The Offseason
Philadelphia Eagles
I'll take this time to speculate about non-Redskins for a moment.

The Eagles lost the NFC Championship for the third year in a row. Where the Eagles failed has long been their weakness, namely, that their receivers can be blanketed with single coverage, allowing for free blitzers to pressure McNabb.

The Eagles other weakness was their propensity to allow huge running lanes for opposing running backs.

When it comes to the offseason, the obvious fit is a big name receiver like Terrell Owens. Keyshawn Johnson is also available but TO is a much better fit because he shifts coverages. Keyshawn is a possession receiver. At his age, Keyshawn is a complementary second receiver but not the breakout wideout the Birds need.

The Eagles also need to deal with Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent departing. The Skins will put the franchise tag on Champ Bailey and the Ravens will do the same with Chris McAlister. From what I've seen, the Eagles don't have a bad one in third CB Lito Sheppard and if they can keep either Taylor or Vincent, they'd be in decent shape for their secondary since they still have Brian Dawkins. It will definitely be an interesting offseason to see how the Eagles team takes form next year.

Running Backs

Stephen Davis and Deshaun Foster pose an interesting scenario. Likely, the situation will continue for one more year while Davis' cap number is manageable and Foster is content to play his role. However, Foster will get even more carries next year and his apprenticeship will be over. Even if Davis doesn't get injured next year, he'll be giving up playing time to Foster and by the season after that, they'll be cutting him. It's too bad because these next two seasons would be prime playing time for Davis to come back to the Redskins if he saw the writing on the wall. Perhaps a trade would be do-able but at the same time, Davis will be 30 this year.

Corey Dillon will demand big bucks and attract a lot of attention. He will also be 30 this year and both the Cowboys and the Skins will be suitors for his services. However, he is not a free agent either and would also need to be acquired via a trade.

Impending RB free agents are Duce Staley, Correll Buckhalter (restricted), Stacey Mack, Dominic Rhodes (restricted), Rudi Johnson (restricted and sure to be retained over Dillon), Troy Hambrick, Doug Chapman, Thomas Jones, and Kevan Barlow (restricted). Of those on this list, none of them are elite backs. Rudi Johnson and Barlow are the best of the bunch but both will likely be made restrictive qualifying offers from their respective teams.

The wild card for the Redskins is Ladell Betts. The fact that he didn't stay healthy this year does not bode well for him but he has shown glimpses of speed and power. If he could stay healthy, he would fit Gibbs' prototypical back profile.