Problems at the Core

Redskins coaches said their rankings of Lloyd only took into account what they had seen on game film. They never received from Cerrato or the scouting department any information on Lloyd having a possible attitude problem. "I was asked to evaluate him only as a player, not as a person," one coach said.

One coach said he liked Lloyd's route-running and speed. And all the coaches marveled at his ability to make highlight-reel catches. The conversation ended with the coaches grading Lloyd ahead of Jurevicius and Bryant. The latter two graded higher than Randle El overall but Saunders wanted Randle El for his versatility and Gibbs liked his punt return skills.

With the available players ranked, Gibbs, Cerrato and Snyder met.

"Eventually it's going to come down to Dan and me," Gibbs said of the decision-making process.

Gibbs wanted a burner, more of a straight-ahead deep threat to complement Santana Moss. The decision was made to get Lloyd. Snyder and Schaffer then took over the financial dealings.

Lloyd's representatives made it clear they wanted a lucrative contract extension. They could point to the $30 million extension the Redskins gave Moss in a similar situation a year earlier. The Redskins, however, were under no obligation to do anything because Lloyd had a year left on his contract. The team could have done nothing and severed ties with him at the end of the season with no salary cap ramifications. Instead, Lloyd was given a new contract.

"As far as redoing the deal, when you've got them and you've talked through it, you would like to have a long-term deal, and so that was something that took place," Gibbs said. "You're getting a young, talented guy. Sure, we'd love to have more production than we got this year, but we'll see in the future if what we gave for him is going to be fair."

Only after the trade was Lloyd brought in for an interview and coaches were able to ask him about his reputation as a troublemaker.

While the coaches unilaterally said they have no desire to deal with the salary cap or haggle over trades, they are unhappy about a strategy that essentially overpays players who have no track record of Pro Bowl level success. When so much money is given to new players, it leaves less for others and repeated overspending can create locker room tension.

"The ramifications of that, we all have to deal with," one coach said.

Gibbs said he believes his assistants have ample input in personnel decisions.

"There is no excuse for the coaches," Gibbs said. "Everybody is in the room. They have all the input in the world."