S%^T hits the fan with Haynesworth

[Sarge]

Got to agree - let him rot and take his pay every day he doesn't show up. Beauty is, Daniel Snyder literally gets to be reminded every day what throwing huge dollars at problems gets you A constant, living, breathing, cheeto-eating reminder of the wrong way to try and build a winner.

But the important question is: Will he LEARN?

I say put Fat Al on the PUP. Now.

Actually, I take that back. Get him for breach of contract and take his money

 

[kirbster]

I don't know all the legalities under contract law and the CBA, but we've got to find every way to hit him where it counts: the wallet. We've got to find a way to get the $21M back; he obviously took that under false pretenses.

Again, without knowing what legally can be done, my scenario would be to go to him and say, "Give us the entire $21M back, plus half of your previous signing bonus, and we'll trade you to a 4-3 team. You get no say as to which team. Take this offer or you'll never play another down of football again as we retain your rights for 6 more years."

 

[Om]

Good. Now we know. And Shanahan knows.

As fans we can cut any lingering crap taste in our mouths over having to root for this embarrassment to the burgundy and gold, and Shanahan can head into his debut season from a position of strength free of concerns over appearance of favoritism in the locker room trying to get this pantload to be a grownup.

You won't hear his teammates say it, but I'm guessing the prevailing sentiment in the locker room this morning is the same: Good. Get the **** out.

As to what to "do" with him ... whatever is best for the team long term. If that means sitting his ass in order to prove a point to the team, fine. If it means getting some other team to play the sucker and take him off our hands for something of value in return, so much the better.

 

[CounterTrey]

Screw benching him and screw trading him. Do neither and KEYSHAWN his sorry ass. Stay at home Albert we don't want you, and no we won't be granting your wish. You either honor your contract or your playing days are done. You can sit at home and eat all the Cheetos you want.

 

[Om]

CT, I have to ask ... I agree that "feels" good as a fan this morning given the justified anger we have, but is it in the teams' best interests? What if a couple other teams start some kind of limited bidding war for his services and we end up with an offer of a couple draft picks---for sake of discussion say a 3rd next year and a conditional 3rd/4th 2012--in order to trade his rights away? Do we decline on principle?

 

[Goaldeje]

CT, I have to ask ... I agree that "feels" good as a fan this morning given the justified anger we have, but is it in the teams' best interests? What if a couple other teams start some kind of limited bidding war for his services and we end up with an offer of a couple draft picks---for sake of discussion say a 3rd next year and a conditional 3rd/4th 2012--in order to trade his rights away? Do we decline on principle?

I think there is a time when you do stand up for principle. Not saying this is one of them, though. For two thirds? Not sure it's worth it. If we get blown away by an offer, that also entails his new team eating the contract and the roster bonus, OK, we can consider that.

However, this seems to be an unlikely scenario to me, as most teams around the NFL aren't going to be all that interested in him unless their DT goes down in camp.

For that reason, I think we need to hold onto him until training camp and preseason, and just see what happens around the league. If memory serves, the Jason Taylor fiasco happened to us because of an injury (much as I have tried to repress that).

Until then? **** him. Fine him. Excessively. Hit his wallet as much as possible.

 

[CounterTrey]

CT, I have to ask ... I agree that "feels" good as a fan this morning given the justified anger we have, but is it in the teams' best interests? What if a couple other teams start some kind of limited bidding war for his services and we end up with an offer of a couple draft picks---for sake of discussion say a 3rd next year and a conditional 3rd/4th 2012--in order to trade his rights away? Do we decline on principle?

I hear ya Om and am normally inclined towards the more prudent approach. I think we've reached a keystone point for the team's rep though. The Redskins have been known as a team to go to to get your check and play like it's Club Med. We've had more than one lazy SOB come here for just that reason. Now it's gone to Sean Gilbert level and I think it's time the team took a stand and made a statement to the rest of the league that they're done being a place players can go to do whatever the hell they want to. No more Deion's, no more AH's, none of that crap of coming here taking a huge paycheck then doing jack until you get cut with your fat account to go play somewhere else and have your cake and eat it too. Think he would have pulled this in NE or Pittsburgh? Not with any expectation of success that's for sure. If you are going to trade him, trade his sorry butt to the dregs like LA or something, certainly not to a place he WANTS to go.

This isn't about emotional satisfaction, it's about telling the league that the culture has changed in D.C. and enough is FINALLY enough. A few later round picks aren't going to improve this team as much as a change in culture and putting the league on notice would in my opinion.

 

[Sarge]

I wouldn't trade him. You fine him for not showing up to the mandatory mini-camp and then fine him for every day of Training Camp he misses, IN ADDITION to putting him on the "Did Not Report" list. I don't think that counts as a roster spot and he can just chill with his millions but he won't be playing no football and won't be makin' no headlines. After he sits out a season, it's possible NOBODY will pony up for him. Danny will have learned a hard lesson but it would be great if Fatso NEVER played in the NFL again.

I can dream can't I?

The danny is very good at hosing over the little people that get in his way. Let's see if he can be as creative with Fat Albert

 

[riggins44]

In the court of public opinion the Redskins are winning.

I'd say worse case senario is you suspend him without pay (if possible). Like someone earlier, I would trade him for a decent OL or WR. Wouldn't be all unhappy if traded him to someone like Oakland or Buffalo.

At this point it would be in our best interest to get whatever you can. Time to move on. Could see this coming. Why else would we keep signing DL?

 

[Chris]

I wonder what effect, if any, this action by a "prize bull" free agent will have on negotiations for the new CBA.

I'm sure there will be a camp that feels that Snyder et.al. deserved what they got but what is wrong with paying a player if his talent is judged to be exceptional by the organization (misguided or not)?

For the owners, Albert represents a worst case scenario for the free agent market, take the money and then failing to perform because changes in the organization aren't to his liking.

The fact that AH is failing to honor his commitment for "philosophical" reasons after the Skins signed the guy in good faith and made good on their part will now be on the minds of every owner come time for negotiations.

Any CBA parameters currently allowing a player to hog tie an organization like this may be scrutinized heavily by the owners and character issue penalites regarding the players will probably tighten up even more.


It wouldn't surprise me either, if the players themselves are taken aback by AH's position. As they say, it's all business come contract time but Albert may have crossed the line by crapping on his teammates, the fans and the organization after getting "the deal" that all players aspire to.

This is a great post.

Albert's actions here may very well have an impact on labor negotiations. The owners clearly have the hammer. Now they have another nail to use it on. I imagine that Snyder will get league-wide support of the other owners in this matter.

Only a fool would attempt this stick-up with the collective bargaining process in a shambles and no salary cap in effect.

Stupid is as stupid does.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Matt Bowen at NFP agrees with the sit him and fine him approach:

What do you do if you are Dan Snyder, Bruce Allen, Mike Shanahan or any of the Redskins decision makers when it comes to Albert Haynesworth today?

Through his agent, Chad Speck, the big money DT told the Washington Post that he will not be in attendance for the 'Skins mandatory minicamp—and wants a trade.

A trade? Haven’t we been down this road before? We all know Haynesworth wants out of Washington. I have talked to people inside the building at Redskins Park this offseason who told me they are actively trying to move Haynesworth. However, do you really want to trade a player after giving him $32-million already for one year of service on a bad football team in 2009? Big price to pay, even if you can find a team who is willing to take on the rest of his existing contract.

My initial reaction to this: pick up the phone, make a deal and send him out of town.

But, that isn’t logical because the guy can play football. I don’t care what type of defensive front you put him in, he is going to cause disruption at the line of scrimmage—because he can be that good on Sundays. Plus, why should Snyder or Shanahan give into a player's demands in June?

The solution here is simple: fine him—repeatedly. Fine him for skipping this weekend (which is over $9,000 for the camp) and then fine him for every single day he skips out on training camp, which can get expensive at a rate around $16,000 per day. You want to get the attention of a player? It’s simple, go to his wallet.

Click link for the rest...

 

[Hog Fever]

I keep saying to myself “We should have known”. Hey, no sense in rehashing that at this stage though, it’s time for action and I think the course of action here is simple. Fine him the maximum you can fine him until the season starts. Go after the bonus as soon as we are able.

He clearly has rare talent, but I think the list of teams who are going to be willing to have this guy on their team, much less give up anything of value for him, is going to be real short.

I think he’s greatly overplayed his hand here.

 

[Henry]

CT, I have to ask ... I agree that "feels" good as a fan this morning given the justified anger we have, but is it in the teams' best interests? What if a couple other teams start some kind of limited bidding war for his services and we end up with an offer of a couple draft picks---for sake of discussion say a 3rd next year and a conditional 3rd/4th 2012--in order to trade his rights away? Do we decline on principle?

I submit that the best way to increase his trade value is to sit him. Right now I don't think his trade value is particularly high. He doesn't want to be here and he won't play for us, so our leverage in a possible trade is fairly low. However, if we make it clear that we'd be just fine sitting him for whole season if we have to, we are negotiating with possible trade partners from a stronger position. Our apparent desperation to get him out of town ASAP is gone.

I'd say 'we'll entertain offers but if we don't get one we like we'll damn well sit the SOB all season long.'

And mean it.

 

[Goaldeje]

Nice post Henry. My post above echoes this (which is why I agree with you ), if we wait for training camp injuries and preseason injuries, we come from a position of strength.

Again, the Jason Taylor thing comes to mind. If there is a team that loses a DT, and honestly believes they are close to making a playoff/SB run, I would think they would strongly consider parting with a couple of higher draft picks, which would be fine with me.

Cause, you know, my opinion matters lots.

 

[authentic]

I agree, i think the best course of action is to sit him for the season. We've invested too much money to cut him outright and his trade value isn't all that high at this point.

 

[authentic]

if we wait for training camp injuries and preseason injuries, we come from a position of strength.

Again, the Jason Taylor thing comes to mind. If there is a team that loses a DT, and honestly believes they are close to making a playoff/SB run...

we could only hope this is the case. Someone needs to hurry and offer Vinny a FO position ASAP.

 

[Goaldeje]

we could only hope this is the case. Someone needs to hurry and offer Vinny a FO position ASAP.

Quick, call Al Davis!

 

[Neophyte]

I submit that the best way to increase his trade value is to sit him. Right now I don't think his trade value is particularly high. He doesn't want to be here and he won't play for us, so our leverage in a possible trade is fairly low. However, if we make it clear that we'd be just fine sitting him for whole season if we have to, we are negotiating with possible trade partners from a stronger position. Our apparent desperation to get him out of town ASAP is gone.

I'd say 'we'll entertain offers but if we don't get one we like we'll damn well sit the SOB all season long.'

And mean it.

Spot on. In reality, he has left us little choice in the matter with how he has played this thing.

Why can't players (or even agents who you would think would understand this crap) figure out that the best way to get the trade you want is to make it as easy for the team you are playing for as possible? Be a good citizen in the press and the locker room. Show up for voluntary and mandatory stuff. In short, be professional and maximize your value while at the same time working very quietly behind the scenes to make sure the management knows you want out.

 

[Om]

Henry nailed it. The best thing in the Redskins interest right now is to hold/fine AH, and play it firm publicly, and hope that between now and the trade deadline some teams' need rises to the level they're willing to make an offer that they cannot pass up.

I hate the idea that we are almost surely going to lose one of the potential dominating players in the NFL, but am heartened that the new regime will not enter its first season allowing itself to be held hostage by a prima donna.

 

[Elephant]

Any reports coming out of Ashburn whether he showed up for his physical? Any report at all from Ashburn?