Redskins to Say Good-Bye to Chris Samuels and Maybe Sam Bradford, Too

Any notion that it would be a dull week at Redskins Park went up in smoke with two pieces of news.

Washington’s Pro Bowl left tackle Chris Samuels will announce his retirement from football later this week according to a story by The Washington Post and picked up by USAToday.

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford showed up at the NFL Combine in buff condition and could move to the top of the draft order.

Samuels suffered a neck injury in an October game against Carolina that knocked him out for the season. Soon after, we learned that Samuels is also afflicted with stenosis, a narrowing of the spine that may add pressure to the spinal cord.

Samuels consulted a number of specialists about continuing his NFL career but has come to accept that he risks paralysis by doing so. The Redskins concluded last fall that Samuels playing days were over according to Jason Reid’s Redskins Insider post today.That news is becoming public now because the Skins respected Samuels wish for privacy as he grappled with the decision.

Samuels is one of the better first round draft picks in Redskins history. He wasthe third overall pick of the 2000 Draft supervised by Charley Casserly and Norv Turner. Named to six NFL Pro Bowls, Samuels is the only lineman this decade who might have started for the original Hogs O-line of the Gibbs I era.

Jack Gorman’s Bleacher Report story Sam Bradford’s Weight Shakes Up The Top Five shakes up my guesswork of how the Skins will play the Draft.

Bradford weighed in at 236 pounds hinting that he could have the ruggedness to stand up the pro pass rushers. There was a concern about his weight as a college player. As a result, Bradford could go all Matthew Stafford on us to become the top selection in the upcoming Draft.

The St. Louis Rams, who own the top pick, need a quarterback more than Washington does.

For fans who want to see the Redskins dump Jason Campbell, Bradford is at the top of the wish list. I’m not one of those fans, but have harbored a deep suspicion of Washington’s commitment to Jason.So I took Mike Shanahan’s announcement that the team would tender a contract offer to Campbell as the first move to entice trade offers for his services.

GM Bruce Allen must have thought through his options with Samuels retiring and Bradford moving up the draft chart. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the new GM duplicated the move of the team’s last real GM (Casserly) and selected a left tackle in the first round of the draft?