http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/02/24/...h-to-the-skins/

Shocking. Well, that would assure a down year for him, and another lesson learned for the rest of the league.

Wow what a shock. One of the teams that has an owner that spends money like its nothing gets Haynesworth. Although last time I checked all that money Snyder has spent hasnt net him anything, not even alot of playoff appearances.

I know there are ways around any rule but wouldn't this be tampering?

Good, I'm glad he's going there. He'll get his money. The Skins will go 8-8. And the league will continue as-is.

Teams can meet with players agents, but they can't have any contact with the team themselves.

You know, I'm sitting here right now trying to think of the last team that added one of the top free agents (in terms of price) and immediately benefited from it, and I really can't come up with anything.

Heh, except maybe the Packers when they added Reggie.

And see skyshadow thats the thing. I am for signing the big FA in fact I think you have to. You build thru the draft and once you get to that point where you are ready to take the next step thats when you make that splash in FA.

But the problem is teams have become so savy with the FA and cap space that the FA market is always watered down and there is never anything worth going after. Most of your Whites now are tagged or are signed before ever sniffing the market.

Its best at this point to just trust your draft and develop playmakers and get the role players in FA. And try and get late bloomers like a Jim Leonhard (for example) and get him mid range and hope he develops into that Pro Bowler with you.

Thanks for the post. I had heard that he and his agent were going for the 100 million dollar mark. Wow!

Or identify guys who just need a second chance or new surroundings (Woodson), guys who would be a better fit in another system or guys who are a gamble due to coming back from injury. It clearly doesn't always work out, but at least it doesn't have such an overwhelming history of ending in failure.

In that respect, it's a little surprising that so many teams seem willing to pay one guy a truckload of money in the first days of FA -- you'd think the track record of those deals would warn professionals off. Then again, I suppose hope springs eternal.

In 3-4 years we will see Haynesworth cut after he pulls a Hunt.

Along the same lines as Reggie would be Deion Sanders (twice) with the 49ers and the Cowboys. While post season success has not come along with it yet, Drew Brees and Steve Hutchinson have had tremendous impact on their teams performance (see N.O. passing game and Min running game)

But nonetheless, I see your point, and it is a good one. Very rarely does a big name FA really cement a team's status as a winner.

7 years, 100 Million for Haynesworth ... wwwwow.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3939011
Yeah, so, I like Haynesworth a lot, but do I like him for 100 million dollars? Uh, no. So much for the U.S. Economy having an impact on NFL Free Agent contracts.

How the hell do the Redskins support all these contracts? Hawynesworth for $100m, Hall for $54m - and they hand out contracts like these almost every year. I swear there are shennanigans going on with the salary caps in the NFL.

And they were supposedly only $8m under the cap...

I like Haynesworth but thats a joke. A total joke.

Here's to the Skins going 5-11 next year!

Echoing similar sentiments already expressed, Haynesworth has been a force the past two years. But for a guy who has never played a 16 game season and a guy whose two best years came when he was an impending free agent... 41 million in guarantees?!? That's about 10 million more in guaranteed money than Jared Allen got last year. And say what you want about him, at least the guy plays hard every down.

I'm interested in seeing just exactly how much of that is dummy money and how much is legit. We know the 41 mil number is huge as it is, but what makes up the rest of the 100 mil?

I have wondered this very same thing for years. How on earth?...

And the Packers and their fans are always worried about having the space to sign a FA or two and staying under the cap. Go figure.

Teams can only afford a couple of really highly-paid guys, and we had one in particular for years -- #4 made some pretty good bank for his day. Toss in a couple of second-tier guys and there's most of your cap.

The Redskins are just the latest team to 'go for it', IMO. They're hamstringing their chances at keeping their talent together to pay Haynesworth.

Adalius Thomas-the Pats did go 16-0
Michael Turner-Atlanta. Pro Bowl
Alan Faneca-NY Jets. Pro Bowl
Kris Jenkins-NY Jets. Pro Bowl
Shaun Rogers-Cleveland. Pro Bowl
Asante Samuel-Philly. Pro Bowl
All but Thomas were just last year. Point is it happens a lot more than people say it does.

I predict the Skins will finish 8-8 next year tops.

That is a good bet. They are in a very tough division though. If the Packers were iin the NFC East, how do you think we would fare having to play the Cowboys, Eagles and Giants twice a year?

Good point.


I will say, that if Portis is healthy, and Jason Campbell can finally be consistent, they could have a dangerous team. That all said, I have a feeling Philly is going to upgrade pretty significantly this off season.

Its actually not that hard to do. Structure the deal to prorate the signing bonus and "streach" the deal out anticipating either years with no cap or cap excelleration.

I agree and I think you are right about going 8-8. I just think their "Power ranking" will increase with an upgraded defense. But it still won't be enough to get past their division rivals.

You are right and the Packers could be doing the same thing if they wanted to go after some high price/high ticket players.

I see what you are saying, but SkyShadow was talking about team success (I think), whereas you are using both--team and individual success.

Whether you bring in a free agent and he makes the Pro Bowl is, at the end of the day, quite irrelevant. What seems more important is to look at whether said player helped the team improve and make the playoffs.

In your two examples, Thomas, Samuel, and Turner fit the bill, but Turner stands out the most. Thomas is a fine player, but the acquisitions of Moss and Welker are what really put the Patriots over the edge in 2007. Samuel played well too, but I'm not sure he had the impact that Turner did this year.

However, none of these players had the payoff that Reggie did. He won one Super Bowl and played in another.

Reggie changed the entire culture in Green Bay.

the haynesworth signing is a good one (despite him getting WAY too much money). look at the offensive lines the redskins go against. the cowboys have a huge aggressive oline, haynesworth will be going against leonard davis (6'6 350+ lbs) and mark columbo (6'8 320+ lbs). versus the giants (who many think have the best oline in the nfl) he'll be battling guys like chris snee (one of the best guards in the league) and kareem mckenzie. versus the eagles he'll face shawn andrews (another good guard) and probably stacy andrews. the redskins want to stop these really good guard and tackle combos and hopefully free up their good LBs as well. if it stops the olines then it'll probably be worth it. i think the redskins can get 11 wins especially if haynesworth stays healthy for the season. their offense clicked in the first half of the season then fell off (i think due to outcoaching themselves) so it is very possible.

Good move for Washington. I can't believe how many people try to diminish what this guy does. He might only get 6 or 7 sacks per season (which is damn fine in it's own right), but he's better than that. He's a true stud and one of the few true dominate forces on defense. It's amazing that he made it to unrestricted free agency. The Titans are idiots.


Anyway, Washington just got a lot better and I think they'll make the playoffs and make hay in them. I don't think they are a SB team. I think it's almost impossible to buy your way into the SB, but I think they're a much better team. I'm also a big fan of Jason Cambell. I think he's one of the most underrated players in the NFL. He had a new coach and a new system last year, but that guy can throw the ball, he loves football (from what I read and hear) and he's smart.

They will be very good next year.

I agree, hats off to Washington in going out and getting the best defensive player in the league. He plays terrific against the run and pass. They may not win it all next year, but they are a better team today than they were yesterday.

The question is this: Now that he got the big payday, which Haynesworth will show up?

THe guy who played so well last year, or the guy who stepped on Gurode's face?

Note for the record, the Titans have a lot of cap space and they did not attempt to sign him.

OUCH


Redskins | Haynesworth indicted on misdemeanor charges
Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:15:20 -0700

The Associated Press reports Washington Redskins DT Albert Haynesworth has been indicted on two misdemeanor charges in Tennessee after he was involved in a traffic accident that seriously injured another driver. He faces a reckless driving charge and having an expired registration. The maximum punishment for reckless driving is six months in jail and a $500 fine and 30 days and a $50 fine for the expired registration charge

I realize this doesn't mean he won't be a good player, but if the Pack had signed him to that contract I would have a sick feeling right now.