Absence of Redskins GM fuels firing speculation
INDIANAPOLIS — Washington Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan is missing in action during the biggest expo of the year for NFL personnel evaluators, weeks after the recovering alcoholic was smeared by a team mouthpiece with the suggestion he is drinking again — and amid reports he has effectively been ousted from his role.
According to the Washington Post, the Redskins attributed McCloughan’s absence from this week’s NFL Scouting Combine to family matters, and McCloughan told the paper it was specifically because of a death in the family. That detail only amplified the suspicions: McCloughan’s grandmother reportedly died almost a month ago (Feb. 6) at the age of 100 and it was “not a surprise.”
The Fan 106.7 reported McCloughan in fact was sent home by Redskins brass on Feb. 20 and told not to return. According to the radio report, McCloughan is not involved with running the team and has not been “for a very long time.”
McCloughan denied having been sent home: “I’m taking care of my family, plain and simple,” he said.
The backdrop is com- ments made in mid-February by former Redskins tight end and current inhouse radio voice Chris Cooley speculating about McCloughan’s addiction, after the general manager had been muzzled from speaking to the media. The Redskins never denied — or even addressed — Cooley’s conjecture, leading dot-connectors to wonder if team president Bruce Allen and team higher-ups weren’t behind a campaign to discredit McCloughan.
Running back Alvin Kamara (Tennessee) said he met Wednesday with the Giants. He is considered a second-round pick.
Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey said Thursday he did not have a meeting set up with the Giants. McCaffrey’s father, Ed, started his NFL career as a receiver with the Giants (1991-93) before blossoming with the Broncos.