Where’s the Dysfunction? I Don’t See It.

The sky is falling at Redskins Park. Kirk has been belittled and disrespected and on the verge of being dealt to the San Francisco 49ers. General Manager (and I use that term loosely) Scot McCloughan and Bruce Allen have “beef”. Chris Cooley alludes to Scot McCloughan and drinking. Columnists, bloggers, beat reporters and radio personalities provide round the clock speculation. With all of this, the “d word” has surfaced again. There is growing sentiment that dysfunction has returned to the Redskins. “Same ole’ Dan” has been the rallying cry for naysayers. But what’s really going at Redskins Park?

The answer is we don’t know and maybe that’s a good thing. Let me refresh your memories. There was a time when the Redskins front office talked TOO much. There was a time where Vinny Cerrato told reporters that the Redskins were prepared to offer two first round picks for Chad Johnson. Later in the Shanahan years, there was a daily headline about the relationship between the coach and Robert Griffin III. There was the Jim Zorn hiring debacle. There was Dan Snyder allegedly leaving vanilla ice cream outside of then Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan’s office. Now, there’s “smoke” as to Scot McCloughan’s status with the team as well as speculation about him drinking.

Let’s take a step back for a minute to review what we KNOW has happened. Since the final seconds of the disappointing Giants loss, Team President Bruce Allen has spoken three times, at the Super Bowl, Senior Bowl and the Combine. Prior to that, there was all kinds of speculation as to why the team has not reached out to Kirk Cousins, Pierre Garcon or DeSean Jackson. “They don’t love Kirk”. “They’re prepared to move on without Kirk”. This was the speculation. But three times, Bruce Allen has come out and has said the team would like to sign Kirk Cousins to a long term deal. Yet, there are some that STILL insist the team doesn’t like Kirk, even after Bruce has said it. Where’s the dysfunction in Bruce’s comments? Jay Gruden spoke at the combine to give free agency priorities, injury updates and thoughts on the Kirk Cousins contract negotiations. Where’s the dysfunction in that?

All of the comments made by the team so far this offseason have been FOOTBALL related. I thought that’s what the fans wanted. I don’t want my team president holding a press conference every day to address gossip columns and talk radio rumors. In fact, it would be perilous territory for Bruce to even touch allegations surrounding Scot’s alleged drinking. There was no incident such as a DUI or drunken brawl at a bar, so why does he HAVE to address it? For me, he doesn’t. Now, if McCloughan stepped down or has been demoted or censored for a football related reason, then that’s a story worth pursuing. I see smoke. I see uncertainty, but not dysfunction.

Look, if Bruce and Scot are butting heads over power, opinion or personnel, that’s not good, but not the end of days. Gibbs and Beathard went at it all the time. I’m not as concerned about that. What I am concerned about is the Washington Redskins doing their due diligence at the combine in preparation for the draft and getting Kirk Cousins signed to a long term deal. Anything else is juicy gossip. Whatever is going on with Scot McCloughan may or may not be revealed, but the “same ole Redskins” is a massive jump to conclusions. Furthermore, if the Redskins are as dysfunctional as some say, you’d have to throw in the media and some in the fan base in that mix as well.