It's time for the Redskins to flex their villian muscles.

So, the Patriots like running up the score, do they?

I think it's time someone responded in kind, and the Washington Redskins are just the team to do it.

Of course, I'm not talking about on the football field. We saw what happened when the Redskins took the Patriots on on the gridiron. I'm talking about attacking the Patriots from your point of strength.

It seems to me that it is completely impossible for the NFL to level the playing field for all 32 franchises. It seems to me like an uber-high revenue franchise like the Redskins - actually, not "like the Redskins", more like just "the Redskins" - has to be able to wield it's financial weight in some way.

Which is why the Redskins need to go after Scott Pioli.

Do you see what I mean by flexing their villian muscles?

Now, Scott Pioli has been offered jobs before, by teams like the Seahawks and Giants, but he has turned them down. The Patriots might not expect Pioli to entertain such an overture from us, and so permission may be more easily come by than I anticipate, but this probably won't be the case. So, the Redskins are going to have to do some underhanded shit (more underhanded than videotaping someone else's coaching signals? No.). They need to make the fact that they are seeking Pioli to be made known before the fact that they are going after a GM, so they can use the press conference announcing this fact - which will have come out once news breaks that the Skins are after Pioli - to pull some sly negotiations. Sports press corps are so easy to predict the responses to the questions could be perfectly scripted.

Snyder: The Washington Redskins are going to be taking a new direction with our front office soon. We will be looking for a General Manager to run the team soon. Questions?
Press: Is it true you sought permission from the Patriots to speak to Scott Pioli?
S: Yes. We were denied permission, however.
P: Did you really believe that, even if Pioli had been granted permission, he would have entertained an offer to leave New England?
S: We believe that we could have made Pioli an offer it would be in his best interest to sign.
P: What does that mean? (or something like that)
S: I can't get into specifics, of course, but let's just say that whoever gets the job will sign a contract unlike any other ever signed by an NFL GM (he'll probably get fined - a lot - for that; but it will be worth it).
P: Is there any timetable for a decision?
S: We will search until we have our guy, however long that takes, even if that is more than one offseason.

That should keep Pioli, or any other GM for that matter, from signing any long-term extensions.

Of course, there always is the possibility that the Pats would grant permission for Scott to talk, thinking there is no way we can lure away Pioli, with his iron-clad loalty.

Loyal like a dog.

Yeah, dogs are loyal.

To whoever gives them the biggest piece of sausage.

And the Redskins have the biggest sausages of all.

"Ok, Scott, here is the deal. We here at the Redskins believe that you are the man in that organzation who makes everything else go right. When we look at the amazing job you have done identifying and procuring talent for that organization, it is crystal clear to us that you are the most important piece of the puzzle. And think about it this way - if you come to Washington and do the same thing, it won't just be us that know it - it'll be the whole world. You'll go in the Hall of Fame, for sure, probably generally recognized as the best executive in League history.

But I'm not going to blow any more smoke up your ass. Let's get down to brass tacks. The New England Patriots are valued right at around one billion dollars. That's pretty good. Of course, when you've won 3/4 (depending on how many he has when we're talking to him) Super Bowl Championships in a decade, the team value is going to shoot up like that.

Now, the Washington Redskins, on the other hand, are worth one-point-four billion dollars. Consider this, in the last decade, the Redskins have won virtually nothing. 2 playoff appearances, with 2 post-season wins. That's it. And yet the team still outvalues the Patriots by 33%. Can you imagine the worth of the Redskins if you could build another Super Bowl team here? Two billion? Three for a dynasty?

And you beginning to see what kind of money you would be worth to me? I'm talking a five million dollar base salary. If the value of the team tops two billion while you are emplyed by me, that salary will double. It'll double again if it gets to three.

And that's the base. Look, I am comitted to winning championships, and it is performance that I am most willing to reward. If we win a divisional championship under your stewardship, I'll give you another 2 million at the end of the season. I'll give you another five if we win the NFC, and another 10 if we win the whole thing. So, a Super Bowl winning season after our franchise value hits two billion dollars would net you 27 million dollars.

That sound like a job you'd be interested in?"

Of course, once the Redskins did that, there would be no turning back from the black hats. The Redskins would be the team that everyone hated - especially if this worked (and I have no reason to believe that it wouldn't).

But at least being a Redskins fan would be fun again.