Why Did We Trade Ryan Clark?

Ryan Clark is one of those guys who flew under the radar but made a big difference and didn’t have a big salary. Those are the kind of guys that Gregg Williams and the Redskins, which is the only team in the NFL without a general manager, love to trade away. To the Redskins, and especially Gregg Williams, the guy you don't have is always better than the guy you do have. We traded middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter to division rival Philly, and he is now the core of their defense, as is acknowledged by John Madden and every commentator. Then we traded the standout captain of our defense, Antonio Pierce, to another division rival, the Giants, and he now runs their defense and helped the G-Men bury us last year 32 - 0 at our first post-Pierce competition with the Blue Men because he knew all of our plays. That was no minor thing as it cost us a home playoff game and threw us into the wildcard mess. We also gave middle linebacker Arrington, face of the franchise, to the G-Men.

Is anyone home in Auburn??? Can I please run your franchise for you? I really feel that I could do a better job. Maybe hanging out with TomKat in the owner's box would go to my head and confuse me but right now I have my head and my integrity intact and I promise I would never wear a three-piece suit like "VP" Vinny Cerrato does, see above left pic.

The rule of thumb for every other front office in the NFL is this: don't give up a great player to a division rival. The Pats stuck by that rule by almost going into arbitration to avoid having Deion Branch go to division rival Jets. The Pats have won three Super Bowls in the last four years. Maybe they have a clue, and they won their battle as Branch went to the Seahawks, who are not only in another division but are in the other conference.

Which brings me back to Ryan Clark. We didn't trade him to a division rival but did send him packing to the Steelers, a team admired league-wide for its ability to identify and retain talent without breaking the bank. Clark won my heart last year when he sealed the deal against Philly with an interception in the end zone. But Gregg lusted after Adam Archuleta, and gave him a ridiculous out-of-market $10 million signing bonus, and chucked the proven guy who was a team leader. Archuleta, btw, has stunk so far and is almost 100% responsible for every touchdown scored against the Skins this year. But forget my opinions, according to this Wa Post article Clark was core to the defense.

But nor is it lost on many defensive players that the chemistry that turned 2005 into a special season is currently lacking. The players do not blame Archuleta, but many say they miss the field and locker room presence of Ryan Clark.

The affinity for Clark had been a subtle component of the defense's dialogue since the Redskins allowed him to go to Pittsburgh as an unrestricted free agent. During minicamp and the first days of training camp, the departure of linebacker LaVar Arrington to the New York Giants drove headlines, but whenever defensive players were asked about Arrington, they would mention Clark as a bigger loss.

"We're going to put it together," Wynn says. "But that magic of last year, well, we need to get it back."

Wilbon said this:

it appears the Redskins did a couple of goofy things in the offseason, such as getting rid of Ryan Clark, whom fellow defensive players loved and trusted.