Rod Gardner
This
from ESPN.com’s ace pro football “reporter”, Len Pasquarelli:
Some silly comments from Redskins' officials this week, contending that, if
they don't release wide receiver Rod Gardner
before camp starts, they still don't want him at practice. The guy is under
contract and, as such, the Redskins can't deprive him the right to earn a
living. Excusing him from offseason workouts is one thing. Trying to keep him
out of camp, where he has the contractual right to participate, is another.
I put the term “reporter” in quotes because Lenny P. always editorializes in
his “reports”, which are supposed to be news and not commentary. And, when it
comes to the Skins, he just flat out hates them. Here are the facts on this
matter:
First of all, Lenny, those “silly comments” first came from
Joe Gibbs himself in a press conference at minicamp. During a press conference
he flatly said that Gardner would not be participating in camp, end of story. Apparently,
Lenny did not catch that statement, which was only reported in both of the DC
major dailies as well as here, on Redskins.com and anywhere else that reports on—not
editorializes about—the Redskins.
As for the “right to earn a living” and “right to
participate” nonsense, from where does Lenny get that? Didn’t he ever hear
about the Bucs “deactivating” Keyshawn Johnson a couple of years ago? The
archives don’t go back that far, but I’m sure that it was a move that Lenny
roundly applauded at the time because Jon Gruden was the one who did it. They
kept Johnson on the roster, they paid him what money he was due, and they
barred him from participating in practice; in fact, they barred him from the
team’s facilities altogether. How this is different from what the Redskins plan
to do with Gardner is unclear. As long as he’s on the roster he’ll get paid
whatever money he is due as though he was in camp. That kills the “right to
earn a living” count in Lenny’s indictment.
The Redskins will keep Gardner right up until the minute
they need the cap space to sign Jason Campbell or Carlos Rogers. In fact, they probably
have the cap room needed to sign one of them and still keep Gardner. That may
be a few weeks as the signing of first-round picks is proceeding at a snail’s
pace. In that few weeks, a receiver for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations could
sustain a season-ending injury and that team might be willing to give up a
draft pick to acquire a replacement. The odds are against that, but there’s no
point in the Redskins releasing Gardner until they absolutely have to on the
slim chance that it may happen. And, contrary to what Lenny P says, they have
every right to do so.
Mike Barrow
Speaking of Redskins who are unlikely to be on the final 53-man roster this
year, there is news that the Redskins
have given Barrow permission to seek a trade. His saga has gone full circle
in the last couple of months. After he missed all of last year with a knee
injury and was slow to rehab during the offseason. It seemed virtually certain
that he would be a June 1 cut, with the Redskins gaining $1.7 million in cap
space in the process. He avoided The Turk, however, and was seen at minicamp
working out and appearing to move quite well. It looked like he was back on the
depth chart at middle linebacker, perhaps at the head of it. With this week’s
report, however, it’s obvious that the Redskins were not quite as impressed by
Barrow’s progress as they seemed to be a month ago. This means that Lemar Marshall and Warrick Holdman will compete for the starting job at middle
linebacker, the spot that is the heart of Gregg Williams’ defense.
Joe Bugel
By his nature, the Redskins’ Assistant Head Coach—Offense is not the shy and
retiring type. He’s one of those people whose presence is generally felt, even
in a place full of other high-power personalities. At the recent minicamp,
however, the offensive line coach was nowhere to be found or heard from. Last
year, he was front and center. He couldn’t wait to give his new offensive line
a new nickname, The Dirtbags. Then came the regular season and the offense
flopped with the line taking its share of the blame. The line was called a lot
of variations of “Dirtbags”, most of
which are unacceptable to recount here. It seems that Bugel has learned his
lesson—a line needs to accomplish something before it gets a nickname. The Hogs
were well on their way to Super Bowl XVII when their moniker became public
knowledge. Bugel is being quiet about this group, and that’s the smart thing to
do. Should they perform successfully we’ll hear plenty from Boss Hog.
OUT!
