The Washington Post is running a series commemorating the 1991 Washington Redskins, otherwise knows as the last of the Big Four professional sports teams (sorry, D.C. United) to win a championship. (Pauses, sobs, continues). You may remember how that team was quarterbacked by Mark Rypien, an erratic player who nevertheless was really good for that one season.
What you probably don't remember is that, had members of the Redskins' front office had their way, Rypien would have been replaced by a far more decorated signal-caller. Here's what then-Redskins GM Charley Casserly told the Post:
As I remember it, Ryp had improved the year before but we inquired about trading for John Elway in the offseason. It never came to fruition, obviously, for a number of reasons. One, they thought about it and they said no. What they discussed, we wouldn’t do — they wanted Jim Lachey included, and we wouldn’t trade him. I don’t know if it ever got to the point where it was a real, just-say-yes-and-it’s-done discussion, but we talked about it.
Lachey, of course, was a great player and a huge key to the Redskins' running game. But this raises an interesting question. If the Colts came to the Redskins in 2004 and said they'd be willing to trade Peyton Manning for a package centered around Chris Samuels, would the Redskins have done it?