History Tells Me Bruce Allen Is In Control of Haynesworth
by Kevin Ewoldt on Jul 2, 2010 8:38 AM EDT
in Redskins Analysis
Email
Print
One of the cliches iterated ad nauseum, which I found early in life to be true, is "never burn your bridges." Whether it's running into people you met previously at parties, bars...or even old jobs. It happens all the time - the lesson in life, don't be a prick, you're going to run into that person again (and maybe she has hot friends).
Well, athletes throw that pearl of wisdom back into the sea once those lottery-sized paychecks roll in. It's pretty easy to tell people to F-off when you have millions of dollars. "Screw you. Trade me or release me - I'll never run into you again, and I don't care if I do." Well, that's not entirely true.
Keenan McCardell, the current WR Coach of the Redskins, was drafted by Joe Gibbs in the 12th round of the 1991 draft. He also played his last game as a Redskin in 2007. Flashback to the summer of 2004. McCardell was coming off a career year - 1,100+ yards, 9 TDs, and 2 Super Bowl TD catches. He's halfway through his 4-year contract with the Bucs (slated to make $2.5 and $2.75 the next 2 years) when he decides he's worth a lot more than that - holdout. Even though he was 34 years old, he felt he was worth another $2mil a year, which is what the elite WRs were making.
"It's pretty simple. I want a new deal and the Bucs don't want to pay me. I'm a Pro Bowl receiver, so basically we might as well go our separate ways...Trade me or release me. Yeah, why not? They don't want me back there, so it's time to move on."
Tampa Bay GM, Bruce Allen, was having no part of it stating that McCardell was one of the highest paid 34 year-old WRs in the league, and he has 2 years left of that contract to honor.
Keenan skipped training camp as a result, and the Bucs put him on the inactive list. He was later traded to the Chargers for 3rd and 6th round picks. To make matters worse, the Bucs won a grievance and got $1.5mil back from McCardell. HOLDOUT FAIL. Haynesworth of course did his homework and plans to attend training camp to avoid such paybacks, but it's not going to be a smooth sailing.
The moral of the story is: Bruce isn't bluffing.
"Keenan, obviously, made a decision a long time ago that he wasn't going to be happy with the economics of his contract,'' General Manager Bruce Allen said during an afternoon news conference. "It was a good trade for the Buccaneers, only because of the players we have that are performing for us. Time for us to move on. We're looking forward to the future.''
Both Shanahan and Allen have iterated time after time they only deal with players who are there. I really find it hard to imagine they let Albert just walk back into camp like nothing happened. So, it looks like Albert is in for miserable ride. I bet the coaches are going to make him run all over the place in that glorious, DC humidity to the point he literally just site. As for McCardell, he had a horrible first year in San Diego and only managed one solid year the rest of his career. Point - Allen.
41 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Quick poll...
How do you think this situation will end? Haynesworth is:
- released
- traded for low draft picks
- forced to sit out
- actually plays
Hogs Haven. On Twitter. And Facebook.
Option 5...
I think he gets traded but not necessarily for “low draft picks.” With the recent moves Allen-Shanahan have been making, they show a more ‘win now’ mentality- so my guess is he gets dealt in a trade that involves current player(s) with possibly more than one team since most of the teams that have rumored interest in him, don’t really have anyone they’d be willing to part with that we would value.
Plays.
at 150, because he is going to run 3 marathons a day for 30 days!!!!!!!!
Fat Al
I hope he sits until he is traded.
My give a damn broke.
by davesomethin on Jul 2, 2010 10:55 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Allen on Haynesworth
I think he’ll play. But I really like Allen’s attitude. “Knock it off, you have a contract, you play, I don’t want to hear about your problems”. I’ve been saying that the coaches should let him play DT and DE, not force him to play NT – try to show that he’ll like and be fine in the new system. In other words, give a little. But if he doesn’t come in 100% ready to play – I’d have no qualms about playing hardball (as you described Allen doing with McCardell). In short, do our best to bring him back on board, but if he won’t do his duty – no mercy, and I’d just sit him down until he sees the light (no trade, which he wants, unless he gives the money back and we get something really good in return). I still think the players should stay out of it, and don’t like the idea of the fans dumping on Albert (for one thing, the media have been very unfair to him, so they’re getting bad data) – i.e., let Shanahan and Allen worry about it – that’s what they’re paid to do.
NT was never the only position
that Haynesworth was told eh could play. It’s the position that got the most buzz because Haynesworth would seem to be the Redskins player that would most likely fill the role. But Haslett is on record as saying that he mentioned the possibility of having Haynesworth move between DE and NT.
I do agree that, since Haynesworth’s trade value right is fairly low (meaning no one really wants a disgruntled player on their roster), the Redskins should do what they can to keep him, if it means educating him about the defense and working out an effective way to use him, then try it. Teams might be interested down the road after they start really installing their programs in training camp and after players potentially go down with injuries, and if it looks like Haynesworth might contribute to the Skins in 2010, he could get fetch a higher price even if he is still unhappy.
Just look at the Anquan Boldin situation. He wasn’t happy being the #2 receiver in AZ, but even though he asked for a trade, he still showed up when the team didn’t grant his wish. So AZ got some decent compensation in the trade because they didn’t look like they were just trying to unload a rotten apple onto another team.
The Redskins and Haynesworth may not like each other now, but working together only helpsthem both in the long run.
by ScribbledNotes on Jul 2, 2010 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions
NT was never
the only position… Yes, I’ve mentioned before, Haslett was reasonable and accommodating as to how AH would be used, but then, according to some (not everyone believes it) Shanahan came along and took a hardline – “you are our NT” type of thing. I speculate that that is what infuriated and worried Albert – thinking they were not being honest with him, and fearing he couldn’t learn the new system. I can’t give exact quotes from Shanahan (the story came from Jason Cole, citing the “Haynesworth camp”), but it explains the amazing change in AH from April to June. It seems to me that the team ought to be able to win him over (assuming he does come to camp, in shape), although Andre Carter’s comments show that he may not be able to just roll in as if nothing happened. In Kevin’s terms, he’s pretty close to burning some bridges.
I think AH's bridges are on fire
and he needs to be the one to put the fire out.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Exactly what I'm thinking
I don’t think anyone besides the parties involved knows what really happened behind closed doors. I’m putting my trust in Shanahan — not AH. Haynesworth had no right to do what he did (or is doing), even if Shanny did take a hardline on the NT thing. I still maintain that it’s the coach’s team — it doesn’t belong to just one player. Even if he was scared he couldn’t learn a new system…um, SO WHAT?! It’s his responsibility as a player in a team sport to do what the boss (in this case the coach) wants. It’s not all about him.
He’s scared? Really? He’s a football player, aren’t they supposed to be kind of…tough? He’s acting like a baby.
I think what you’re (Donnio) missing here is that nobody should have to “win him over” — quite the contrary, he should be showing up and getting on the new coach’s good side.
His needs should not be put above the team’s. If he has to learn a new system, so be it. I sincerely hope that everything will be fine when he comes into camp and this will be soon forgotten, but when you have other player’s speaking out? Then you’ve got a problem that’s going to be difficult to rectify. He was so self-involved and acted in such a childish manner — it seems like enough to burn every bridge he has with every other player.
I'm back. YAY SUMMER!
Trade
I agree with Preppiejack, that any trade is more likely to be for players, probably in a 3-way, than for low draft picks. Vincent Jackson just got suspended for 3 games, so could come cheap – like basically for Haynesworth from our point of view. AH is far and away the best trade material we have.
The problem...
with Vincent Jackson is that he is unhappy with his contract too!
Oh, that and the whole suspension thing. Which is actually probably the bigger problem. I think the idea of going player-for-player is pretty much a non-starter in the NFL. I know it has happened (Champ for Clinton being the best Skins example), but these trades are very hard to evaluate for a GM, and much more risky than swapping a player for a package of picks.
If this were any other player, I would put my money on him being released. But this being the $100 million man, and since the spat was so public for so long, I have to believe the Redskins will want value for him, so they’ll try to trade him up until the day the season starts but will be stuck with him. I know that someone will probably be interested in Albert, but I doubt that teams will offer something of similar (acceptable) value. Regardless of the kind of condition Albert is in when he arrives at training camp, opposing GM’s will find it hard to part with the kind of compensation the Redskins will require – all for a malcontent who’s been trouble from the jump.
by TerroristFistJab on Jul 2, 2010 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions
I respectfully disagree.
My original post was just about the fact that I think AH is more likely to be traded for players than picks given the team’s recent moves. But since Donnio extrapolated that to a VJ trade, I feel I should clarify since you don’t think it is possible.
First, I want to say that I do not think AH will be in any trade with VJ- but, it “is possible” via a 3-team trade like Donnio suggested. The Seahawks like AH. The Titans like AH. Either could trade their 3rd and 5th round picks (or something like that) to the Chargers in exchange for AH to their team, and VJ to the Redskins.
- A 3rd and 5th is not absurd from the Chargers perspective given that Braylon Edwards went to the Jets last year for that very amount, and they don’t want to pay VJ, and he’s suspended like Braylon likely was going to be after his bar scuffle with Lebron’s friend.
- A couple late draft picks would probably be heavy but fair value for AH from the perspective of the Titans/Seahawks/etc, and possibly doable given that his contract over the next 3 years is a bargain.
- From the Redskins perspective this would be basically AH for VJ, and they would probably be glad to just move on from the AH saga, and upgrade their receiving corps regardless of if it costs Snyder some $ – after all, he can just raise the price of parking again and again and again…
Here's the thing
My guess is he’ll start the season playing but not even necessarily as a starter (unless he really gets his shit together).
But the fact is that once you start winning, all the personal BS goes to the wayside. If we start winning games and make a run at the division, trust me, he will be a part of the team, and he will be a quiet and successful part of the team… unless he doesn’t make it to the regular season, of course.
i say when fat albert comes back
run his ass off make him do every hard ass drill they can put him in and make fat boy wishing he would give every dime back and make him beg to be released after he gives the 21 mil back if he dont make him set on the sideline by himself for his whole contract and put his locker by itself away from the other guys locker and tell the other guys to not speak to him at all and show the lil bitch we are not playing with his ass.
Anyone who lies and takes the 21M
is not going to get his ass run around. He’ll go thru the motions unless he convinces himself it is in his interest to to otherwise.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
The $21 million
Scott – I just don’t see the anger over the $21 mill. It was in the contract, and due, and nobody in their right mind would turn it down. He did not have to and almost certainly did not promise anything to get it, and did not lie (I think – he didn’t have to lie about anything). I think Shanahan tried to get him to promise that he’d play NT – sort of shaming him into it – but AH obviously did not fall for the “moral” argument. Shanahan simply had no case, no leverage to exact any promises (by the way, nothing wrong with trying). I still think (on no real evidence) that at some point around that time, Mike took the hardline on NT, and that got Albert mad. So – a problem. But I still hope AH comes to camp in great shape and wanting to play. If he doesn’t, it’s a real problem, and I’d have no mercy.
Shanahan had no leverage and no case?
He’s the coach. He can do whatever the hell he wants — he runs the show, not AH. I don’t understand why you think Shanahan was so in the wrong when it’s HIS team now. Who the hell cares what happened when AH signed the contract? I certainly don’t. I care about his role as a player in Shanny’s system — not Zorn’s.
Honestly, I still think Shanahan made no promises, and that’s media BS. I still don’t understand why a player in a TEAM sport can get mad and suddenly abandon his team without consequences. It doesn’t make any sense to me. I think that’s how the fan base, the other players, and Shanallen perceive it as well.
He’s not going to come into camp “wanting to play” so we can cross that dream off the list. He may come in good shape, he may not — that much I don’t know. Haynesworth is a self-centered, lazy SOB who doesn’t care about the team that is paying him to play. Donnio, I think you’re one of the very few who has any ounce of sympathy left for AH. I’m someone who doesn’t.
I'm back. YAY SUMMER!
Agree wth DCO
Totally self-centered. Doesn’t want to play in a 3-4 because he won’t get the headlines and glory that he craves. He could care less about the team. It’s money and personal glory he wants. (of course he’s not the only player in the NFL that feels that way).
I'm not even sure
AH craves the glory/headlines. I think he is self-centered and craves money and chicks. It seems like he is doing as little as possible to reach his full potential as a team mate and a player.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
I think he lost it along the way.....
I have no idea of what he went through as a youngster, but it seems like he is incapable of breaking some bond from the way he behaved “back in the day” to get by… when he, perhaps, didn’t have much and fostered the “us against them” thought process…..I think none of us can imagine growing with nothing but being big and ruthless, and then getting millions of dollars for it…….he is not dumb or stupid, but he is not a professional , nor should he be treated as such….if I pay the kid down the street $200 a month to mow my yard every week I don’t expect him to stop mowin just cuz I added a couple of bushes
$200/month?
Can I get in on that gig. You can put in all the bushes you want! :)
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Yard service
Mine is about that ($187), but it includes the whole lawn care treatment – fertilizer, lime, weed and bug deterrents, etc.
He's reminding me of Mike Tyson
without a mentor.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
hell, I'm just surprised you read the thing...
all the way through. I wrote it and could had to read it twice (I know what I was trying to say) anyway it was a great 4th of July party…hope you all had one too.
I agree with DCO
Shanahan had every right to think AH should play wherever he wanted him to. On “no case and no leverage” I was talking about the idea that Mike floated – saying that taking the $21 million meant AH was agreeing to play NT. AH did not have to agree to anything to take the money. Of course, he should play NT if that’s what the coach wants, but not because he took the money (yes, sort of a logical nuance). Shanahan did not do anything wrong – he was just acting like a coach. But taking a hardline NT stance may not have been the best way to handle a mercurial, immature guy like Albert. Everybody thinks he didn’t like the 3-4/NT because he wouldn’t get sacks, etc, and it was probably partly that, but a recent article (and interview) suggest he is afraid of trying to play it – doesn’t know if he can. So he just doesn’t want to do it. If that is the case, it might have been better to reassure him that he’d do fine, he would usually play much the same way (which is what Haslett is supposed to have said) – “carrot” not “stick”.
If that idea is correct, the best thing would be to get him into camp and work with him, emphasizing his DT/DE role and how he fits in – build his confidence that he can handle it and thrive. Missing camp puts him behind, so he’ll have to learn fast, but I would think that he could. On all this, I try to look at things from a common sense, practical point of view. We have a great player here who’s unhappy. I just want him to play like he can. How do I get him working? I don’t get mad at him, in fact, I feel a little sorry for him. He’s repeatedly victimized (by the stripper and in the trailer deal and probably others), loses his money, and then his comfortable life in the 4-3 is yanked away. Then the coach says he has to play NT. When it rains it pours.
But I still don't think that's it.
Victimized? He hasn’t exactly been a model citizen. Who knows? Maybe he did knock up the stripper, maybe he didn’t, but there are other cases that make it impossible for me to feel sorry for him, like the paralyzed guy deal. I honestly could care less about a comfortable life — AH is filthy rich at the moment, and because the Redskins are paying him to play, he should play. In this economy, I look at selfish guys like him and it makes me sick to my stomach. I hate for this to be personal, but it is for me. While other people work hard and don’t get paid a fraction of what he’s getting, he gets to sit at home and milk the fact that he got a $21 million bonus without ramifications.
This is football. We shouldn’t have to hold his hand and be all sensitive, he’s a grown man — but he’s sure as hell not acting like it. I’m not going to wish for him to be broke within a year after his eventual retirement, but I wouldn’t be surprised. With all his legal troubles, well, it’s too much for me.
I’m still not buying Cole, but you know that. I think you’re being too nice to Haynesworth. He’s already got enough money for the rest of his life, and oh, yeah, he just HAS to play a position he doesn’t want to. Whoop-dee-do…let’s stop the world for a long moment and accommodate Albert Haynesworth, III! Do you really want to feel sorry for this SOB? He’s all about Albert Haynesworth and no one else. If you’re playing on a team, you do what is best for the team — not what’s best for you.
I’m not behind the 3-4 100% — don’t get me wrong. But this is what the head coach wants to do. I think part of being “great” is also being a great human being, not just a player. Plus, he’s lazy — big time. So I still find it extremely difficult to look past all his problems and empathize with him. He’s supposedly part of a team, but he’s not acting like it. I’m a fan of the Redskins…THE TEAM. At this point, I’m not a fan of AH. He’s one player. That’s it.
So why should you have to stop everything and make sure little Albert is happy? I wouldn’t. I’d sit his ass, and I’m pretty sure there’s nothing the union can do about that. I think we’ll be just fine without him, but we shouldn’t give him what he wants. He has to work and be loyal to the team before we grant his wishes.
Right now I actually think it’s kind of fun to watch him ruin his career. I know that may sound cynical, but he deserves it. Unless he shows he belongs on the Redskins, he shouldn’t play.
I'm back. YAY SUMMER!
Sorry for...
No doubt he ought to be a man and “face the music”. He’s being childish and destroying himself. But as to why we should coddle him – well, simple self interest. The Skins are a substantially better team with him (playing hard) than without him. Maybe the difference between 8-8 and 10-6. I want to win, and don’t care that Albert is a pain in the neck or a jerk off the field (I remember some of the head cases Phil Jackson won with – like Dennis Rodman; great coach, very cool). On the accident: I’d say don’t listen to the press – they are biased. What you’re hearing is from the guy’s lawyer (“oh gee, he can’t go back to his $9/hr job” – “multi-millionaire jock won’t help the poor kid”, etc), and the battle is between legal teams now. Albert probably has little to say about the settlement, and may also not agree that he is at fault (I don’t think it’s clear just what happened). I don’t know what is going on in court, but I’d think the compensation offer is in the millions already (“deep pockets”), but the guy’s lawyer wants more, as usual. Albert correctly kept quiet, to protect himself, once the guy got a lawyer. To be sure, it’s a sad case, I do feel sorry for the other guy, who (supposedly – you can’t trust anybody when money is involved) lost more than money can buy, and, if AH caused it, he should pay up big time (probably millions), but there is a limit to how much he can or should pay. Actually, he might not have much money left, based on the bank’s lawsuit, in which case Corey is really screwed. Also, in this litigious society, with greedy, blood sucking lawyers, a presumed rich guy just can’t follow his natural generous and humane instincts – he’d get killed. I like what Joe Gibbs is trying to do – teach these guys some basic finance, because most of them just blow their money. One silver lining – AH might really need money, and he must know he’ll make more by playing well, and dogging it could literally end his career.
Well call me terrible
But if this BS doesn’t end I wouldn’t mind his career ending, just not in the way you described. I know you want to feel sorry for the rich guy, but I guess I’m biased in that I don’t want to feel sorry for a guy who caused a man to be paralyzed because of HIS reckless driving and doesn’t even have the stones to apologize. And honestly, I think he did it, just because that’s the kind of guy AH carries himself as. Something in my gut tells me Haynesworth is far from “generous and humane” — although I’m not sure if you were just using that as a general example or to describe AH.
He wouldn’t need the money if he wasn’t so careless, and I don’t feel like respecting him. All in all, I have to disagree.
I'm back. YAY SUMMER!
AH
Right – I don’t know what kind of a guy he is, and don’t really care. I just want him to play like he can play. He is the one causing the problem, he’s the one acting childishly; whether from greed, stupidity, fear – I don’t know. I’d soft pedal the NT idea, but if he still keeps jacking us around, he’s hopeless, and I’d dump him (get as much as we can for him). And even before camp, I’d be looking for value trades, like for Vincent Jackson (these would probably be 3 or 4 way types because only a 4-3 team could use him). I like Bruce Allen’s attitude, too – “he’s got a contract, we expect him to play”. The whole thing could be a “tempest in a teapot”, and blow over.
Liking the new regime
I don’t know about Albert but I know I do like the way the new regime seems to handle things. They keep things quite until there’s a done deal to announce like the Jammal Brown trade. They seem to discourage speculation and work well behind the scenes. It’s a nice change. I still don’t think the ’Skins are a legit playoff team since there are so many holes to plug, but I enjoy the workman-like approach Allen & Shanahan are taking. The team will be better and given two or three years of this, the team could be GREAT!
Play
Al’s gonna play. His issue is a non issue, since he’s whining about NT and the staff has already been clear about putting him at DE (Maake, assuming his heel is better, is a perfect combo with Al). This all reminds me a bit of Springs, who constantly skipped everything until training camp, got blasted by guys like Daniels, then came in and all was water under the bridge. Not saying that Al is going to get the same treatment in terms of the team, but assuming he’s been doing what he says he has (working out with his own personal trainer), it’ll be a whisper come week three.
TTB!
"The staff has already been clear about putting him at DE..."
I had not heard that, in fact, I heard the opposite, but it could be right – the Skins play all kind of mind games. Also, it seems like such an obvious solution. It makes no sense to push him into the NT spot. There really shouldn’t be a problem. But Albert is a very mercurial guy.
Fat Al
Firstly, I have complete confidence in our Front Office that they’ll handle this whole messy affair for the good of the Skins. Ideally, I’d like to see some sort of epiphany from AH regarding his role in the 3-4 and that he ultimately forms part of our D-line. Realistically though, given the understandable ill feeling towards Haynesworth, that ain’t gonna happen and a trade of whatever guise is inevitable. Retribution therefore makes my day: I’d like to see Haynesworth flogged without mercy in camp, to the point where he ends up weighing 295lbs and with a prolapse protruding from his fat, greedy ass.
I think at this point it comes down to
he needs the Redskins more than we need him. He just doesn’t get that and until he does there will be no resolution to this mess. He will simply fade away.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
He needs the Redskins
He sure does, and it’s incredible that he doesn’t see that. He’s destroying himself playing some dumb game he can’t win. He ought to be super-motivated, if for no other reason than that he needs or soon will need, the money. Maybe he thinks he can force a trade to a 4-3 team that wants to throw money at him.
I can't wait to see a UFL team all on the same roster...
Ryan Leaf, Haynesworth, Jamarcus Russell, Maurice Clarett, Vanderjagt..
Hogs Haven. On Twitter. And Facebook.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
