Who's In Charge Is In Doubt

This free-agency period look like it’s going to be less about adding players who might help the team create a breakthrough – or not adding certain ones – and more about who’s really running the Washington Redskins.

- Jim Ducibella

I don’t know about you, but that’s drama I can do without.

It’s become apparent in recent days that someone in Ashburn has a burr in his saddle over the amount of credit and respect General Manager Scot McCloughan has drawn. I capitalized General Manager because the team claims that’s McCloughan’s official title.

But I thought a General Manager had control over personnel and contract decisions, including scouting, drafting and trading players. In Washington, where almost nothing is as It seems, that apparently is not the case.

According to John Keim of ESPN and Jerry Brewer of the Washington Post, team president Bruce Allen actually holds sway over these decisions. Considering McCloughan is entering his third season with the club, why it took anyone so long to make that point crystal clear to the public leads to a bunch of speculation.

Maybe nothing was said because McCloughan’s first draft in Washington – Brandon Scherff, Preston Smith (as a rookie), Matt Jones (jury’s out), Jamison Crowder, Arie Kouandjio (jury’s out) was successful enough that deflecting credit from McLoughan would have made Allen look petty.