Redskins' Tight-Knit Core May Face Breakup

Salary Increases Of 2004 Signings Threaten Cap

Around the Washington Redskins, for whom skyrocketing expectations have spiraled bitterly into hard introspection, there exists an uncomfortable degree of truth in jokes. In the locker room, cornerback Shawn Springs has periodically approached a teammate in jest and said: "It's been good playing with you, bro. I might as well say it now, 'cause I probably won't be here next year."

With three games remaining, the prospect of the front office breaking up this team is on the minds of many players, especially the defensive free agents brought in for Joe Gibbs's first season, the group the coach often refers to as "True Redskins." Close-knit defensive linemen Cornelius Griffin, Phillip Daniels, Joe Salave'a and Renaldo Wynn, linebacker Marcus Washington and Springs are faced with the twin concerns of suffering from a collective bad year and having high 2007 salaries.

The 2004 signings -- quarterback Mark Brunell and running back Clinton Portis also are part of that group -- believed last season's playoff run would lead to greater accomplishments this season. But with the team 4-9, the Redskins will have to decide whether the Redskins' defense suffered from a fluke season in which nothing went right or is in irreparable decline.

Gibbs and owner Daniel Snyder have, over the past few weeks, discussed the defense and concluded that the answer is the former, according to a team source, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Despite the fact that each of the 2004 contracts was structured for three years of cost containment and a steep escalation in the fourth year, Gibbs and Snyder believe the defense can still be playoff-caliber and both are, at least for now, committed to keeping its core intact, the salary cap notwithstanding.

"From what I understand, they're not going to let the cap get in the way of keeping this team together," the source said, a sentiment seconded Friday by Gibbs.

"I really do think that this was just one of those years," Gibbs said. "We've always said we like that group. I certainly don't think that I saw signs that told me we needed to blow this whole thing up. In the offseason we're going to study this thing from A to Z because when you have the year we've had you have to learn from it."

The team faces difficult decisions, according to sources with extensive knowledge of the Redskins' cap situation who asked not to be identified because they are not allowed to speak publicly. Gibbs and some of his players are headed toward an uneasy collision between the inclusive, emotional rhetoric he has traditionally affixed to his 2004 class and the cold edge of business, where both player and team must determine their financial worth with wavering degrees of sentimentality.

"I can tell you right now that I don't want to go anywhere," said Griffin, who will count $6.16 million against next year's salary cap. "Being here matters to me. Even when things didn't go the way you want them to go, I told myself to have the best last three games of the year. The fact is that you still have a Redskins logo on the side of your helmet. That means you go out and earn it. I need to look myself in the mirror."

Griffin's salary cap figure for 2007 jumps about 142 percent from 2006. Washington's rises 132 percent and Springs's cap number is 127 percent higher. Brunell, who lost his starting job to Jason Campbell a month ago, is scheduled to earn $5.2 million in base salary but his cap number is a hefty $6.63 million, including bonuses.

League salary cap experts analyzing the Redskins' situation said some players, perhaps Springs, Griffin and Washington, likely would be asked to restructure their contracts.

Coming off the travails of this season, however, there may be less willingness from some players to restructure or accept pay cuts. This is especially true when last season's restructuring was followed by the departure of some popular veterans and the signing of a well-paid free agent class that fell far short of expectations.

"Financially, they aren't in any cap trouble at all," one of the league sources said. "But they do have some big numbers coming up. If they decide not to keep some of their players, it won't be because their hand is being forced. It will be because they don't want them anymore.