Monday Matchup, Redskins at Cowboys

Redskins (2-0) at Cowboys (1-1), 8:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN
Line: Cowboys by 5

The Redskins have been waiting a long time to deliver a hearty “I told you so,” so they can be forgiven for a little premature self-congratulation over their perfect start. Rex Grossman called Santana Moss, Jabar Gaffney and Anthony Armstrong “the best wide receiving corps in the league,” which must mean he has not had a look at the Patriots, the Jets, the Eagles, the Packers, the Saints or about 20 other N.F.L. teams.

Grossman also called Moss “a quarterback’s best friend,” which means a lot from a quarterback who used to be known as “an opposing cornerback’s retirement fund.”

The Redskins have certainly improved, both on the field and off: their injury reports no longer come with a separate insubordinate section. Still, the current era of good feelings is built upon a 1-point come-from-behind victory against a team that lost 11 games last year (Arizona) and a convincing win against the eight or nine Giants players who were healthy enough to suit up on opening day.

This week, Washington will face a team whose top wide receiver (Miles Austin) is out and whose quarterback (Tony Romo) is trying to battle back from cracked ribs and a punctured lung. The Redskins can give themselves all the props they want if they compile a 3-0 start. The rest of us will reserve judgment. Pick: Redskins

Pick is not based on the spread

N.F.L. Free-for-All Central, Starring Kolb, Haynesworth and Rice

3:43 p.m. | Updated While mayhem was expected when the N.F.L. ended its lockout Monday and launched an instant off-season, everyone predicted the frenetic pace of player movement would resemble a swap meet for billionaires. But it would not be proper mayhem unless something really head-slapping happened. Like, say, the Patriots trading for Albert Haynesworth.

Big trade news of the day, so far:
The latest trade apparently being consummated is the one sending quarterback Kevin Kolb from the Eagles to the Cardinals in exchange for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. This has been in the hopper for a bit, but it came true only when Kolb agreed to receive gobs of money ($63 million over five years).

But the head-slapper is still the Patriots reportedly swinging a deal with Washington to acquire the perpetually discontented Haynesworth and that sound you hear is Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan howling in joy. Haynesworth, a fabulously talented but motivationally challenged defensive tackle, spent last season as the symbol of everything wrong with the Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s approach to team building. Having given Haynesworth a $100 million contract, they had to sit by as he pouted about the team’s new defensive system and became a running joke by not only failing to pass the team’s conditioning test, but not even being able to finish it. Now, apparently Patriots Coach Bill Belichick believes his magic powers extend to extracting that talent from Haynesworth, which means he spent his lockout time building a wand strong enough to move nearly 400 pounds of self-absorbed entitlement.

Only someone as large as Haynesworth could shove a Reggie Bush trade aside for top honors. New Orleans is reportedly sealing a deal that would send Bush, its mercurial running back, to Miami. The move comes as no surprise considering Bush all but announced his own exit after the Saints drafted running back Mark Ingram, and was completed when Bush agreed to a two-year deal with the Dolphins.

Big free-agent signing news of the day, so far:

Receiver Sidney Rice is apparently such a big fan of quarterback Tarvaris Jackson he followed him all the way from Minnesota to Seattle. After agreeing to terms with Jackson on Wednesday, the Seahawks have reportedly snared Rice from the Vikings with a five-year, $41 million deal, which took a little zing out of the arrival of quarterback Donovan McNabb in a trade. The Seahawks are betting big that Rice recovers from major hip surgery and regains the form of his spectacular 2009 season, when he caught 83 passes for 1,312 yards.

Perhaps the biggest prize of the free agency carnival, former Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, has not made a move yet, but NFL.com is reporting the Texans might be closest to nabbing him, with the Jets and 49ers trying hard as well.

The Giants re-stocked their defensive cookie jar by re-signing Mathias Kiwanuka, but are still working on the offensive side to hammer out deals to bring back players like receiver Steve Smith, running back Ahmad Bradshaw and tight end Kevin Boss.

The Eagles were thinking defense too and signed defensive end Jason Babin, who made the Pro Bowl last season with the Titans after several unspectacular seasons, including one with the Eagles.

Big other N.F.L. mayhem news of the day, so far:
Along with signings and trades, holdouts are elbowing their way into the mix of news. Receiver DeSean Jackson, who has expressed dismay over his current contract, did not show up for the Eagles’ first workouts on Thursday. Similarly, Jacksonville tight end Marcedes Lewis refused to report to a mandatory meeting Wednesday while he tries to get a new deal out of the Jaguars. They join Tennessee running back Chris Johnson, who is reportedly staging his protest over his $800,000 base salary this season.

Quarterback Kevin Kolb was also nowhere to be found at the Eagles’ workout, but that is because everyone expects his trade to the Cardinals to be finalized shortly.

Cutsville:
The Steelers bid goodbye to Antwaan Randle El, the versatile offensive threat who helped them win a Super Bowl, and veteran tackle Max Starks, who started in two Super Bowls.

N.F.L. Free-for-All Central, Starring Haynesworth and Rice

While mayhem was expected when the N.F.L. ended its lockout Monday and launched an instant off-season, everyone predicted the frenetic pace of player movement would resemble a swap meet for billionaires. But it would not be proper mayhem unless something really head-slapping happened. Like, say, the Patriots trading for Albert Haynesworth.

Big trade news of the day, so far:

Yes, the Patriots have reportedly swung a deal with Washington to acquire the perpetually discontented Haynesworth and that sound you hear is Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan howling in joy. Haynesworth, a fabulously talented but motivationally challenged defensive end, spent last season as the symbol of everything wrong with the Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s approach to team building. Having given Haynesworth a $100 million contract, they had to sit by as he pouted about the team’s new defensive system and became a running joke by not only failing to pass the team’s conditioning test, but not even being able to finish it. Now, apparently Patriots Coach Bill Belichick believes his magic powers extend to extracting that talent from Haynesworth, which means he spent his lockout time building a wand strong enough to move nearly 400 pounds of self-absorbed entitlement.

Only someone as large as Haynesworth could shove a Reggie Bush trade aside for top honors. New Orleans is reportedly sealing a deal that would send Bush, its mercurial running back, to Miami. The move comes as no surprise considering Bush all but announced his own exit after the Saints drafted running back Mark Ingram, and was completed when Bush agreed to a two-year deal with the Dolphins.

Big free-agent signing news of the day, so far:

Receiver Sidney Rice is apparently such a big fan of quarterback Tarvaris Jackson he followed him all the way from Minnesota to Seattle. After agreeing to terms with Jackson on Wednesday, the Seahawks have reportedly snared Rice with a five-year, $41 million deal, which took a little zing out of the arrival of quarterback Donovan McNabb in a trade. The Seahawks are betting big that Rice recovers from major hip surgery and regains the form of his spectacular 2009 season, when he caught 83 passes for 1,312 yards.

Big other N.F.L. mayhem news of the day, so far:
Along with signings and trades, holdouts are elbowing their way into the mix, with Jacksonville tight end Marcedes Lewis refusing to report to a mandatory meeting Wednesday. He joins Tennessee running back Chris Johnson, who is reportedly staging his protest over his $800,000 base salary this season.

Not Easy to Find a Fit for McNabb

The looming end of the lockout is expected to be followed by the craziest two weeks of player movement in N.F.L. history. The assumption is that Donovan McNabb will be part of the movement.

Washington’s decision to dump McNabb was all but made last November when the front office gave him a contract that called for a $10 million roster bonus on Sept. 9. The Redskins knew they weren’t going to pay eight figures to a man they’d benched earlier that season. The rest of the league knew this as well, which is why the Redskins will have trouble getting even a lower-round pick for McNabb.

Expect McNabb to be released in a few days. Then, expect him to…what, exactly? Look closely at the N.F.L. landscape and at McNabb’s circumstances and you’ll see an outlook cloudy enough to result in a possible early retirement.

McNabb is 34. By all accounts, he’s not willing to be a backup. In the past 15 months, Andy Reid and Mike Shanahan, two of the most respected offensive coaches of this era, have gotten rid of him. And, fair or unfair, the disastrous year in Washington brought about questions about McNabb’s work ethic and his ability to learn a new system. Before 2010, McNabb  spent 11 years in Philadelphia’s West Coast offense. If McNabb couldn’t learn a new system after an off-season of minicamps and OTA’s in Washington, who will trust he can learn a new system on the fly somewhere else?

The quarterback-needy Vikings seem to be  cooling on McNabb. The Vikings probably started having doubts back in the spring when they hired new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and eradicated Brad Childress’s West Coast system. Without a firm grasp of Minnesota’s new offense, McNabb is not valuable as a starter or as a mentor to the rookie quarterback Christian Ponder.

If this reasoning rules out the Vikings, then it also rules out the Titans and the 49ers. The other teams in need of immediate quarterback help appear to be headed in a different direction. The Cardinals are expected to acquire Kevin Kolb. If they can’t get Kolb, they’ll probably go for Marc Bulger, who, as a (very) poor man’s Kurt Warner, at least has the right style of play for Ken Whisenhunt’s offense. The Bengals are prepared to start the rookie Andy Dalton if Carson Palmer walks away. The Raiders, for whatever reason, are sold on Jason Campbell. The Browns run a West Coast system but figure to keep developing Colt McCoy. And the Bills are comfortable with Ryan Fitzpatrick, who, at this point, is probably a better player than McNabb anyway.

This leaves only two conceivable destinations for McNabb: Seattle and Miami. The Seahawks run a West Coast style offense and may need to replace the free agent Matt Hasselbeck. If Pete Carroll decides he can’t rely on Charlie Whitehurst (and that’s not a small if considering Carroll gave up  two quality draft picks and $8 million for the unproven passer, then started him ahead of a less-than-100 percent-Hasselbeck in the must-win Week 17 game against the Rams last season), perhaps he turns to McNabb. There were rumors a year ago about Seattle’s interest in McNabb.

Regarding the Dolphins, logic says they shouldn’t be interested in McNabb given that Chad Henne – who is not worth giving up on just yet – can still grow or, at the very least, be a short-term placeholder. But we found out last season when Henne was benched for Chad Pennington that Coach Tony Sparano can get desperate for an instant spark. That desperation probably hasn’t abated after the team’s off-season pursuit of Jim Harbaugh.

The Dolphins could view a McNabb signing as a two-year stab at catching lightning in a bottle. True, the new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll doesn’t run a West Coast system. But that caveat would be outweighed by the fact that McNabb would give the Dolphins some of the star power that the owner Stephen Ross craves.

What’s clear is McNabb is not the player he was a few years ago, and the circumstances around the league are tilted against him. Keep in mind, we’ve only discussed whether teams will see McNabb as a possible fit. We haven’t discussed whether they’ll see him as a better fit than Vince Young, Kyle Orton, Alex Smith, Seneca Wallace or…dare we say…Brett Favre*.

If I had 10 chips to bet on where McNabb plays in 2011, I’d put 4 on Seattle, 3 on Miami, 1 on “somewhere else” and 2 on “nowhere.”

*If you think the Favre bit is a joke, think again. It’s likely that Favre will actually retire this time. But given that there was no off-season, all quarterbacks on the open market are essentially “Brett Favre” in that they’ll be coming aboard without having had time to practice or learn the offense. In this sense, Favre is a proven commodity who is available. Some team will try to tempt him; it’s only a matter of whether he’ll be able to resist.

Andy Benoit is the founder of NFLTouchdown.com and provides N.F.L. analysis for CBSSports.com. He can be reached atandy.benoit@nfltouchdown.com.