Hell Freezes Over: Redskins Address a Need by Trading Pick for Vet and Don't Get Shelled!

I didn't think it could happen, but the Redskins made a move that makes sense. After years of going after big name players in the worst manner possible (see Cutler, Jay), we traded traded a mid-round draft pick for a good player with a reasonable contract at a position of need. Sure, Jammal Brown missed all of last season through injury, and has been far from a model citizen, but he is a 2x Pro-Bowler who fills our most gaping hole at RT for a reasonable $3.62 million next year. Call me crazy, but this smells like progress.

Even better, our offensive line is.........wait for it.............not yet..............not awful. Before I get too excited, Football Outsiders have shown that the best indicator of offensive line performance is continuity, which is something we certainly lack. Rabach and Dockery have only played the entirety of last season together (as well as the '05 and '06 seasons), and Mike Williams played a good chunk with those guys last year, but may be replaced by Artis Hicks, and we are bringing in 2 new OTs to comprise what has to be an O-Line with amongst the least amount of time spent playing together. That said, we finally have at least decent talent on the line for the first time in waaaay too long. Rabach and Dockery are not world-beaters, but they are at least mediocre; according to a KC Joyner article on espn.com that I cannot find and my well trained eyes, both of those guys rated are at least okay. I am not saying Trent Williams is definitely going to be great, but we have at least mediocre talent, if not better, at every offensive line position.

Almost as impressive, the Skins traded multiple draft picks for a veteran and are not getting destroyed by the media. I know that the strategy has not worked in the past, but I find it amazing that my friends and the media consistently pan the Skins for any time they do this type of deal, yet laud the efforts of any other team by saying something like, 'you can't draft a guy as good as Leon Washington in the 5th round'. I am not sure if this is a respect for Shanahan thing, but the the media was also awfully quiet on the Adam Carriker trade. Just another sweet sign of progress?

I personally don't really care what my friends and media say (ironic, I know), but things are changing in DC. It will take time for Jamal Brown to shake off the rust, Trent Williams to get up to speed, and the entire line to work well together, but this is definitely a huge step in the right direction.

(Image courtesy of cdn.picapp.com)