Admiral Waugh. Hard to believe he went from 3rd best to 3rd worst in 9 months.

[Boss_Hogg]

just saw that Peter Angelos is the worst owner in MLB, no shock there, Ted Lerner for the Nats is 5th worst, ugh

[The Sisko]

al davis has 3 superbowl rings. he may be crazy now, but in terms of his lifetime as an owner, hes far from bad. hell, the raiders went to the superbowl in 02, and have won as many bowls as the redskins have if im not mistaken.

al davis over the past few years has been the worst owner, but for his lifetime, hes not on the list or even close.

dan snyder however, has all the makings of being on this list. tons of coaches, a losing record, lots of failed/funny free agent bungles, and a bad media image.

snyder could turn it all around, but for the 10 years hes been the owner, the redskins have been far from successful.

Ultimately, this is what it all boils down to for me. Success, or lack of it, on the field. Snyder has had a decade and produced mostly a joke of a franchise. Outside of Gibbs 2.0 and a team and coach he largely inherited (Norv) he has zero paloff seasons.

What do I expect from him in the future? More of the same, i.e. slightly under .500 overall while occasionally backing into the playoffs. All the while, Art will continue to make long, well-reasoned posts that conclusively show that Snyderatto isn't responsible and is in fact one of the very best owners in the league. Then, we'll go out and continue to go 7-9 as usual.

This doesn't apply to you BLC, but I find it interesting that many of the folks complaining that JC is just a "game manager" and that he's had enough time, are also the ones counseling patience with our ownership. After all, "Snyder is still learning" (heard that one multiple times BTW). Well, JC has had what, about 2.5 season's worth of starts while Snyderatto has had a decade. Neither has produced much and I'd argue that 10 years is enough to declare Snyderatto inept. However, if JC doesn't cut it next season he'll be plying his trade elsewhere. Too bad we can't say the same for Snyderatto.

[Art]

Art said Snyder has ZERO to do with personnel. When Joe Gibbs says Snyder is very instrumental on the draft, the salary-cap, free agency, strategy on how the team should be built, I'd say he was involved in personnel matters.

Snyder does have zero to do with personnel. As I said about Gibbs, where he was smart and Marty was dumb is by including Snyder. As Gibbs quoted in the article you found, he values Snyder's input and opinion. Snyder doesn't make decisions. And, indeed, Snyder allows an aggressive team stance in player acquisition because that's the philosophy he allows his people to pursue. All owners set that stance for all teams. Personnel guys can only do what they are allowed to do. Each and EVERY owner in the league has ultimate control over personnel moves by allowing or disallowing various things based on funding or philosophy.

Pittsburgh operates as it does because the owner requires it because of his cash limits, as an example. It is not surprising or strange for the owner of a franchise to set the team's budget. Owners set the team's basic philosophy each team operates under. Our basic philosophy is good.

Once again, Dan Snyder has zero to do with studying personnel or grading players. He does formulate an opinion of players based on 20 different grades that come to him, but that opinion is now only utilized when there is no consensus reached -- meaning he breaks any ties when there's a fundamental disagreement between Zorn and Vinny. Under Gibbs, Gibbs retained that right.

[Jim Bob]

I can see Snyder being a top owner and a bottom owner depending on how you look at things.

Pros:

- Snyder cares about winning A TON.

- Snyder is willing to spend money to get the best players and coaches.

- Snyder spends money on the little things to make the players comfortable.

Cons:

- Snyder has football ADD and hasn't provided the type of stable environment needed to succeed.

- Snyder's "Win Now" organizational strategy hasn't led to a consistently winning program

- Snyder hasn't paid for the best GM available and given that person 100% control of football operations

If Snyder can work on fixing the CONs on the list, I think he can be a top 5 owner year in and year out.

He just needs to be more like the Krafts and Rooneys of the world and less like the Davises and Joneses.......

[ttr77]

What I find interesting is that we can all sit here and discuss the virtues or shortcomings of the current owner and say how right or wrong this article is...

but to me, the fact that the perception out there lumps this team in with the Lions and Bengals is reason enough for embarrassment, whether we agree with it or not.

It's like finding out someone has been talking crap about your family behind your back...and it becomes harder and harder to argue against them every year.

[TheLongshot]

Once again, Dan Snyder has zero to do with studying personnel or grading players. He does formulate an opinion of players based on 20 different grades that come to him, but that opinion is now only utilized when there is no consensus reached -- meaning he breaks any ties when there's a fundamental disagreement between Zorn and Vinny. Under Gibbs, Gibbs retained that right.

According to Vinny, Zorn actually makes the tiebreaker decisions when it comes to the draft. Course, when it comes to the draft they depend a lot more on draft grades, so there isn't much arguing going on about that.

In the past, Snyder has brokered disagreements between personnel and the head coach. Course, that isn't new, since Cooke did the same thing with Gibbs and Bethard.

[Art]

What I find interesting is that we can all sit here and discuss the virtues or shortcomings of the current owner and say how right or wrong this article is...

but to me, the fact that the perception out there lumps this team in with the Lions and Bengals is reason enough for embarrassment, whether we agree with it or not.

It's like finding out someone has been talking crap about your family behind your back...and it becomes harder and harder to argue against them every year.

It's not the perception among any but media members. Players and coaches covet the situation in D.C. Some don't like the reason they covet the situation here -- i.e. "We can get paid." -- but it exists nonetheless. Fans in Minnesota think Washington is nirvana for the most part. Unstained are they by the media.

Again, the premise here is that spending money on players is bad is, itself, the single thing that makes you good in the eyes of people who work in the NFL.

[Art]

According to Vinny, Zorn actually makes the tiebreaker decisions when it comes to the draft. Course, when it comes to the draft they depend a lot more on draft grades, so there isn't much arguing going on about that.

In the past, Snyder has brokered disagreements between personnel and the head coach. Course, that isn't new, since Cooke did the same thing with Gibbs and Bethard.

Plausible. I know Snyder enjoyed the Gibbs model and retained much of it.

[ttr77]

It's not the perception among any but media members.

That's fine. But where to 99.9% of all people get their information, whether misguided or not?

And THESE are the people that shake their head wistfully when I say I'm a Skins fan.

[Art]

There is a downside with the way the Skins play things. They bet pretty hard that they are right about a player. If they are wrong, there isn't a huge amount of flexibility to make up for that. They also probably would have a hard time franchising players if they needed to. (See below)

There's less downside to how we do things, but there's a downside to how all teams do things. Teams that are typically strapped provide lavish Paragraph 5 deals to players and are not willing to guarantee any of it, thus creating cap cuts. We have more flexibility than any team in the league, because we can ALWAYS minimize base salary every year in guarantees to acquire someone. Acquiring Jason Taylor in August is an example of that flexibility, unmatched in the league.

That is incorrect. SF did tender him (I don't remember where, but I think it was at a 2nd round level) but we did not sign him to an offer sheet. We traded for him and then gave him a new deal after the trade.

I was commenting to someone who suggested that after San Francisco tendered Lloyd he was about to be cut. We did trade for him.

Actually, it was pretty simple why we paid extra for Portis: Denver had all the leverage. They had a back who was still on his rookie contract and who they did not need to trade. Meanwhile we had a CB who was franchised and didn't want to be here, and the team was up against the cap.

So, why not another deal? Portis was probably the best deal on the table. It is hard to pass when you are trading one great player for another, and it has worked out that way.

I don't believe we paid extra for Portis. We paid what it would cost to acquire an elite runner. That Portis was younger and eager helped assure that cost was not too burdensome.

Uh, 2004 draft. :doh:

Portis was drafted in 2002. He came to Washington in 2004.

Well, any move up to get a player "might not work". You make a move because you think the guy's worth the price.

As for that situation, in hindsight it is obvious that Gibbs had some serious reservations about Ramsey. He liked Campbell, but knew that the team was in no position to draft him since they knew he probably wouldn't last long in the 2nd round. It was a pretty calculated risk to make the trade the week before the draft because you don't know if your guy is going to drop.

Agreed.