An Easily Auditable Scenario

He either will be or won't be

As the euphoria of the hiring of a real general manager for the Washington Redskins settles into the reality and speculation of the future, a narrative has emerged that Vinny Cerrato's exit was somehow orchestrated for public relations value and that he will be returning as soon as now to be a quote consultant unquote to the team and the owner.

This narrative is largely or completely the work of Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk and has been refuted by both the team through chief operating officer David Donovan and by Vinny himself. The central legalese loophole appears to be that Vinny will be paid by the team through the end of his current contract in February 2010, and beyond that COO Donovan and owner Dan Snyder quote have not talked about that yet unquote, emphasis provided by me.

This either will or it will not happen, and it will be an easily auditable scenario, we will know. It is not like this is 24 and Dan Snyder will be slinking off to meet his disgraced former advisor in a parking garage to take counsel (that's a season one reference in case you were wondering).

Vinny will not realistically be able to join the organization in any capacity or even be in Ashburn without his presence being known.

It is this simple: If it happens, and Vinny comes back to work with the team, we will know change is not really here, that Dan Snyder really has no interest in improving the football quality of his team. And fans and the media will react accordingly to what will be perceived as a bait and switch back to the status quo.

I do not believe Vinny Cerrato should be blackballed from football, rather I understand concepts of organizational behavior well enough to know that there is no role Vinny could occupy with the Redskins, not a scout, not a talent evaluator, not a court advisor, not dog catcher, that would not undermine new general manager Bruce Allen.

If Vinny wants to work in football it will have to be in another town.



Vinny Cerrato and Dan Snyder from January 2000: Reuters Pictures from here.