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The San Francisco 49ers twice lost close games against New Orleans in the Superdome when the Saints were allegedly eavesdropping on visiting coaches from 2002-2004.

Coincidence? Evidence of malfeasance?

"There’s something missing here," said Bill Polian, the ESPN analyst and former longtime NFL executive. "I don’t know what kind of competitive advantage you can get."

The report by "Outside the Lines" cites people familiar with the Saints' game-day operations as saying Mickey Loomis, the Saints' general manager, had the ability to monitor opposing coaches from his private box during home games.

NFC West teams played three games at the Superdome during the period in question.

The 49ers suffered a 35-27 defeat at New Orleans in 2002 after the Saints outscored them 22-3 in the fourth quarter. They also suffered a 30-27 defeat there in 2004 after Aaron Brooks found Donte Stallworth for a 16-yard touchdown with 1:01 remaining. Also in 2004, the Seattle Seahawks claimed a 21-7 victory at New Orleans.

The NFL has already suspended Loomis, a former longtime Seahawks executive, for the first eight games of the 2012 season as punishment for his handling of the Saints' bounty situation.

The allegations against Loomis are damaging whether or not the Saints realized any in-game advantages.

"Mickey would have to know the verbiage of every other opposing team in order to translate it, and then he would have to do it instantly and find some way to communicate with his coaching staff and get it down to the field in time for it to be useful," Polian said. "That would be very difficult to do, in my opinion."

The Saints have strongly denied the allegations.

Steve Mariucci (2002) and Dennis Erickson (2004) were the 49ers' head coaches for the NFC West defeats in question. Erickson and Loomis worked together in Seattle years earlier.

Another NFC West alum, Jim Haslett, was the Saints' head coach at the time.

Former NFL executive Bill Polian said he doesn’t understand how New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis got any competitive advantage from allegedly having the ability to listen to opposing coaches communicate during games.

“There’s something missing here,’’ said Polian, who is now an ESPN analyst. “I don’t know what kind of competitive advantage you can get. Mickey would have to know the verbiage of every other opposing team in order to translate it, and then he would have to do it instantly and find some way to communicate with his coaching staff and get it down to the field in time for it to be useful. That would be very difficult to do in my opinion.’’

That all makes a lot of sense. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, for Loomis to tip off his coaching staff to what opposing coaching staffs were saying seconds before the snap. It also would have been pretty much impossible for those coaches to let players know quickly enough what play was coming.

It also is extremely important to note that Loomis had the alleged ability to listen to other coaches only from a span from 2002 through 2004. That’s when Jim Haslett was coaching the team. Hurricane Katrina hit before the 2005 season, and the Saints had to play their home games in other locations that season. The report says the listening device was destroyed by the hurricane, and there are no indications it was put back into place. Haslett was fired after the 2005 season, and if Loomis was listening to play calls by opposing coaches, Haslett's record doesn't suggest it provided much of advantage.

Sean Payton was hired to replace Haslett in 2006. So you can’t tie Payton to this issue. But I still don’t see how this can mean anything positive for the Saints.

The NFL already has suspended Payton for a full season for a bounty program the league says lasted three years. Loomis also will be suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season for not stopping the bounty program.

The NFL reportedly was not aware of Loomis allegedly having had a listening device until the report came Monday afternoon. Loomis might not have gained any competitive advantage from allegedly having a listening device, and the allegations are from long ago when a different coaching staff was in place.

But these allegations sound a lot like Spygate, which also was something that happened in the past. The NFL -- particularly commissioner Roger Goodell -- didn’t take that situation lightly, and fined the New England Patriots $750,000. If this had come out a few years back, the Saints might be in line for a punishment similar to New England’s, if the NFL had found them guilty of the allegations.

But that was just one situation. This is different. This is coming on top of the whole bounty program.

Competitive advantage or not, this could convince Goodell to throw the book at the Saints -- even more than he already has.

Tuesday’s news that Baltimore Ravens running back Ricky Williams is retiring comes with a bit of an NFC South angle.

Williams once was the biggest thing to ever hit the New Orleans Saints. Remember the 1999 draft, when the Saints traded away all their picks from that year, plus a couple more for the following year, for the right to draft Williams?

Yeah, it made headlines all over the place because it was one of the most daring trades ever -- we’re talking way more daring and dangerous than what the Falcons gave up to get Julio Jones or what the Saints gave up to get Mark Ingram in the 2011 draft.

It was the biggest deal coach Mike Ditka made and (along with a 3-13 record that season) it led to the end of his coaching career.

When coach Jim Haslett arrived the next season, Williams had some success. He had two 1,000-yard seasons, but there were issues. Williams was a unique personality. He didn’t interact a lot with teammates and often conducted interviews behind the shield of his helmet.

"Ricky's just a different guy," former New Orleans receiver Joe Horn once said. "People he wanted to deal with, he did. And people he wanted to have nothing to do with, he didn't. No one could understand that. I don't think guys in the locker room could grasp that he wanted to be to himself -- you know, quiet. If you didn't understand him and didn't know what he was about, it always kept people in suspense."

Haslett was in suspense or, at the very least, never quite could figure out Williams. That’s part of the reason Deuce McAllister was drafted. By the end of the 2001 season, in which Williams rushed for 1,245 yards and caught 60 passes, Haslett was pretty clear that Williams didn’t fit his long-term plans.

In the spring of 2002, the Saints traded Williams to the Miami Dolphins. They were able to get back some of what they initially gave up for Williams by getting four draft picks, including two first-round choices, in return.

Williams’ career would go on to have all sorts of twists and turns. He had success at times in Miami. He also retired from football in 2004, only to return in 2005. Williams was suspended by the NFL in 2006 and wound up playing for Toronto in the Canadian Football League.

Williams returned to the Dolphins in 2007. He finished his career with Baltimore and ended up with 10,009 rushing yards and 74 total touchdowns (66 of them on the ground).

Not a bad career, especially when you consider all the interruptions.

Would it have somehow worked out better if things had been handled differently and Williams spent his entire career in New Orleans? It’s impossible to say for sure.

Williams’ track record suggests he might have encountered some of the same, or different, problems if he had been with the Saints the entire time. Things worked out all right for him. They also worked out for the Saints, aside from the initial price tag to get Williams. McAllister ended up having a very nice career.

Reggie Bush came in and did some nice things at certain times. Along the way, the Saints also added Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles, who have done some pretty nice things at running back.

The New Orleans Saints are going to hear about their 0-4 road record in the playoffs. The record is misleading, but not necessarily irrelevant heading into their divisional-round game against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park.

A look back through those four defeats can provide some context:

• 2010: lost at Seattle, 41-36, in the divisional round. The Seahawks were easy to underestimate as a 7-9 division winner. Matt Hasselbeck and Marshawn Lynch turned in memorable performances. Drew Brees passed for 404 yards, but only two scoring passes. Seattle overcame a 17-7 deficit. The Saints ran out of running backs and became one-dimensional.
• 2006: lost at Chicago, 39-14, in the NFC title game. Brees passed for 354 yards and two touchdowns. The Bears' Rex Grossman completed only 11 of 26 passes for 144 yards, but Chicago suffered no turnovers. The Bears rushed 46 times for 196 yards and three touchdowns. This matchup resembles the Saints-49ers matchup in some ways. Those Bears were 13-3. They were stronger on defense and special teams than on offense. The current 49ers have done a much better job avoiding turnovers. Grossman had 20 picks in 2006, whereas Alex Smith has only five this season.
• 2000: lost at Minnesota, 34-16, in the divisional round. Those Vikings had Randy Moss (121 yards) and Cris Carter (120 yards) catching passes from a pre-injury Daunte Culpepper (302 yards). Jim Haslett was coaching the Saints. Aaron Brooks was their quarterback. Totally irrelevant to the matchup this week.
• 1990: lost at Chicago, 16-6, in the wild-card round. This one also lacks relevance unless the Saints bring John Fourcade out of retirement to replace Brees. Fourcade completed 5 of 18 passes for 79 yards as the Saints' quarterback. Jim Harbaugh was the Bears' primary starting quarterback that season, but he was hurt. Mike Tomczak started this game in his place.

The 0-4 road record sounds bad, and it is, but only two of those defeats came with Brees and coach Sean Payton on the New Orleans payroll. The Saints were much better offensively in 2011 than they were last season or in 2006. What will that mean Saturday?

Mike Jones of The Washington Post writes that the Washington Redskins interviewed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris for an assistant coaching position Wednesday. The Bucs fired Morris on Monday after three years with him as their head coach, but Morris is still only 35 years old and is considered a bright defensive coaching mind. There's no reason to think Washington defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, who came in with Shanahan two years ago with the assignment of converting the Redskins from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4, is in any danger. Morris is being looked at as someone who can help coach defensive backs specifically. As Mike writes:

Washington's current defensive backs coach is Bob Slowik, who served as Mike Shanahan's defensive coordinator in Denver in 2007 and 2008. Slowik is coming off his second season with the Redskins. The team's safeties coach, Steve Jackson, is the lone member of the Redskins' defensive coaching staff who wasn’t originally hired by Shanahan and Haslett. Jackson joined the Redskins in 2004 and has coached the safeties in each of the last seven seasons.

Morris has strong ties to some members of the Redskins organization. He and current Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan served as assistants in Tampa Bay in the mid-2000's. Shanahan worked as an offensive quality control assistant, while Morris held the assistant defensive backs coach post. Kyle Shanahan and Morris remain close.

If the Redskins are serious about Morris -- or about any other changes to their coaching staff -- expect things to move quickly. Mike Shanahan told me last week that the team is entering a two-week period in which the coaches meet to offer evaluations of every player on the roster -- offensive coaches assessing defensive players and vice-versa. Any coach who would be new next year would certainly be an important voice in such meetings, especially since he'd bring a potentially valuable outsider's perspective on the Redskins' roster.

The secondary is a potential issue for the Redskins in 2012, as the team could wave good-bye to both of 2011's starting safeties, LaRon Landry and O.J. Atogwe. Landry is headed for free agency and likely surgery on his Achilles, and Atogwe's contract would allow the Redskins to get out of it if they found a better option. The team views DeJon Gomes as a future starter at safety, but it's unclear whether he'd be ready for such a role in 2012.

The St. Louis Rams have fired head coach Steve Spagnuolo, who began his NFL coaching career with the Philadelphia Eagles and rose to prominence as the defensive coordinator for the 2007 Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Spagnuolo's been a hot name around this blog lately (though, for some reason, not a name that's getting any easier to type), so let's take a team-by-team look at his chances of returning to the NFC East in 2012.

Philadelphia Eagles

This is the most likely spot for Spagnuolo to resurface in the division. He was a defensive position coach in Philadelphia from 1999-2006 under legendary defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. And while reports have said he was upset toward the end of his Philadelphia tenure, that Eagles coach Andy Reid blocked him from pursuing opportunities to be a defensive coordinator elsewhere, the two men have since reconciled and their relationship likely wouldn't be an impediment to a potential Spagnuolo return. Other things could be, however. While first-year defensive coordinator Juan Castillo took a lot of heat in Philadelphia this year -- and Reid took a lot of heat for converting Castillo from offensive line coach to defensive coordinator -- the Eagles finished the season strong and ended up ranking eighth in the NFL in total defense, as measured by yards allowed. Additionally, the Eagles just hired Jim Washburn to coach their defensive line a year ago. The scheme that Washburn and Castillo installed this year leans on pressure from the front line, whereas Spagnuolo has been more known for blitz-heavy and zone-blitz schemes. It's possible that the Eagles are (a) happy with Castillo's performance in spite of the outside criticism and/or (b) loath to make major coaching and scheme changes again leading into next year, since that seems to have backfired in 2011. Spagnuolo could return to Philadelphia as defensive coordinator, but it's certainly no slam dunk.

New York Giants

There are Giants fans who'd like to see Spagnuolo back in New York as defensive coordinator. But first of all, you don't often see a guy make a direct backward career move like that. Second of all, the Giants like current defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, even though the team ranked 27th in total defense this year and the coverage issues in the secondary need to be addressed along with the linebacker position before next year. Third of all, I don't know if you heard, but the Giants just won this division and are in the playoffs, so they certainly won't be making any coaching changes for at least a week. And for those who thought Spagnuolo could come in as coordinator and be a coach-in-waiting behind Tom Coughlin -- the way the Giants have finished this season makes it very unlikely that Coughlin would be going anywhere anytime soon.

Dallas Cowboys

Obviously, Rob Ryan's first year as defensive coordinator in Dallas was a flop, but it'd be a surprise to see them give up on the well-regarded Ryan after just one year and without addressing the personnel issues they have in their own secondary. Also, the Cowboys likely would have to transition from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 under Spagnuolo. Possible? Sure, but it'd be a big surprise.

Washington Redskins

The defense was a strong point for the Redskins this year, and Mike Shanahan is pleased with the way the second year of the conversion to the 3-4 under Jim Haslett went. Haslett's safe.

» NFC Final Word: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Five nuggets of knowledge about Week 4:

Assessing the 49ers' chances in Philly. The Eagles, losers of two in a row, haven't lost three games in succession since a 2007 stretch played mostly without their starting quarterback. The 49ers, winners at Cincinnati in Week 3, have not won games in successive weeks since the 2009 season (a bye interrupted their lone two-game winning streak last season). They have not won road games in successive weeks since beating Carolina and Indianapolis in Weeks 10-11 way back in 2001. Beating the Eagles in Philadelphia would open eyes to just how much change Jim Harbaugh has affected in a short period of time.

Yakety YAC, help the quarterback. Three NFC West teams rank among the NFL's bottom five in yards after the catch on a per-reception basis, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The Seahawks rank 31st at 3.7 yards. The 49ers and Rams are both in the 4.3-yard range. The 49ers have no receptions longer than 39 yards and none longer than 26 by a wide receiver. Michael Crabtree's longest catch this season covered eight yards. The Arizona Cardinals are the exception within the division. They have five wide receivers and tight ends with at least five receptions and a 5.0-yard average YAC. Seattle's Doug Baldwin (8.0 YAC) is the only other non-running back in the division to meet that standard. The St. Louis Rams' Brandon Gibson has averaged eight-tenths of a yard after the catch.

Cardinals' pass defense in focus. Few teams push the ball down the field as aggressively as the Cardinals' Week 4 opponent. Giants quarterback Eli Manning ranks third behind Cam Newton and Ben Roethlisberger in how far past the line of scrimmage his passes travel on average. The Giants are one of five NFL teams averaging at least 8.8 yards per pass attempt. The Cardinals are one of eight teams allowing at least 8.0 yards per attempt. Manning, coming off a four-touchdown game at Philadelphia, tossed three scoring passes in his last visit to University of Phoenix Stadium (2008). He ranks tied for second in the NFL with eight completions on passes traveling more than 20 yards past the line of scrimmage.

Sam Bradford's long-term health. The Rams' quarterback has taken 11 sacks in three games, a total he did not reach until Week 5 last season. He's facing a Washington Redskins defense that ranks sixth in sacks per pass play. Anyone else think former Rams coach Jim Haslett, now the Redskins' defensive coordinator, wouldn't mind introducing Bradford to pass-rushers Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan? The pressure is on a not-quite-healthy Steven Jackson to give the Rams needed offensive balance.

Seahawks have choices on defense. Seattle was able to shut out the Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald in the second half last week in part because Arizona's other weapons weren't all that threatening. Without Beanie Wells to worry about, Seahawks free safety Earl Thomas spent less time in the box and more time helping in coverage. Thomas would ideally provide similar support against Falcons receiver Roddy White this week, but doing so could carry additional risks against an Atlanta offense with more varied weapons. Falcons rookie Julio Jones caught six passes for 115 yards against Tampa Bay in Week 3, including a 49-yarder. On the positive side for Seattle, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has taken 13 sacks, the same total he took into Week 10 last season. That 49-yard strike to Jones marked the first time in eight tries this season Ryan has completed a deep pass (defined as one traveling more than 20 yards past the line of scrimmage).

LANDOVER, Md. -- The play that could have broken the spirit of the Washington Redskins' defense happened with 11:09 left in Sunday's game. Linebacker London Fletcher was just a quarter of a second too late in getting to Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb, who found Larry Fitzgerald deep down the right side of the field for a 73-yard touchdown that stretched Arizona's lead to eight points. After a day of missed opportunities, a game in which they'd dominated time of possession and should have had things well in hand, the Redskins were staring at the strong possibility that they'd let one get away.

"There was no panic on our sidelines," Fletcher said after a 22-21 victory that pushed the Redskins two games over .500 for the first time since 2008. "We were disappointed to give up the touchdown, of course, but I was really stressing to the guys that there was a lot of football left to be played."

The Redskins still had a lot going for them. They knew they'd been stopping the Cardinals pretty much all day. Their offense was marching down the field behind Rex Grossman and Roy Helu for a touchdown drive. And perhaps just as important as either of those two things, they had Fletcher, their inspirational leader, urging them on, as he always does.

"He's obviously still got a lot left in his tank," Redskins nose tackle Barry Cofield said. "If a guy who's played as long as he has can still be that fired up and that hungry, it makes you feel bad if you can't be that same way yourself."

There were some who predicted that the Redskins would play this whole season and not win any more games than the two they've already won. Those who did so ignored the improvements Washington made on defense, the benefits the returning players would draw from the season they spent in Jim Haslett's 3-4 defense in 2010, and the veteran leadership the Redskins have on that side of the ball. Fletcher was all over the field Sunday, making five tackles, hitting Kolb twice and collecting an interception. He blitzed out of the Redskins' shifting, confusing defensive fronts as if he'd been playing in them his whole career. The Redskins' linebackers were the stars of the defensive show as the banged-up secondary kept losing players to injury, and Fletcher led them.

"He's the captain of our ship," said reserve cornerback Byron Westbrook, who forced the Chansi Stuckey fumble that sealed the game for Washington in the final minute. "He's vocal. He has a lot of passion. He's always positive and upbeat. Guys want to follow a leader like that."

It was Fletcher who organized those Redskins player workouts during the lockout, scribbling down plays he remembered Haslett running (or trying to run) last season and keeping them on a piece of paper tucked into his back pocket so he could make sure those workouts were directed and productive. It was Fletcher who set the attacking tone the Redskins wanted to set against Kolb and the Cardinals Sunday -- a plan that resulted in three sacks. It was Fletcher who made sure, once the Cardinals started to have success running the ball and then hit that monster pass play, that no one got discouraged.

"When he sees guys in the huddle with their heads down, he's always bringing them back up," linebacker Brian Orakpo said. "That's what I really respect about him. He's always the same."

The great leaders are, and Fletcher-as-leader is a bit of a secret weapon for the Redskins, who aren't as surprised as you are that they're 2-0, by the way.

"We really don't get caught up in what's said about us outside our locker room," Fletcher said, affably, not angrily. "What matters is the way we feel about ourselves."

And in case you're wondering how they feel about themselves ...

"There's just a belief on this team that we're going to win," defensive end Adam Carriker said. "We honestly believe we have one of the best defenses. We believe we're going to win. We believe we're good. And when teams have that belief, they're not going to fold."

And so it was that the Redskins, after Grossman went down the field and cut the lead to two points with a touchdown to Santana Moss, went out and got the three-and-out that put the ball back in their offense's hands. And Westbrook, pressed into service thanks to an injury to starting cornerback Josh Wilson, jumped up from the back end of the depth chart to make the game-clinching play.

"Our young guys, they have resolve," Fletcher said. "And they study."

They probably do so because of the example Fletcher and the other defensive veterans on the Redskins set. And while that may not be the kind of thing that shows up in statistical projections, the belief and confidence it inspires can be hugely valuable to a team, like this one, that's growing and figuring out what it's going to be.

"We know we have a long way to go," Fletcher said. "But the thing we can be happy about is the character of the football team."

He probably won't, but Fletcher should take a bow for that.

ASHBURN, Va. -- This will be Brian Orakpo's third year in the NFL, but the Washington Redskins' linebacker finds himself in an unusual position. There are only 16 players in camp who have been with the Redskins longer than Orakpo has. Only five of those 16 are starters and only three play defense. This puts Orakpo, who turned 25 last week, in the position of having to help a lot of new guys learn the way things work around Redskins Park.

"It's very odd, man," Orakpo said. "I'm only going into my third year and already guys are looking at me as being a veteran on the team. So it's a different era, where we're at right now, but I'm excited for the opportunity."

Last year's plan didn't work. Donovan McNabb flopped as the quarterback. The 4-3 defensive personnel didn't fit into new coach Mike Shanahan's 3-4. And Shanahan decided, one year later, that the best thing would be to bring in new players: Barry Cofield, Stephen Bowen, Josh Wilson, Chris Chester, Tim Hightower and a slew of rookie receivers. A couple of quarterbacks, John Beck and Rex Grossman, who were on the team last year now find themselves competing to be the starter at the most important position.

"The plan, at least the plan in free agency, was to get people who are solid football players but solid people as well, and who are young," Shanahan said. "The second year, you always have a good feel for what type of people fit into your scheme and what type of people you want to have on your football team. If the nucleus of your football team is guys with character who can play, you've got a good chance."

Most of the new additions are in their mid- to late-20s -- players who are already established in the league yet young enough that they can continue to grow as the team does over the next several years. They're men and players, Shanahan says, that he specifically targeted for that reason and for those he listed above. And the feeling around training camp is that this is a group of people looking to build something together.

"Of course, right now we're looking to win, but you want to build something with longevity," said safety O.J. Atogwe, a graybeard among the new additions at the ripe old age of 30. "We want to have something that's sustainable, and I believe that's what Coach Shanahan is doing, getting good character guys in here, younger guys. You're building the nucleus of a team that can be a contender for years and years to come."

THREE HOT ISSUES

1. Who's the quarterback? Shanahan surprised a lot of people by not taking a quarterback in the draft. He surprised a lot more people shortly thereafter, when he declared that he believed Beck, who was already on the team, could be the starter. He has since moved to include Grossman as a candidate for that spot, but neither has inspired much confidence outside of the Redskins' offices.

Shanahan and his son, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, insist that they loved Beck when he was coming out of college and was picked 40th in the 2007 draft. They believe he continues to show the same qualities they liked when they watched him then -- athleticism, mobility, quick release, natural leadership ability -- and that the only reason he hasn't had NFL success is because he hasn't had NFL opportunity. They insist they like Grossman, who operated their offense last year at least as well as, if not better than, McNabb did. The sense I got from hanging around the Redskins for a few days is that the coaches are more concerned about the pieces around the quarterback -- the line, the receivers, the backs -- than they are about the quarterback position itself. Speaking of which...

2. To whom will that quarterback throw? Santana Moss is back, and the team added veteran wideouts to the mix in Jabar Gaffney amd Donte' Stallworth. But in order to be successful, the Redskins' offense must get a jolt from one or more of the inexperienced receivers on the roster. Anthony Armstrong showed something late last year, and he'll be pushed by rookies Leonard Hankerson and Aldrick Robinson, as well as by holdover Malcolm Kelly, a 2008 second-rounder. Running back Hightower can be a weapon in the passing game, and the best receivers on the roster outside of Moss may be tight ends Chris Cooley and Fred Davis. But because of concerns about the offensive line and whether it can come together in short order, those guys may end up doing a lot of blocking.

3. Do they have the defense down yet? Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said last year that it would take two years for the 3-4 install to work because it takes that long for players to re-train their minds and bodies around it. Adding in players better suited to the 3-4 than the people they had here last year should help, but new players such as Cofield, Bowen and rookie Ryan Kerrigan are experiencing the defense for the first time. The Redskins have a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball and could be good there in short order. But they're still in a learning process, and how good they are on defense this year will depend on the speed with which they learn it.

ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION

The story of last year's Redskins training camp was disgruntled defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and his distaste for what he believed would be his assignment in the new 3-4 defense. Haynesworth's refusal to be open to the switch led to a drawn-out confrontation between him and Mike Shanahan, the conditioning-test mess and a feud that lasted all the way through the season. Trading Haynesworth to New England (and McNabb to Minnesota) was one of the first things the Redskins did when the lockout ended, and the main reason they did it was because they were determined not to let last year's problems infect this year's training camp. It hasn't. Without naming names, London Fletcher laughed when I told him Cofield, who played in a 4-3 in New York, had told me he was excited to make the switch to a 3-4 nose tackle.

"That's good, to hear that he's excited about it," Fletcher said, chuckling. "I want a nose that's excited about playing that position."

EXTRA PREPARATION

Fletcher, Beck and Lorenzo Alexander organized some of the most frequent and best-attended player workouts of any team during the lockout. Fletcher said the three of them divvied up administrative responsibilities such as calling guys to make sure they were coming and reaching out to local schools to see about the use of fields. Fletcher said there was one time he flew in the day before one of the workouts and went over on a whim to check out the high school field on which they were scheduled to practice only to find it unacceptable and have to make a last-minute change.

"We had some great turnout, got some great work in," Fletcher said. "Obviously it's not what we're getting here now, but it was important for us. What upsets me a little bit is when we have something that we did in our player-only camps, and we don't cover it correctly out here. I'll see somebody do something wrong and I want to yell out, 'Man, we worked on that!'"

Maybe, but the coaching staff appreciates that the players took the time to work out together while they weren't permitted to work out with coaches at the team facility. Kyle Shanahan said he notices it with those young wide receivers.

"We weren't able to work with them, so that was one of the positions I was worried the most with," he said. "And I could tell that Rex and John had gotten with these guys and given them some stuff, and I could tell these guys had put in their work before they got here, so we weren't just speaking Chinese to them."

OBSERVATION DECK

• Alexander is an extremely valuable guy to the Redskins' defense. He has lined up at all four linebacker spots, could start the season on the outside if first-round pick Kerrigan isn't ready and has been lining up inside next to Fletcher as well. Even with the return of Rocky McIntosh, expect Alexander to find his way onto the field a lot.
• Tim Hightower isn't here just for depth. I believe, after talking to Mike Shanahan, that Hightower is the clear front-runner for the starting running back job as long as his fumble problems don't follow him to Washington from Arizona.
• Ryan Torain, at least before he hurt himself, seemed to be working on his role in pass protection, which was something he didn't do much of last year. He'll have to if he wants to keep up with Hightower, for whom that's a strength.
• Second-round pick Jarvis Jenkins has been one of the eye-openers in camp and should fit nicely into the defensive line rotation. "He's learning so fast," offensive tackle Trent Williams told me, "it's almost scary."
• Beck may look good to the coaches who loved his college tape, but if you were out there watching the first week of practice, you saw a lot of receivers reaching behind themselves to catch his passes and a lot of wobble on the deep downfield throws. He does look good when he scrambles and runs, but as a passer, he looks as if he needs more camp.
• Trent Williams looks slimmed down from last year and has looked good in his win-some, lose-some battles with Orakpo in early drills.

But wait ... he's not a wide receiver!

After a flurry of moves designed to improve the depth and quality of their receiving corps, the Redskins appear to have taken a break and made a move to improve their defense. Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun reported via Twitter that the Redskins have agreed to a deal with cornerback Josh Wilson of the Baltimore Ravens. Adam Schefter reports that it's a three-year, $13.5 million deal with $9 million guaranteed for Wilson, who replaces Carlos Rogers in what looks to be a pretty strong Washington secondary.

Wilson showed last season in Baltimore that he's fully capable of being a starting cornerback, which he's likely to be in Washington now opposite DeAngelo Hall and with LaRon Landry and O.J. Atogwe playing safety. Wilson is undersized (5-foot-9), but his speed is a great asset in coverage and helps him make up for mistakes he might make there. He has the talent to keep improving, and he looks like a very nice investment for a Redskins team that's rebuilding all over the field but suddenly has a lot of very interesting pieces in the second year of Jim Haslett's 3-4 defense.

Of all the Giants' free agents, the most likely to leave was always Barry Cofield, for whom they believe they have procured young replacements in each of the past two drafts. And on the first day he could, Cofield did in fact decide to leave the Giants ... for the division-rival Redskins.

Rich Campbell of the Washington Times tweeted this morning that Cofield's deal in Washington is for six years and $36 million, with $12.5 million guaranteed. He wanted a big contract, the Giants told him they didn't want to pay him what he wanted and Washington did.

So he jumps. I'm not totally clear on how Cofield, who was a 4-3 defensive tackle in New York, fits into the Redskins' 3-4 defense. They need a nose tackle and a defensive end, and I imagine he could play either or both. I remember Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett telling me last year that he planned to use Albert Haynesworth (another former 4-3 defensive tackle) in both roles depending on the situation, and so maybe he has a similar plan for flexible usage of Cofield. The Redskins' next defensive line move is likely to tell us more about how Cofield fits in -- i.e., if they get a nose tackle, he can expect to play a lot of end, and if they get Cullen Jenkins, Cofield can probably expect to play the nose a lot. My guess is it's the latter, and that this takes Washington out of the hunt for a guy like Aubrayo Franklin.

Cofield will help, there's no doubt. Washington will get plenty of pass rush from outside linebackers Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan, but it can't hurt to have somebody on the line who knows how to get into the backfield from the interior. More work to do on that defense yet, but Washington has procured a good player it can use in a variety of ways. Time will tell if it overpaid or if the Giants were right to let him walk. Linval Joseph and/or Marvin Austin will have to step forward to replace Cofield in New York.

A few thoughts while wrapping up a frenetic but ultimately unsatisfying first day to the NFL free-agent negotiating period:

• ESPN's Adam Schefter caught my attention Tuesday night with a tweet regarding Minnesota Vikings receiver Sidney Rice and San Francisco 49ers safety Dashon Goldson. According to Schefter, Seattle and Minnesota are targeting Rice, while Oakland and San Francisco go after Goldson. There weren't many bidding wars on Tuesday, leading me to believe some of these situations could play out a little longer. Players cannot take free-agent visits until the signing period opens Friday, making it tougher for teams to know what opportunities actually exist for players. In the past, a player emerging from a visit without a contract would lose leverage. In the current climate, top agents such as Drew Rosenhaus, who represents Rice and Goldson, can negotiate without the usual checks and balances. It's high-stakes poker.
• Seattle's interest in Rice comes as no surprise. The team chased receiver Brandon Marshall in trade talks last offseason. Vincent Jackson was another big-name receiver under consideration. Rice would fit especially well in the Seahawks' offense now that former Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell is installing Seattle's passing game. Seattle also has ample salary-cap space to land Rice. Bevell's familiarity with Rice could help ease concerns over the hip problems that have bothered Rice in recent seasons.
• The 49ers want to bring back Goldson, but at what price? Goldson wasn't what was wrong with the 49ers' pass defense last season. Neither did he break through with a Pro Bowl-caliber season, as the 49ers had hoped. Still, San Francisco needs to keep together some of its defensive core. The 49ers could lose nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin. Linebacker Takeo Spikes agreed to terms with San Diego. Nate Clements' contract could precipitate his release. Keeping Goldson would help.
• The Arizona Cardinals appear in strong position as they consider options at quarterback. The way they sat back and projected patience Tuesday is looking like a smart approach. I can't think of another team likely to trade for Philadelphia's Kevin Kolb. The Cardinals should be in no rush. Teams cannot sign players or visit with free agents from other teams until Friday. Kolb could not practice with them until Aug. 4 if Arizona acquired him and signed him to a new contract. Even if Kolb is the Cardinals' top choice, the team might be wise to play up interest in other candidates. Why not seek permission to meet with Kyle Orton? Why not bring in Matt Hasselbeck? There's no reason for Arizona to overpay for Kolb unless another team emerges as a serious suitor.
• New York Giants defensive tackle Barry Cofield and Raiders guard Robert Gallery were free agents to watch in the NFC West as the negotiating period opened. It's looking like we catch remove Cofield from consideration for the St. Louis Rams after Cofield reached agreement with the Washington Redskins, according to Schefter. Cofield's ties to St. Louis coach Steve Spagnuolo made him a natural fit for the Rams. Losing him to former Rams coach Jim Haslett won't sit well with fans who hoped Cofield would land in St. Louis. Gallery's ties to Seahawks assistant head coach/offensive line Tom Cable still make him a natural fit in Seattle. The team needs a starting left guard.
• Back in Seattle, meanwhile, the Seahawks are trying to re-sign defensive tackle Brandon Mebane. The money Cofield commands could help shape the market for Mebane and other defensive tackles. Removing Cofield from the market also leaves one fewer defensive tackle available for teams to sign.

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday night. Wait, it's Wednesday already in the Eastern time zone. Must be free agency.

Mike Jones of the Washington Post has been doing some roster breakdown stuff on the Redskins over the past several days, and today he took a look at the rookies from the top half of the Redskins' draft class. Specifically, he gives a reason why each one could succeed and why each one could struggle.

First-rounder Ryan Kerrigan, for example, needs to transition from the three-point stance in which he's played his whole life as a defensive lineman to the two-point stance of the outside linebacker in the 3-4. I've read in a few places that some players struggle with this transition, but it makes no real sense to me why they would. If Washington has good, space-eating defensive ends in place, the outside linebackers in Jim Haslett's 3-4 scheme are poised to become freewheeling sack machines. I remember talking to Brian Orakpo last year in training camp about the transition to the 3-4, and he couldn't wait. Less dirty work, more glory for the outside linebackers. My guess is that Orakpo has been schooling Kerrigan on all of the awesome aspects of the transition and the rookie is fired up and smart enough to make it smoothly.

Second-rounder Jarvis Jenkins, Mike writes, must transition from defensive tackle to 3-4 defensive end. But it sounds as if he had more than just normal defensive tackle responsibilities in college and should be able to do what's expected of him in Haslett's defense. He's got a shot to be a starter at the end position right away, and he was known in college as a big-time run-stopper.

Of third-rounder Leonard Hankerson, Mike says the concern is the speed but that Hankerson's size has a shot to make him useful right away as a red-zone target. There's speed in the receiving corps with Santana Moss and Anthony Armstrong. I have no idea if Hankerson can add speed at the NFL level (I would think not), but as he learns the routes and improves technically, it'll be nice to be able to have a guy who can out-muscle defenders for the ball in the end zone. I imagine Hankerson is a big part of the offense right away.

Fourth-rounder Roy Helu supposedly reminds Mike Shanahan of a young Clinton Portis, which is to say a guy who never took hilarious shots at his head coach in the media because his head coach was Mike Shanahan and not Jim Zorn. The scouting report on Helu here is of a guy who's "not great in short-yardage situations" and "not a very physical back," which makes you think Ryan Torain is still the man in Washington and Helu might be a guy who gets worked in over time. It also lends credence to the idea that the Redskins will still look to add a veteran back.

And finally, fifth-rounders DeJon Gomes and Niles Paul look as if their rookie contributions are most likely to come on special teams.

The Redskins' roster offers plenty of opportunity for rookies (with the possible exception of Gomes, who plays safety, a position at which the Redskins appear very deep and strong), so these are names worth remembering whenever training camp gets going.

No individual coaches were named Wednesday when the NFL Coaches' Association filed a brief in support of the players in the 8th Circuit Court. But at least one group of coaches wants to make sure nobody thinks they're connected with it. In a statement released Thursday, the Washington Redskins' coaching staff distanced itself from the Wednesday brief and made it clear that it supports the position of the owners in their labor dispute against the players.

"The Washington Redskins' coaching staff has not given its backing to the brief filed with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of the National Football League Coaches Association," the statement reads. "Our former representative, Kirk Olivadotti, is no longer with the organization and no member of our coaching staff was consulted prior to this action being taken.

"We stand united with our ownership and the brief does not reflect our thoughts on the matter. We, like everyone else, are hopeful that we can return to playing football. We look forward to a new CBA and welcoming back our players as soon as possible."

The statement is hand-signed by every member of the Redskins' coaching staff except head coach Mike Shanahan. A Redskins team spokesman told me the reason Shanahan didn't sign the document is because his title is Executive Vice President, and as such he represents team management (which I guess doesn't have to explain which side of the dispute it's on). Shanahan's son, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, did sign the document, as did defensive coordinator Jim Haslett and the rest of the staff.

The brief the NFLCA filed Wednesday specifically pointed out the damage it believes the lockout is doing to the staffs of the eight teams that have new head coaches this year and the "three additional coaches who have only spent one season with their teams." Shanahan and the Redskins' coaches fall into that latter category, but clearly, they don't want anybody to think they had anything to do with Wednesday's brief.

It'll be interesting to see if any other coaching staffs make a point of saying whether they do or don't support the NFLCA brief. Coaches have, after all, been caught in the middle of this whole thing.

The Redskins are a critical part of NFL labor strife lore. Under Joe Gibbs, they survived the strikes of 1982 and 1987 better than any team in the league, winning the Super Bowl at the end of each of those disrupted seasons. The New York Times did a big story on this a couple of months back, examining the reasons Washington was able to go 8-1 in '82 and 3-0 with replacement players in '87 and weather those labor storms to become champions. Not coincidence, say those who were involved, as much as it was about Gibbs and the way the veteran cores of those teams held things together.

Knowledge of this history has led some to suggest (facetiously, of course) that 2011 could be the Redskins' year. Hey, they always win the Super Bowl when there's a work stoppage, so this is just what they need, right? If there'd been a lockout two years ago, Jim Zorn would be wearing a ring right now and Mike Shanahan would be coaching the Cowboys. Or something like that.

Well, unfortunately for the Redskins, while history may well be on their side, reality is not. Not this time. Given their current circumstances, the Redskins are surely more likely than any other NFC East team to suffer damage as a result of the lockout. Given where they are right now in the development of their franchise, the Redskins might be hurt worse by this lockout than any team in the whole league.

This is a critical season for Mike Shanahan as Washington's coach. Sure, it's only the second year of his five-year deal, and for that reason job security is the last thing he's worried about. But this year is critical for other reasons -- reasons that pertain to Shanahan's goal of building the Redskins back into contenders.

Shanahan's first season was a bumpy one, and his midseason handling of Donovan McNabb and the quarterback situation in general raised eyebrows among people who'd expected a man with his résumé to deal with such things more artfully. But on balance, the 2010-11 season served a key purpose for Shanahan. It established him as the unquestioned leader, face and voice of the franchise. The skirmishes with McNabb and Albert Haynesworth were merely the most public manifestations of Shanahan's assertion of himself. Zorn had been weak and overmatched in the head coach role, and it was important for Shanahan to establish right away that he would be neither.

Critical to that effort was the subversion by team owner Daniel Snyder of his own out-front persona. As a condition of taking the job, Shanahan insisted that he be given control over football matters and that Snyder not meddle in personnel decisions to the extent that he had in the past. Against all expectations, Snyder actually pulled this off. The 2010-11 season was his quietest as Redskins owner, and his disappearance into the background helped Shanahan do the things he needed to do in order to deliver his new-sheriff-in-town message.

The lockout could wipe out some of that momentum. Shanahan's assertion of leadership and Snyder's step into the background are vital to the Redskins' near-future success, but one year wasn't enough to lock those things in. With Shanahan unable to coach, the risk rises that he ends up starting from or near scratch once his players return to Ashburn. With Shanahan and GM Bruce Allen unable to make personnel moves, the risk rises that Snyder gets itchy and impatient and backslides into his old ways. He could decide to go nuts once free agency opens against the advice of the football minds he hired and promised to leave alone. Not saying this is what will happen, mind you, just that the "pause" button the league has pressed on its offseason increases the risk.

It's also preventing the Redskins from doing a number of vital housekeeping things. They need to move on from McNabb and figure out what their 2011 quarterback situation really is. If it really is John Beck, then he'll need to know he's not just a Shanahan smokescreen and get in to practice huddles so his teammates know it, too. If it's to be Carson Palmer or someone not currently on the roster, then they need to get on with that as well.

They need to resolve the Haynesworth situation, of course. He needs to go, certainly, and dispatching him will be as cathartic a move as Shanahan's ever made. But the lockout will end with Haynesworth still on the team, along with all the distractions he brings, and his mere presence will be a story for as long as it takes them, post-lockout, to get rid of him.

They need to keep working on Jim Haslett's 3-4 defense, because as we discussed here Monday the second year is a crucial one for the install of a 3-4. They need a nose tackle, and they need to know how realistic it is to get someone like Aubrayo Franklin in free agency -- a move that probably would help them more than a splashier play for someone like Nnamdi Asomugha, though they need to know about him, too. And as they've seemed to since the Art Monk days ... sheesh, they still need help at receiver.

The Redskins have a lot they need to do -- more than most teams, really, given where they are in this particular chapter of their history. Because of that, when I'm asked which team in this division I think will be hurt most by the lockout, my answer's easy. This won't be 1982 or 1987 for the Redskins. This year's work stoppage is a huge problem for them.