The Bruce Allen/GM Thread

[OVCChairman]

8 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said:

 

The only glimmer I have is that, given the nature of NFL contracts, you're never more than a season or two away from clearing the deck entirely. This isn't baseball where a GM could walk into year 3 of a 10-year, $290M contract for an aging player. Even the impact of the horrible Smith extension will be history by the time the players jog off the field in late-December of 2020. 

 

That doesn't make your point above "wrong" at all...just that it's never a disaster with rebuilding in the NFL because every window is 3-4 years. 

 

 

I agree completely, we're in that window now where we have a chance to do it.  Expectations for next season are going to be low.  It's going to hurt and there's going to be a lot of empty seats at FedEx, so lets rip the bandaid off now.  I'm not panicked because I can actually see where we are a good / above average team by 2020.  It's not going to be the easiest thing to do, and there's going to be a painful season in there, but it's doable with the right people and the right moves. 

[Skinsinparadise]

Keim is usually careful when throwing stuff out so I find his stuff more interesting, while I am not a hater of Jay as some are here, I do want a new GM here and I'd gather he'd replace him and I am fine with that.  Real FO structure needed.

 

Keim: Redskins 'can't come back' with same leadership group

And going into next season, there needs to be some new blood in the front office and on the coaching staff, John Keim explained to The Junkies Monday.

"They have to take a hard, hard look at every aspect of this organization, and why are people staying away in droves," Keim said. "You have to look at everything. And you can't just write it off because of the injuries, I think that would be a mistake."

"What changes will be made? I don't know, but whether it's Bruce Allen, Jay Gruden, Greg Manusky, all of them, one of them, you can't come back with the same group and expect fans to buy into that."

Dan Snyder has plenty of tough decision to make this offseason, but one problem which Keim points out is Snyder's "inner circle" includes the likes of Allen and Gruden, whose jobs need to be evaluated.

"Inside the organization, ... it's Bruce, and it's Bruce and Jay," he said. "I don't know that there's anybody else there."

Thus, if significant change is to occur, other members of the ownership group may need to step in, says Keim.

"That group does have an influence over what's going on, or at least can get to (Snyder) and say some stuff," Keim told The Junkies. "I don't know ... what they think about anybody here, but I do think that he has that group, and that's a group that has been influential and heard in the past."

 

https://thefandc.radio.com/washington-redskins-cant-come-back-same-leadership-group

 

 

 

 

There is a disconnect everywhere when it comes to this organization. There is a disconnect between reality and Bruce Allen, the Prince of Darkness and leader of the morally-backrupt Redskins management that claimed accused woman-beater Reuben Foster on waivers last week 48 hours after he got out of jail.

 

That move effectively made the franchise public enemy No. 1 in the league’s efforts to change its perception on domestic violence.

 

There is a disconnect between the damaged Redskins fan base and this organization. They claimed “paid attendance” was 57,437 Sunday at Ghost Town Field, but that’s a disconnect from the number of people who were actually in the stands to watch their 6-6 Redskins fight to save their season. And of those who braved the cold, many were Giants fans.

When Saquon Barkley scored on his 78-yard touchdown run less than halfway through the second quarter to give New York a 17-0 lead, if you closed your eyes and listened to the crowd, you would have thought it was Adrian Peterson crossing the goal line.

 

....Somebody has to pay for a loss like the one that took place at Ghost Town Field Sunday, and, with the Redskins (now 6-7) on their fourth quarterback, league washout Josh Johnson, replacing Sanchez and a defense that is giving up 200 yards rushing a game, there may be more losses like this one to finish the season with three games remaining.

 

The biggest disconnect, though, is between the Washington Redskins and success.

It’s nowhere in sight, not in the rear view mirror in this century and not in the crystal ball looking ahead.

Allen, the team president and the son of George Allen, a franchise icon, is the most hated figure among the dwindling fan base.

 

...The $94 million starting quarterback Gruden spoke of, Alex Smith, is reportedly struggling with complications from surgery for his broken leg and may never play football again.

 

Forgive the inhumanity, but carrying that contract moving forward for a quarterback who can’t play is like another salary cap penalty engineered by Allen. And right now there is no quarterback in sight in the future for this team.

And Dan Snyder is still the owner.

 

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/9/redskins-loss-shows-disconnect-not-just-organizati/

[Rogue Jedi]

Was hoping to wake up this morning to the good news of Bruce being canned.

 

How unfortunate.

[Skinsinparadise]

1 hour ago, Voice_of_Reason said:

I mean, I think Dan is the last person to figure out what Bruce is.  The rest of us have known for years.

 

I didn't get to hear the segment on 106.7 yet but according to Keim today, Bruce is the dude Dan talks to all the time and his inner circle isn't big.  I bet Bruce is selling him about how its just the evil media that has turned fans against him and we'd soon see their folly and how Bruce was right in the end.  Heck we've had on the board during this off season and other times some of the straggler supporters of Bruce pretty much infer the same thing, what will we think when the team does X,Y, Z and when so are we going to finally admit we were wrong.   

 

So if people here can do it on Bruce's behalf (granted I don't see it at all of late) without being that invested in their opinion, I'd bet Bruce is a wizard at it to Dan especially when there is no counter voice to it.  Cerrato had Dan snowed for a long time, too until it hit an obvious breaking point that even he couldn't ignore.  I think we are on the brink of that here, too but with the stadium perhaps a complication. 

 

I get that Bruce might not be leading the stadium anymore but if you are politically connected, you can cause some damage in reverse if you want to.  I've worked in political environments where people were kept around just to ensure they don't cause damage like that -- being privy to all the private conversations, strategies, and all the key people you are trying to sway and what you think and have said about them good or bad.

 

My point is I'd presume Bruce knows a lot about Dan and his inner dealings that it might be easier for Dan to rationalize why to keep him around at least through the stadium deal versus deal with the behind the scenes fallout of Bruce leaving.  So in essence weighing fan fallout versus behind the scenes fallout related to the stadium or whatever else Bruce knows about Dan.  In short, it would be best for Dan I am guessing for Bruce to leave in a way that isn't ugly.  Just my guess.

[TK]

39 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

My point is I'd presume Bruce knows a lot about Dan and his inner dealings that it might be easier for Dan to rationalize why to keep him around at least through the stadium deal versus deal with the behind the scenes fallout of Bruce leaving.  So in essence weighing fan fallout versus behind the scenes fallout related to the stadium or whatever else Bruce knows about Dan.  In short, it would be best for Dan I am guessing for Bruce to leave in a way that isn't ugly.  Just my guess.

Most likely Dan would "Vinny" him. When Vinny was canned, his severance included a gag order.

[goskins10]

Am I the only one who keeps dropping in even during work hoping that there is big news coming  out of Redskins Park? 

 

Looking at you @TK  Where is that "Press Release" that Bruce has been removed from his position? I have faith you can make it happen - 🙂  

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

13 minutes ago, goskins10 said:

Am I the only one who keeps dropping in even during work hoping that there is big news coming  out of Redskins Park? 

 

Looking at you @TK  Where is that "Press Release" that Bruce has been removed from his position? I have faith you can make it happen - 🙂  

I was rather certain, even a week ago, that there was no way Bruce can survive this.

 

For whatever reason, I just don’t have that feeling anymore.  I can literally see a scenario where we hear sob stories about injuries and the whole band comes back again.

 

I promise if that happens, I will set my Redskins gear on fire. 

[Est.1974]

Bruce Allen isn't surviving this. 

 

The Alex Smith injury has been the catalyst to bring several decisions forward by a year or so. 

 

GM, HC, starting QB all needed. There is absolutely no justifiable reason not to press the major reset button now. Think what you like of Danny boy, he knows this job is totally screwed up right now. 

[tshile]

6 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

For whatever reason, I just don’t have that feeling anymore.  I can literally see a scenario where we hear sob stories about injuries and the whole band comes back again.

This is exactly what will happen. 

 

And it’ll be allowed because of the people (inside the org and in the fanbase) that foolishly fell for the 6-2 record this bad team miraculously started with. 

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

Just now, tshile said:

This is exactly what will happen. 

 

And it’ll be allowed because of the people (inside the org and in the fanbase) that foolishly fell for the 6-2 record this bad team miraculously started with. 

 

The spin is that with Alex Smith, we were winners.  I hate the injury to Smith obviously because of how awful it is for him and his family, but also because the public deserved to see that the team was a fraud, without any excuses.   I believe that if Alex never got hurt and everything else stayed the same, losing both guards and the defense taking a nosedive, the team still misses the playoffs and there is absolutely no rope left for Bruce.

[Skinsinparadise]

Cerrato is ahead 60-40. 

 

 

 

[Skinsinparadise]

It’s time for Bruce Allen, architect of this Redskins disaster, to be shown door

 

There are bad losses, and then there are seminal moments of pathetic performance. It feels like the Washington Redskins suffered the latter Sunday afternoon. It feels like there is no way back, not after watching this spiritless team fall behind 40-nil in a late-season home loss to the pedestrian New York Giants, not after watching a sparse FedEx Field crowd boo loudly and then vanish at halftime. A gloom falls over the franchise — again — and it demands two things: an open door and a strong foot to kick out a few ineffectual leaders.

 

If this 40-16 loss wasn’t the game that ended an era of constant waiting for little reward, then Daniel Snyder should be considered a disengaged and negligent owner. And for all the criticism Snyder has received during nearly 20 years of inept ownership, his passion has never been in question. But he needs to show some sanity and mercy right now. Coach Jay Gruden is in his fifth season and still producing teams that play with iffy effort and focus. But even more problematic is Bruce Allen, in his ninth full season as team president. The Redskins are 58-82-1 under his direction and have a laundry list of follies and transgressions.

 

While quarterback and offensive line injuries have ruined this season and triggered Washington’s free fall from 6-3 to 6-7, there are larger issues for the franchise. The team wasn’t as good as advertised in some areas. In others, it is playing far below its talent level. And after the Reuben Foster debacle, Allen can’t pretend to be winning off the field, either.

 

If there’s a price to pay for the cumulative mismanagement and chaos and it doesn’t include Allen, then Snyder has done nothing. He could fire Greg Manusky, who would be the third defensive coordinator canned in Gruden’s five seasons. He could fire Gruden, whose one playoff appearance in five seasons certainly doesn’t give him the equity to keep laying eggs in December. He could even try to blame Brian Lafemina, who was last offseason’s white-knight hire on the business operations side, which would be puzzling and unfair but typical of this franchise. But there’s a bigger problem.

 

Is Snyder prepared to dump his toxic right-hand man? If he’s not, it doesn’t matter what Washington does in response to this new low. Unless there is accountability at the highest level of the front office, the franchise won’t change. It will keep throwing darts with its eyes closed.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/its-time-for-bruce-allen-architect-of-this-redskins-disaster-to-be-shown-door/2018/12/09/1f8790ac-fbf9-11e8-83c0-b06139e540e5_story.html?utm_term=.b8bf13a2a08c

[RSanz]

Lifelong fan and forum lurker here.  Felt inspired to post on it.

 

In short, if Bruce Allen isn't gone next year, then I'm gone and will not tune in.  I have better/happier things to fill my Sundays with than Allen's futile attempts to run a professional football franchise.

[clskinsfan]

How does a GM who has made the incredibly horrible decisions such as Allen has keep his job? Lets go down the list FROM JUST THIS SEASON:

 

1) Lose Cousins. Yes Cousins didnt want to be here and wasnt going to sign a long term deal with the Skins. but how much of that decision was based on Allen's ineptness when he had a chance to lock Cousins up long term?

 

2) Trade for Alex Smith. I was actually OK with this decision when it happened. But i was unaware of a 71 MILLION DOLLAR FULL INJURY GUARANTEE in that contract. Just a horrifyingly stupid decision for a guy that has a minor injury history and was 33 years old. Not only that but we lost a good CB and a 3rd rounder in the deal.

 

3) Trade for Clinton-Dix.  Wasted 4th rounder for a guy that has no idea what a tackling angle is.

 

4) Claim Rueben Foster. He may end up being a baller for us. But was the PR hit worth that possibility.

 

5) Throw a Skins legend out to take the heat for the Foster decision. Instead of talking to press himself. Allen decides to send out Williams to get trounced by the media. DISGUSTING.

 

6) Another losing season on the horizon. The Skins were 6-3 at one point this season and are on their way to another epic collapse. 

 

 

None of this takes into account the **** show that has been Bruce Allen over the past decade. Shanny, losing young up and coming coaches that turn out be gold, Scott McCloughan Etc, Etc, Etc.....Not to mention the clubs record under Allen: 41-68. It is WAY PAST TIME for this wanna be football GM to hit the road.

 

[DJHJR86]

That would please a ton of fans instantly if Allen was fired.  But it won't happen.  He'll be "reassigned".  

[RichmondRedskin88]

See my long time signature? Do that.

[FrFan]

#FireBruceAllen  

[Burgold]

6 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

How does a GM who has made the incredibly horrible decisions such as Allen has keep his job? Lets go down the list FROM JUST THIS SEASON:

 

2) Trade for Alex Smith. I was actually OK with this decision when it happened. But i was unaware of a 71 MILLION DOLLAR FULL INJURY GUARANTEE in that contract. Just a horrifyingly stupid decision for a guy that has a minor injury history and was 33 years old. Not only that but we lost a good CB and a 3rd rounder in the deal.

 

The worst part of the Alex Smith trade is that it looks to be an exact deja vu copy to what we did with Donovan McNabb.

 

I do understand the impulse to sign Smith to a long term contract. It's natural and to a degree standard operating procedure after a big trade, but it was also a majjor PR move to try to point fingers and say... "SEE! We are able to get a long term contract done! It was all him!"

 

I was fine with the trade, though a bigger part of me wanted to roll with McCoy and a draft pick, but I thought once the move was made it was a fine one and hoped for the best and rooted for the guy to succeed (as we all did... well, most of us did).

 

Still, the fact that it looks to play out just as badly as Donovan McNabb, including the mammoth new deal that we're on the hook for for what amounts to a one year rental ought to be a fireable offense. Allen cost the company 71 million dollars due to his bad contract work. I don't know any corporation that would swallow that and smile... especially, not if the track record before it was mixed at best.

[Skinsinparadise]

Not that I'd want D. Hall as GM but some of his comments are interesting

 

https://thefandc.radio.com/deangelo-hall-makes-case-join-redskins-staff

 

During his weekly appearance on The Junkies Monday, DeAngelo Hall brought up the fact the Redskins have not had a general manager since the firing of Scot McCloughan in March of 2017. 

"I joke with them all the time, 'I'm ready to be the GM,'" said Hall. "I don't know if I quite want that job yet, but..."

This prompted Jason Bishop to ask the former Redskins defensive back if he'd consider joining Washington's staff as a coach or a scout. Many have called for the likes of Bruce Allen and Jay Gruden to be fired following Sunday's blowout loss to the Giants.

"I would do it, but just some things have to change," Hall responded. "For me to entertain something like that, I would need some assurances my voice would actually carry some weight. I'm not gonna just come in there and be a yes man."

"I have a very different viewpoint on a lot of things. Because some of these knuckleheads, some of these guys that you kinda don't know about, I was one of those guys. So who better to help guide young men, or even figure out if a dude is selling you a crock of crap or if he's telling you the truth?"

"I sat in those meetings as a 20-year old rookie or potential draft pick, telling coaches exactly what they wanted to hear. I knew how to play that game, so I can smell BS from a mile away," he continued. "Just sitting in at some of those combine meetings, I could easily tell who was very, very genuine, and who had been coached up."

In particular, Hall believes his experience as a Redskins player could make him a valuable a talent evaluator for the organization.

"I'm not saying I'm the smartest guy in the world, but I'm a pretty young guy. I just came out of that locker room, I know how to relate to players. I know ultimately who can play and who can't play, who really is about football and who's about the shiny, glamorous things that football gives you."

"That's ultimately what you want. You want a locker room full of guys who love football, who want to do what it takes to win each and every game. And watching what we saw on the field yesterday, I don't feel like we had a lot of those guys out there."

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

I thought it was rather obvious that DHall was shilling for the team in the offseason, in hopes of sealing some type of gig.  That ship sailed and he moved towards media and got a lot more honest.

[Skinsinparadise]

Paulsen and Russell just talking on the radio, both saying that Allen's reputation is abysmally bad around the league.  Both saying they heard that Jon Gruden has soured on him and Jon Gruden sees Allen as one of the biggest liars in the league.  If Jon Gruden thinks that low about Bruce, be surprised that Jay doesn't feel the same or at least is mixed about the dude at best.  I'd presume Jon's best outlet to what Bruce is these days is via Jay.

7 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I thought it was rather obvious that DHall was shilling for the team in the offseason, in hopes of sealing some type of gig.  That ship sailed and he moved towards media and got a lot more honest.

 

Yeah D. Hall has been feeling more free to slam the team, he was a loud critic of Alex Smith's play on national shows among other things and on the post game shows he's not really defended the FO or coaching staff.  He called the Reuben Foster deal a distraction back when it happened.

 

One thing I forgot to mention here, Hoffman who covers the team said the week when the Foster deal went down, the locker room was divided about the deal, some not liking it.

 

[Est.1974]

We will find out soon enough the Gruden and Bruce didn't get along. Looks to me like that one may have soured considerably this year.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

7 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Yeah D. Hall has been feeling more free to slam the team, he was a loud critic of Alex Smith's play on national shows among other things and on the post game shows he's not really defended the FO or coaching staff.  He called the Reuben Foster deal a distraction back when it happened.

 

One thing I forgot to mention here, Hoffman who covers the team said the week when the Foster deal went down, the locker room was divided about the deal, some not liking it.

 

 

On the postgame shows, DHall would always start with Alex Smith criticism even after a win.  He was one of the examples I’d use when folks here would act like we’re crazy Alex haters to suggest that we were winning in spite of him.  Same with Bmitch, he was killing Alex and the team on the postgame shows after wins.  

 

As for the Foster signing, I brought that up at the time.  That a lot of the impacts from something like that don’t necessarily make the news but do impact the team.  It can only serve to help divide, not rally together.

[Skinsinparadise]

19 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

 

On the postgame shows, DHall would always start with Alex Smith criticism even after a win.  He was one of the examples I’d use when folks here would act like we’re crazy Alex haters to suggest that we were winning in spite of him.  Same with Bmitch, he was killing Alex and the team on the postgame shows after wins.  

 

 

D. Hall on the postgame seemed to allude that they could have done better than signing Sanchez and that signing might have been psychologically demoralizing to some players because they'd have no faith in the dude.  

 

As for Alex, I'd add that the beat guys were saying that behind the scenes the coaching staff weren't pumping their fists saying Alex was a winner and that fans would ultimately learn to appreciate his style of play -- the quotes among others from what they were hearing from the coaches was "they are pulling their hair out about his play".  Just because Sanchez stinks or whomever doesn't vindicate how Alex played.  So it looks like an awful trade with or without the injury -- they weren't willing to get Alex's predecessor more than 2 years guaranteed but for Alex, who is 4 years older and with some injury history (granted going back years) -- that dude they will give 3.5 years of guaranteed money?

 

Alex though is a great guy so I buy that the team misses his personality as some beat guys say.  But the player?  Yeah better than McCoy and Sanchez but the passing game looked painful to watch.  Maybe he would have improved, though.

 

I was a loud critic of the trade.  But I was ok with the extension once the deal was done back then just to avoid a contract tussle like we just went through but I didn't understand then the extent of the length of the extension.  

 

19 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

 

As for the Foster signing, I brought that up at the time.  That a lot of the impacts from something like that don’t necessarily make the news but do impact the team.  It can only serve to help divide, not rally together.

 

Yeah agreed with that point back then.

 

Seems like what's added to the backdrop of the soap opera of the season during the losing streak

 

Norman calling out the fans

Alex injury

Colt injury

The Haha Clinton Dix trade (I liked it at the time but its looking like the GB reporters saying the dude is inconsistent and is a poor tackler was on the money)

The Dallas trade for Cooper

The Dallas win streak

Swearinger calling out the team's effort.

Signing arguably the league's biggest laughing stock QB who was on the street

The Reuben Foster signing

The extra legs they gave to the Foster story though misstatements

The sad backstory of Alex trying to heal from his injury