Change is a'Comin'

If you're a Redskins fan, looking at this picture probably reveals something you haven't seen for a while. A really long while. And that's Dan Snyder (in the center) smiling an honest to goodness smile as opposed to the photos we'd usually see of him around this time of year where he's smiling a "hey-we-just-signed-the-marquee-name-of-ten-years-ago-now-pay-through-the-nose-to-witness-mediocrity" smiles of seasons past. That's not to say that things are going to be all peachy keen swell this season, or even next season but given the way things are going this year, there's definitely some new direction being taken by the team.

Typically, the night when free-agents could be signed usually resulted in some queasiness on the part of fans in this town, largely because most every year of the past decade has seen morning come with the announcement that a big name for a position that was already filled was now to be occupied by a big name that cost millions upon millions of dollars. Most of the time it meant that Washington had signed a player well past their prime, on the cusp of retirement looking for one last major payday during which he'd be able to make some money in order to retire comfortably. And the side result was that just as often, rather than fostering the growth of younger players, they were let go only to go somewhere else where they could prosper.

Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post wrote an interesting article today in which he talked about some of the changes he's seen, one of the main ones being how respect is being shown throughout the organization. Now granted, Jason Campbell may not be the next Tom Brady, and the signing of Rex Grossman notwithstanding and the fact that scouts are looking at Tim Tebow, Campbell's been showing a lot of grit given how many times he ended up on the turf last season. He has definitely put out for the team and though he has been potentially tendered for next season, the fact that he hasn't just been let go is a sign that his contributions have been noted and that if there's no sudden revelation that he can be supplanted by another player (potentially with loads of more success) then I think it would be wise to keep him. If anything he's proven that he can learn new offensive schemes. He's done it practically every single season he's been here in DC.

But what about the guys on the team who talk the talk but can't (or don't) walk the walk? Some of them have either been tendered as well or have simply been let go. I was surprised when I heard about ten players on the team that were let go at the start of the free agency period. Most of them were what I would term 'big-name-players' for the team yet they were let go. I think part of it is because new coach Mike Shanahan realizes that he needs to build a team that will suit his needs but not only that, he needs to build a team that won't be a flash in the pan so to speak. Over the past decade there have been moments where it seemed the stars were finally aligning for the Skins only to have a galactic wind blow through and change everything once again. Maybe this time the team will be able to keep things together to find the road to victory. I certainly hope so.