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WP DC Sports Bog - Shanahan says Redskins are building "the right way"


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dcsportsbog Dan Steinberg

Mike Shanahan: "We're not gonna take any shortcuts....Take your time and do it the right way." http://wapo.st/fNLjey

click on link in tweet for full blog...

Posted at 1:08 PM ET, 02/24/2011

Shanahan says Redskins are building "the right way"

By Dan Steinberg

I know these are just semantics, but nothing is going on, and I need some cheap Redskins traffic. Last offseason, the rhetoric was about how The Future Is Now, even though that wasn't what many fans wanted to hear. This offseason, the rhetoric seems to have shifted.

Redskins.com has a video of Shanahan addressing some Virginians in honor of the 40th anniversary of their move to Virginia. And the rhetoric was about taking things slow.

"In order to build the type of team that I think we'll all be proud of year-in and year-out, you've got to build a foundation," Mike Shanahan said. "And I promise you, we're gonna do it the right way.......

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Gee, what do you expect him to say? :rolleyes:

After trading for McNabb, you can certainly question the methodology. Course, we probably won't really know for a couple more years.

I dunno, last year the mantra was "win now". When they'd ask him about expectations he'd talk about winning the division and such. Trading for McNabb and Brown were moves to make us better right then, not for the long-term.

Whether it's true or not, I do see this as a shift in communication from last offseason.

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As nothing more than a sign, and if you take is as just that, this is very reassuring. Of course, actions speak louder than words.

Whether it's true or not, I do see this as a shift in communication from last offseason.

Except that only several weeks ago, we were told that the Redskins expect to be "active" in free agency, which would run counter to these statements.

Kicking the tires on Atogwe and, contrary to convential wisdom/what we heard, not immediately signing him is a good start.

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As nothing more than a sign, and if you take is as just that, this is very reassuring. Of course, actions speak louder than words.

Except that only several weeks ago, we were told that the Redskins expect to be "active" in free agency, which would run counter to these statements.

Kicking the tires on Atogwe and, contrary to convential wisdom/what we heard, not immediately signing him is a good start.

He never said FA is not the way to build a team. He is going to build it his way, whether that coincides with your thinking doesn't matter. So I am not sure how his comments run counter to what was reported a few weeks ago.

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He never said FA is not the way to build a team. He is going to build it his way, whether that coincides with your thinking doesn't matter. So I am not sure how his comments run counter to what was reported a few weeks ago.

Active use of FA is a short cut, whether that coincides with your understanding or not.

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Active use of FA is a short cut, whether that coincides with your understanding or not.

If you're only adding young players, or older players to reasonable, shorter deals, I don't think its a short cut. Its different if he keeps trading away draft picks, however.

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As nothing more than a sign, and if you take is as just that, this is very reassuring. Of course, actions speak louder than words.

Except that only several weeks ago, we were told that the Redskins expect to be "active" in free agency, which would run counter to these statements.

Kicking the tires on Atogwe and, contrary to convential wisdom/what we heard, not immediately signing him is a good start.

I don't think "building the right way" only equals building through the draft or only signing free agents under 27 years old.

Signing good, young players is a great idea... which is why it's so hard to do without giving out massive contracts. I think kicking the tires and not caving to guys, even if they would fit in beautifully, is an example of the "right" approach, as you noted. I think evidence of the wrong approach would be if we signed Rogers and OJ to top market salaries before either of them had a chance to leave the team facility.

Free agency is a necessary portion of replenishing your team each season. Being active doesn't necessarily mean investing heavily in old veterans who won't be around in two years. We can't judge the front office on the mentality of this offseason until they actually start making moves. What we do know is they brought in two vets at need positions and didn't cave to them.

Now if we TRADE picks for aging vets that are questionable fits... then you'll see me championing some of your comments. I was never a fan of the McNabb move, but if we learned our lesson from it then maybe it won't be a complete waste.

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If you're only adding young players, or older players to reasonable, shorter deals, I don't think its a short cut. Its different if he keeps trading away draft picks, however.

I would call that "passive" use of FA. I think we all know what Allen meant by active in the FA market. We signed a ton a cheap vets and young guys last year, and we were hardly active.

Now if we TRADE picks for aging vets that are questionable fits... then you'll see me championing some of your comments. I was never a fan of the McNabb move, but if we learned our lesson from it then maybe it won't be a complete waste.

Heck of an expensive lesson. It's interesting that we are now considering the fact that the front office is changing their tack - which would suggest that perhaps we went about things the wrong way last year.

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Yes, I would much prefer to wait 5-6 years before we have a decent team. :silly:

I would much perfer to be patient than to repeat the same flawed strategy that has kept us in the doldrums for much longer than 5-6 years.

Building the right way is going to take time. That excites me.

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I would much perfer to be patient than to repeat the same flawed strategy that has kept us in the doldrums for much longer than 5-6 years.

Building the right way is going to take time. That excites me.

To flip the coin, building slowly doesn't necessarily equate to building correctly. I understand that the results for the Redskins over the last XX years have been poor, but a diversion from our previous methods for "change's" sake isn't what we need.

We need to utilize all tools at our disposal (draft, FA, [gulp] trade) to improve this team but we need to use those options wisely. Last year we were conservative in FA and the staff has a chance to evaluate the roster and come to the determination that we need an infusion of talent. Young talent and older talent.

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Active use of FA is a short cut, whether that coincides with your understanding or not.

A statement with no facts behind it. Very nice response.

I didn't know your statements are all facts and everything else someone else thinks or says is wrong. Of course unless it agrees with you.

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I would much perfer to be patient than to repeat the same flawed strategy that has kept us in the doldrums for much longer than 5-6 years.

Building the right way is going to take time. That excites me.

I 100% agree with not using the same flawed strategy of grossly overpaying for free agents and giving away draft picks.

Smart free agent signings combined with good draft choices would be great though. We should be good to go for 2012 and beyond.

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Also, for all this build slowly and build through the draft stuff (which I agree to an extent), what happens if our draft picks suck. We are screwed for a while then.

You need FA to help build a team. Just like you need the draft to help build the team.

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I honestly hope this is the case that we are rebuilding the right way....I mean if you see how a franchise is really built and built well it seems those franchises always have a great front office and amazing scouting department (Baltimore, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, and New England). I am all about Bruce Allen and his tactics with contracts...I am still up in the air about Shanahan (I feel he has only had one draft with the skins)...this draft is a big one especially for the 1st, 2nd rounds...the crappy part is that Shanahan and Allen have inherited a franchise that is so beyond ****ed up because of Cerrato that it is going to take time to rebuild (just like Shanahan said)...so if we can develop our scouting department and develop our own talent we really could be a great team within 4 to 5 years. If he remains patient and Snyder (most importantly) remains patient we could be a contender in 2015 or 2016. I just wish we had the 6 picks this year in the first 96 picks like New England does. Man that is just sickening

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