Man, these posts take a long time to do. Oddly, I didn't pen a post when the Haynesworth signing broke, but digging through my gmail, my thoughts on the Haynesworth deal were: "No free agent plays to $100 million contract, it's really only a $40 mil contract. And it's not my money, so I'm OK with this." The fact four other teams were bidding for Haynesworth helped alleviate fears I had and we were SO DESPERATE to get any kind of pass rush (this signing was pre-Orakpo). Who would have thought the ship would have sunk to this Titanic of proportions?? Certainly not Ken Meringolo in his post 3 days after the trade, titled "Jason Taylor's Replacement: Big Al":
"I am thinking [Haynesworth] has plenty to play for and plenty of motivation. You might even give Snyder a nod on this one, if the salary cap goes away of course."
Good one! Here's what Dan Snyder had to say at the Haynesworth announcement...
"We've learned our lesson," Snyder said. "This is not the old ways at all. This is what I should have done a long time ago. He's a very young man. I've learned that you don't do a seven-year contract with a player that's 33. You do it when he's 27. That's the big difference."
I mean - that quote should be on a massive flag at Fedex Field tailgates. And what about the Cooleys? Tanner blogged:
Whatever issues anyone may have about Albert Haynesworth not being a character guy need to be put to rest. I had the chance to meet the guy today after his press and he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy. In the press conference he discussed the issues of his past and I felt he did a great job of putting them to rest stating, "I'm starting a new chapter in my life after my incident and I'm looking forward to adding to it."
This probably isn't the right way of doing things, and they're all gonna laugh at us, but it's not our money, and these two make the team better, so whatever.
Doug Ramey from Fat Pickled, "As a fan, I'm excited as hell. Haynesworth is a beast." Yea, go buy that jersey, Doug. Mike Wilbon walked the fence in his 2009 article, but he foreshadowed a big blowup. And lastly, here's the link to the Redskins Insider post along with some of my favorite comments:
7 years, $100 million?!?!?! I just ralphed my Cheerios. Posted by: Eze167
Way to go Albert! Posted by: DanaStubblefield
Haynesworth = Dana Stubblefield 2.0
It's like we have a very attractive wife who is good in bed, and children at home w/ real needs but we go out and are seduced by the prostitute so we can have some silly short term thrill ride! Posted by: RedskinRay1 | February 27, 2009 7:27 AM
I laugh to keep from crying... Posted by: brownwood26 | February 27, 2009 7:46 AM |
Oh yea, then there was Cerrato's take on it when being interviewed by Doc Walker:
Cerrato was very familiar with Stubby and knew he only wanted to get paid. Cerrato was obviously cautious with Haynesworth. What impressed Cerrato about Haynesworth is that he really wants to be remembered as one of the best DTs to play the game. He doesn't just want to get paid.
And then of course there is Haynesworth's take:
"You're not going to remember Albert Haynesworth as a bust"