The Haynesworth Saga Reaches A New Level

And so it has truly begun. The continuing drama that has plagued
Redskins Park finally reached a head last night when it was reported
that Albert Haynesworth would not be attending mandatory minicamp with
the Redskins today and that he would like to be traded to another
team. In my opinion, there is only one way to describe this situation:
shameful.

Shame on Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato for giving this man a $100
million contract. Shame on them for not listening to the insiders who
warned of Haynesworth's poor work ethic and bad attitude. Shame on
Albert Haynesworth for claiming that he wanted to become the next
Reggie White, only to show up the next season out of shape and needing
to be carted off the field every other play.

But most of all, shame on the fans who believed that this wouldn't be
just another money wasting free agent bust by the Dan Snyder-owned
Washington Redskins. Many have come in the past: Bruce Smith, Adam
Archuleta, Trung Canidate, Jason Taylor......but this one deal with
Haynesworth may lay claim to the contemptous prize of being the
biggest free-agent bust in Redskins history. And yet, what have we
learned?

What we learned is what we have known for a long time now, don't bring
other team's stars to the Redskins, give them enormous contracts, and
expect it to pay off, because it won't. The team seems to be moving in
the right direction with Bruce Allen running the show when it comes to
dealing with contracts but only time will tell how that works. One
thing is for sure, though, and that is this offseason will be very
Albert-centric. Personally, I don't see how that can help a team
coming off of a 4-12 season with a new coach, new GM, new quarterback,
and new defensive scheme, but thats just me.

So what can be done? The Defensive Captain and all around team leader, London Fletcher has already come out and said that he believes that
Haynesworth is acting selfish and not thinking about his team mates. In fact, almost every person who was interviewed Wednesday was critical of Haynesworth, excluding DeAngelo Hall who probably still feels kinship with the only player to come to his rescue during last seasons sideline-brawl with the Atlanta Falcons. I think that the only
thing to do is for Dan Snyder to take a big gulp and swallow that pride of his and let Haynesworth go. $32 million is a huge number to swallow, but if anyone can do it, it's Snyder. That's the only way
that this team will come close to success next year, they have to be cancer free. Unfortunately, Haynesworth is a cancer of the worst kind.