Like Mike Florio, I like this trade (not yet confirmed) for both teams.

As Florio points out, people will give Bill Belichick the benefit of the doubt. Other teams would likely be criticized for taking on this head case.

That said, Belichick will likely use Albert Haynesworth properly, avoided the idiotic showdowns in Washington where defensive offensive “genius” Mike Shanahan tried to make this elite interior pass rusher into a hole-clogging nose tackle.

As resident Patriots homer expert Rosenthal points out, the Pats use a 4-3 front roughly half the time. Thus, Haynesworth likely will be a part-time player, but he possibly will be in the alignment he prefers 100 percent of the time that he’s on the field.

And while there’s no way he’d be asked to play the nose tackle position in New England’s 3-4 alignment, thanks to the presence of Vince Wilfork, Belichick surely wouldn’t expect Haynesworth to be a traditional lineman-occupying presence at defensive end in that formation. That’s where Belichick’s brain becomes important. When a player doesn’t like a certain type of system, it’s because he doesn’t play as well in that system. So instead of forcing Haynesworth to eat his brussel sprouts, Belichick will find ways to let Haynesworth get the most out of his talents. Who knows? Maybe that will mean periodically lining him up on the edge in obvious passing situations and letting him maul a tackle one-on-one and chase down the quarterback.

Belichick understands the concept of calculated risks. His team needs a pass rush, and this move makes sense.

Meanwhile, the Redskins are looking for a fresh start, so this helps. We haven’t seen them break the bank yet with idiotic free agent signings, so maybe new GM Bruce Allen might be taking control from Mr. Ego Daniel Snyder.

If Daniel Snyder were looking for someone to blame for the way things have unraveled in Washington with the Albert Haynesworth situation, then all he has to do is plant himself in front of a mirror.

I get that this may be an oversimplified way of looking at the situation, but considering this could have all been avoided had Snyder not fallen victim to the same losing methods that he has embraced over the years, the situation is rather simple to grasp.

Haynesworth is who he is and the same goes for Mike Shanahan. As Shanahan has alluded to, Haynesworth is used to getting his way but that’s not going to fly with his new head coach, who has proven in his short stint with the Redskins that his players will fall in line. If you play for him, you’re going to do things his way, which includes practicing if you want to suit up on Sundays.

If Snyder wanted to avoid this situation, all he had to do was pass on cutting (figuratively, of course) Haynesworth a $100 million check last offseason. But because he had to have Haynesworth’s talent, it didn’t matter what the defensive tackle’s track record looked like.

And let’s look at that track record for a moment.

During the third quarter of a game against the Cowboys in 2006, Haynesworth removed center Andre Gurode’s helmet and then thought it was appropriate to stomp on the man’s head. Only he missed, so of course Haynesworth had to try again and this time, his foot connected with Gurode’s forehead, narrowly missing his eye.

That of course, wasn’t the first time Haynesworth tried to imprint the bottom of his shoe on someone’s body. During the Titans training camp in 2003, he also kicked former teammate Justin Hartwig (another center) in the chest and had to be restrained by his teammates.

And this is just what he has done on the field. He also has gotten into trouble with the law, which includes arrest warrants and two misdemeanor traffic charges. Given that he has avoided suspensions, there’s probably no sense in rehashing the details but clearly the man has some behavioral problems.

Despite his talent, these infractions coupled with his price tag would have scared most owners and general managers away last offseason when Haynesworth was a free agent. But not Snyder.

And now he has a problem, doesn’t he? He has a defensive tackle that he overpaid for that is butting heads with the man he trusts to turn his franchise around. Considering Haynesworth is only in year two of the ridiculous contract that Snyder gave him, the only thing the owner can do is hope the situation corrects itself.

This issue certainly isn’t irreconcilable either. Haynesworth and Shanahan can still come to an understanding and work together to help the Redskins win, although that will require Haynesworth shutting his mouth and coming to the realization that the team will come first in Washington.

But to barrow a line from Bill Parcells, the proof is in the pudding. What has Snyder won? Since he has bought the Redskins, the team has had a losing record. Times have changed in the NFL – teams have to build through the draft, yet Snyder continues to believe that overspending on high-priced veterans like Haynesworth is still the answer.

If you want to pin blame on someone for this Haynesworth fiasco, start at the top.

“I’m disappointed he’s not here. Absolutely,” Snyder said. “We’re expecting our players to lead by example, and we’re expecting our players to understand that they’re Redskins and they need to be here.”

If I paid someone $100 million to do a job and the person didn’t bother to show up to work, I’d be disappointed too. The workouts that Haynesworth has missed are voluntary, but Snyder and the Redskins feel as though they’re moving in the right direction and it would be nice if the team’s best defender would embrace a leadership role. Haynesworth’s situation puts a damper on what should be an encouraging time in D.C., especially after the team acquired Donovan McNabb in the offseason.

According to a report by the Washington Post, Albert Haynesworth is planning to skip the Redskins’ voluntary minicamp this weekend and will only report to mandatory minicamp in June.

But here’s the kicker: Haynesworth is also upset about the team’s plan to use him as a nose tackle in their new 3-4 defensive alignment and is hoping to be traded during the draft next week.

Haynesworth is frustrated about the Redskins’ plans to use him as a nose tackle in their new 3-4 defense, and the eight-year veteran hopes to be traded during the three-day draft that begins next Thursday. On Saturday, General Manager Bruce Allen said he was not disappointed about Haynesworth doing his own thing because “it’s voluntary.”

As the article notes, owner Daniel Snyder shelled out a record $100 million contract that included a then-record $41 million in guaranteed money when he signed Haynesworth last offseason. One would think that the least Haynesworth could do is be a leader and show up to the team’s first organized workout, whether the camp is voluntary or not.

But that’s the day and age we live in. Even though a player is making a ridiculous amount of money, he feels as though he’s bigger than the team. Don’t want to play in a specific scheme? No problem, just bitch about it and don’t show up. Instead of embracing his new role or at the very least, showing up so that his coaches can walk him through their plans for utilizing him, Hanyesworth would rather be traded.

Hopefully he rots in Washington. He followed the dollar signs there last offseason, so he should have to honor his commitment and play hard. But chances are, the Redskins will never see a good return on their investment and Haynesworth will wind up being yet another bad signing in a long history of bad signings by Snyder.

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]]> https://www.scoresreport.com/2010/04/17/report-albert-haynesworth-looking-to-be-traded-during-draft/feed/ 1 https://www.scoresreport.com/2010/03/12/redskins-sign-larry-johnson-to-3-year-deal/ Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:30:06 +0000 https://www.scoresreport.com/?p=36138

The Redskins agreed to terms with free agent running back Larry Johnson on a three-year deal with a maximum of $12 million reports Jason La Confora.

Johnson will compete with Clinton Portis and Anthony Alridge for carries in Mike Shanahan’s zone blocking system, although Washington could also add another back before training camp. In fact, there’s a good chance that the Skins will add a back via the draft.

Johnson only managed 3.2 yards per carry last season and appears to have lost most of his burst and explosion. Seeing as how he’s already 30, it’s a little perplexing that the Redskins gave him a three-year deal, especially considering he was so ineffective last year. But hey, this is just par for the course for Daniel Snyder. He was bound to make at least one head-scratching decision this offseason.

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]]> https://www.scoresreport.com/2010/03/04/redskins-nearing-deal-with-julius-peppers/ https://www.scoresreport.com/2010/03/04/redskins-nearing-deal-with-julius-peppers/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:37:22 +0000 https://www.scoresreport.com/?p=35759

Here’s a shock: Daniel Snyder might be ready to throw a ton of money at an unrestricted free agent.

According to sports talk show host Lance Zierlein of 1560AM in Houston, the Redskins are “charging hard after” Julius Peppers. Zierlein writes that today’s “bloodbath” in which the Redskins released 10 players will help pave the way for the team to sign Peppers by tomorrow.

Zierlein brings up a good point that Washington took similar steps last year, right before signing DT Albert Haynesworth to a mega-multi million deal. Although I don’t know how Zierlein would have inside information on the Redskins seeing as how he works in Houston, nobody will be surprised if Snyder signs the biggest free agent of the offseason. (And for that matter, nobody would be surprised if Peppers signed with whatever team offered him the most money.)

12:15AM ET Update: Zierlein writes on his Twitter page that the Bears aren’t going to let Peppers get away from them.

ESPN.com is reporting that the Redskins have reached a 5-year contract agreement with Mike Shanahan to become their next head coach.

Under the terms of the new deal, Shanahan will team with Redskins executive vice president and general manager Bruce Allen, but Shanahan will have the ultimate authority on football decisions. Shanahan will be introduced as the Redskins head coach at a 2 p.m. ET news conference Wednesday.

As the contract was being signed at the Redskins’ training complex, Shanahan and owner Dan Snyder posed together for a picture. Then, with the deal signed, Shanahan, his agent Sandy Montag, Allen and Snyder headed out for a celebration dinner in Washington, D.C.

The contract is worth approximately $7 million a year, the Denver Post reported on its Web site. Now that Shanahan has been hired elsewhere, the Denver Broncos, who fired Shanahan one year ago, will recoup $7 million in offset money over the next two seasons under the terms of the agreement they had with the coach.

Finally, Daniel Snyder made a good football decision for his franchise. Shanahan is absolutely the right fit for an organization that is in desperate need for a leader that can give them direction and build a solid foundation.

But the key now is that Snyder needs to get the hell out of the way. He’s meddling has cost his team before, so if he continues to play the role of owner-knows-best, then this will be a wasted hire.

You found the right guy Dan, now sit in the back and let Shanahan drive the ship.