Vinny Cerrato:

A happy first take

"The joy and excitement has rendered me incapable of forming any real thoughts right now. But stay tuned and we'll update right here as more news comes in. Feel free to start the celebration in the comments. The firing/resigning of Cerrato was the lone good that could've come from this season . . . and now ("reportedly"), it's happening. Happy holidays, indeed."

-- Chris Mottram of Mr. Irrelevant (misterirrelevant.com), before 10 a.m.


A softer stance on Cerrato

"Our stance on Cerrato has been slightly different than other Redskins fans. We look at young guys like Devin Thomas, Fred Davis, Malcolm Kelly, Brian Orakpo, Chris Horton, Justin Tryon and see talented players who have become solid contributors once given the opportunity. Cerrato might not be focusing on every need the team has, but the players he does ultimately select do have value.

"We thought that if Snyder refused to get rid of Cerrato, who is a personal friend of the owner, then maybe the next best thing would be to bring in someone to work over Vinny. Let him continue to evaluate talent, but let someone else have final say on which names to write on the draft card."

What does it mean?

"It means that many of us, including me, were wrong in thinking that Cerrato would remain in spite of the likely change in coaches. Now, the decks have been fully cleared for the next head coach/general manager. And my sources tell me that it will still be Mike Shanahan; pay no attention to timing of the move, which some would imply has something to do with Mike Holmgren.

This move allows the next head coach [Shanny] to walk into the building with all the authority and allows him to rebuild and repair the organization -- with each new hire coming with his blessing."