Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Von Miller a plaintiff in NFLPA lawsuit

Quarterbacks Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning are the best-known names among the eight current NFL players named as plaintiffs on the NFLPA's antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League. Other players, including Vincent Jackson and Logan Mankins, are well known by most fans of the game. Some, such as Ben Leber, aren't even household names in their own households. There is a ninth plaintiff, a "prospective professional football player" according to the filing. That player is known to most fans who keep up on the top players available in the upcoming NFL draft. That prospective professional football player is Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller. Miller is expected to be picked very early in the draft, probably in the top 10 selections. He is an athletic linebacker who can bring a lot of heat on the opposing quarterbacks. In what has become a passing league, such players are highly valued. Miller is included in the lawsuit to challenge the validity of the 2011 NFL draft as well as any rookie salary cap that the league may try to impose on the players drafted absent a collective bargaining agreement. While it may be courageous of Miller to join in the legal action, one has to wonder if it is the smartest career move for him. Joining a class action suit against your future employer before you are even hired has to be considered a risky move. If even one team decides not to select Miller because they don't want to try to draft and negotiate with a plaintiff or aren't particularly interested in hiring a rookie who may well be distracted by by legal proceedings he will lose millions of dollars. A slide further back could cost him tens of millions. No question that Miller will earn the gratitude of his future teammates and respect from the players around the league. But you can't spend gratitude and respect. Miller has chosen to risk a lot for what may be very little gain. Of course, that has been the theme of the whole CBA negotiation to date. Both sides in the dispute are taking high risks with the possibility of seeing very little in the way of a reward. The difference is that the owners and players like Brady and Manning already have cashed in. Miller has yet to make a dime from the NFL. Is Miller being courageous or foolhardy? Time will tell.

NFL labor blog at CSN

I'm keeping a running blog of what is happening in the NFL labor negotiations. Head over here to keep up with what's going on, I'm keeping track minute by minute.

What can the Redskins get for the 10th pick?

The Washington Redskins have the tenth pick in the first round of the April 28 NFL draft. Of all of the options that the Redskins will have when their turn comes up in the first round of the NFL draft, the most attractive may well be to trade down and pick up some additional picks. But what additional picks can the Redskins pick up by trading back? Let’s take a look back at some of the history of trades involving the tenth pick and, in order to get a little more history, we’ll look at deals involving the ninth and 11^th overall picks as well. This history shows that one team could end up being the perfect trade partner for the Redskins if they do want to pick up additional selections by moving back. Here is a look at all of the trades involving picks nine through 11 from 1999 through last year. 1999—The Redskins traded the 11^th pick to the Vikings as part of a deal for quarterback Brad Johnson. They also dealt away their third-round pick in that draft and their second-rounder in 2000. There isn’t much to learn from this since it was a player transaction. Well, not much to learn except for the fact that the Redskins gave up way too much for Johnson, who had just two years left on his contract and left when his deal was up. 2000—Mike Shanahan and the Broncos traded the 10^th overall pick to the Ravens in exchange for the 15^th pick and Baltimore’s second-round pick, the 45^th overall. That deal looks like a steal in terms of the draft trade value chart. The difference between picks 10 and 15 is 250 points and pick 45 is worth 450 points. Shanahan got extra value equal to that of a mid-third rounder. The Redskins would be ecstatic if Shanny could pull of something like this again. 2001—The 49ers were sitting at ninth and they sent that pick along with picks in rounds three (82 overall) and seven (222) to Seattle. To San Francisco went the seventh pick (used to draft recently-released defensive end Andre Carter) plus a sixth-round pick (191). This shows how expensive it can be to move up, something that the Redskins need to avoid. The 11^th selection also was involved in a trade, one between the Packers and Seahawks, but we can’t learn much from it because it involved Matt Hasselbeck going from Green Bay to Seattle. 2003—The ninth pick did change hands, but it wasn’t a trade. The Vikings were picking seventh and, for some inexplicable reason, they let the clock run out on them before making their selection. Both the Jaguars and Panthers, who were picking eighth and ninth respectively, jumped ahead of Minnesota and made their picks before the Vikings could go. If the Redskins move up this way, that will be OK. 2006—It was Shanahan dealing again, this time moving up. The Rams held the 11^th pick and traded it to the Broncos for the 15^th overall pick plus a third-round pick (68). Denver took Jay Cutler with the pick the acquired. Shanahan overpaid slightly, receiving 1,250 points on the value chart and giving up 1,300. 2007—The Falcons traded the ninth pick to the Texans in the deal that involved quarterback Matt Schaub. 2008—This was another trade up, this one from the 10 slot by New Orleans. The Saint gave up that pick plus their third-round pick to get the Patriots’ first (seventh overall) and fifth (164). 2010—Denver had the 11^th pick (acquired from Chicago in the Cutler trade) and traded it to San Francisco. The 49ers gave up their pick, the 13^th, plus their fourth-round pick (113). Going on this history, it appears that the Redskins would be able to recoup their missing fourth-round pick (dealt away in the Donovan McNabb trade) for moving back a few spots or get back the third-round pick they are lacking due to the Jammal Brown deal (they did pick up an additional fifth in that trade) if they go back about five slots or so. The Rams, who hold the 14^th pick, could be the perfect trade partner here. They are in desperate need of a top wide receiver to give quarterback Sam Bradford a target and Julio Jones is expected to be sitting there when the Redskins pick at 10. St. Louis’ third-round pick is the 78^th overall so they could package that pick along with their first and get the Redskins first-rounder. It just so happens that this works out to be exactly even on the value chart. The difference between picks 10 and 14 is 200 points and the 78^th pick is worth 200 points. Certainly, Shanahan will attempt to extort an additional pick out of the Rams, probably a sixth- or seventh-rounder and he just might get it. While the Redskins certainly could use Jones, they could find a player who fits one of their many needs at 14 and perhaps pick up another key performer in the third round.  

Kemoeatu still on the Redskins roster

After Clinton Portis, Derrick Dockery, and Andre Carter were released by the Washington Redskins last week, it was reported by Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network that nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu would be released prior to rosters being frozen by the impasse in labor negotiations. That would have been last Thursday, but no word of any move involving Kemoeatu has been released by the team and he remains on the team's roster on its official website. Kemoeatu signed a two-year deal last year and he was expected to fill the nose tackle position, a critical area in the Redskins' new 3-4 defense. However, he came to the Redskins still on the mend from an Achilles injury he suffered in training camp in 2009 when he played for the Panthers. On top of that, a shoulder injury limited his effectiveness once his Achilles improved. Anthony Bryant showed some promise at nose tackle at the end of the year after Kemoeatu was benched and, finally, put on injured reserve. Although it would be surprising to see Kemoeatu on the Redskins' 2011 opening day roster, he remains there for the time being.

An upset in the making?

Forget about the Jets over the Colts in Super Bowl III and the Giants spoiling the Patriots' perfect season in the Super Bowl a few years ago. We could be on the verge of seeing one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. It appears that the NFL owners and players just might be headed to an agreement that would end a possible lockout before it ever really gets started. According to Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports and some other sources, a dramatic turnaround has taken place that may, just may, lead to a new collective bargaining agreement sooner than anyone thought. With both sides seemingly focused on winning rather than on coming to a reasonable compromise, thinks looked bleak going into yesterday's 11th-hour mediation session. The over/under line for getting a deal done is sometime in August or early September. Even the most optimistic observers thought that it would be great if something could get done before the the April 28 draft. And you didn't have to be too far on the doom and gloom side to see at least some of the season being lost to the labor strife. But things turned around yesterday. Until Thursday, the owners line has been that the players had to take the billion-dollar per year pay cut, play 18 regular-season games, and take their proposal for a rookie salary cap or go pound sand. But, for reasons unknown but that we will speculate on in a minute, the owners made some meaningful concessions. That sparked some hope, leading to the 24-hour extension. It seems that the owners were spooked by the prospect of bringing the case to the courts, especially the court of Judge David Doty, whose rulings generally have not gone in favor of the owners. With the union set to decertify, the owners faced the prospect of the whole process being thrown to the courts, where they would lose control of the process. And if there is one thing that a business person hates it is not being in control. So they will take a shot at actually negotiating instead of trying to pound the players into submission. We will know by the end of the day today whether or not there will be labor peace or if all hell will break loose. Silver said, "if such an announcement [of another extension of 1-2 weeks] is made, both sides would view that as an almost ironclad statement that a deal is forthcoming – and a work stoppage will have been averted." That would be good news for all involved.

Free agency deadline still Thursday at midnight

The extra 24 hours that the NFL owners and players agreed give themselves to try to decide on an new collective bargaining agreement (or, more accurately, more time to negotiate another extension) will not change the free agency rules. According to Adam Schefter, the extension is just a negotiating extension. The deadline to sign free agents, waive players, and conduct any other player moves that were permitted prior to the start of the new league year remains at midnight on Thursday. After that, no player moves will be permitted until the labor issue has been resolved. The signing of O. J. Atogwe apparently will have to satisfy the free agency hunger of the Redskins fans for a while, perhaps for a long while.

Snyder on ' second line ' of owners in labor talks

According to a Pro Football Weekly article by Eric Edholm, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is not in the forefront of the NFL's labor negotiations but he is still an active part in the negotiations as a part of what Edholm called "the second wave. Here is how Snyder's role was described.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder — As one of the NFL's richer and more well-known owners, running the NFL's second-most profitable franchise, Snyder automatically qualifies as a prominent voice. He might have his share of detractors at times, but Snyder's unquestioned business sense and ice-cold, unemotional instincts have a place in the negotiation process, as far as the other owners are concerned. (Translation: He doesn't mind being the bad guy at times.)

The article also said that Snyder has a degree of respect among the owners because he's a self-made millionaire who knows how to cut a deal. It also is noted that general manager Bruce Allen has been playing an active role in the talks lately. The article is worth a look.

A ray of sunshine in NFL labor talks?

There is talk that there might be an extension of deadline for the NFL and the players' association to cut a deal. According to multiple sources on Twitter and Adam Schefter speaking on SportsCenter just a few minutes ago, the two sides are discussing pushing back the start of the league year in order to give some more time to work out a new collective bargaining agreement. Don Banks of Sports Illustrated quoted a source who said that the extension talks are "legit but fragile". The fact that an extension is being discussed implies that there is some progress being made in the talks. If there wasn't some give and take going on, which has been notably lacking to date, there would be no reason to to extend the agreement. An offer by the owners to show some financial information may have been the impetus to getting the two sides to talk about extending the deadline. Apparently, the owners have offered the extension and the players are considering it. Multiple extensions were agreed to in 2006, the last time the CBA was being negotiated. The eventually did get an agreement.

Andre Carter released; Kemo on the way out?

The Redskins just announced that they have cut Andre Carter. Word got out earlier that guard Derrick Dockery had been cut. Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network tweeted that the Redskins intend to release Maake Kemoeatu by Thursday Back with more on this later; go to run to set up my chat tonight; we have a few more topics to discuss! Here's the link, we'll get going at 6:00 sharp: Tuesdays with Tandler, CSNwashington.com Here is the press release from the Redskins: LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. – The Washington Redskins announced today that they have released linebacker Andre Carter and offensive lineman Derrick Dockery. In his five seasons (2006-10) with the Redskins, Carter played in 80 games with 67 starts and registered 34 quarterback sacks. Carter played in all 16 games with five starts in 2010. He finished the season with 59 tackles (41 solo), including three for loss, 20 quarterback hurries, 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one pass defensed. In his six seasons (2003-06, 2009-10) with the Redskins, Dockery played in 85 games with 79 starts, including five games and two starts in 2010. He was originally selected by the Redskins in the third round (81st overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played two seasons in Buffalo (2007-08) before returning to Washington.  

Tandler final report from the combine