Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is interested in the head-coaching job in Washington.

And if it means getting a big raise in our current job, we’d be interested, too.

David Elfin and Ryan O’Halloran of the Washington Times report that the Giants are preparing a contract offer that would include “a substantial pay raise” for Spagnuolo, who spent one year running the New York defense after eight years with the Eagles.  Prior to that, Spagnuolo worked for a variety of colleges, with the exception of a one-year stint in Barcelona of the defunct NFL Europe (or whatever it was called in 1992).

Our take?  Spags will be next year’s Jason Garrett, if the Giants don’t get blown off of the field in 2008.  So why not wait to pick a job later instead of taking the last job left in the current hiring cycle?

The deciding factor could be cash.  Redskins owner Daniel Snyder might be willing to pay Spagnuolo more of it than he could reasonably expect to make a year from now.

But control could be a big factor, too.  In Washington, Vinny Cerrato is entrenched as the personnel chief and the coaching staff already has been hired for whoever gets the job next. 

Through it all, Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that Jim Fassel is still the favorite for the gig, and we agree.  In our view, the entire exercise of interviewing other candidates is aimed at allowing Snyder and Cerrato to claim that the organization performed its due diligence before deciding that the otherwise disregarded Fassel is the right man for the job.