Remember last summer when Andy Reid and the Eagles traded Donovan McNabb to their hated nemesis the Washington Red Skins? People were all over Reid for the trade. Maybe he was ahead of the curve on that one.
Today it was announced that Donovan McNabb has been benched for Sunday's game in favor of Rex Grossman. Eight months ago McNabb was to be the new savior of the Red Skins, now he is third string.
From what I am reading, this benching is just the tip of the ice burg for how bad things have gotten in the Washington locker room.
Player wishing to remain unnamed to avoid the Shanahan retaliation are very angry over the benching. The see it scapegoating McNabb for poor coaching. Yet McNabbs numbers this season have not been stellar, (3,377 yards, 14 touchdowns, 15 interceptions) and he constantly misses easy throws that can be the difference between wins and losses.
Just based on McNabb's numbers it appears Andy Reid was right in trading Donovan to the Skins, weakening the competition. However it appears from what players are saying there is more to it than that.
According to NFL.com's Jason La Canfora, Red Skin players are accusing OC Kyle Shanahan of deflecting blame from himself onto McNabb.
They are saying the father son egos are out of control and that they are blaming everyone but themselves for the problems plaguing Washington.Regardless of who is right, it is a house divided.
Is Grossman the answer to tomorrows game, most likely not. His starting may be the signal that McNabb will be looking for work for the 2011 season.
Earlier this season Shanahan benched Donovan and then Washington signed him to a contract extension before he returned to the starting line up. Dont look for that to happen this time around. In the new contract extension Washington put in enough language to be able to trade McNabb or release him at the end of the season and only have to pay him $3.75 million. Shanahan did tell McNabb he may not be invited back for next season and his benching sets up a trial run for Grossman and promotes John Beck to role of back up QB.
What is sounds like is the entire Redskin camp is in total disarray and bringing McNabb over to Skins has just highlighted the much deeper issues plaguing Washington. Perhaps they need to do some major housing cleaning starting with team Shanahan and down through the ranks. I dont know what the answer is but I do know the Red Skins are not the team they used to be.
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