DeAngelo Hall has been talking to Trent Williams...and Redskins President Bruce Allen. He also has a podcast through the Athletic called Hail to the Podcast with Erin Hawksworth. You will need a subscription to the Athletic which you can get here. It’s already been reported that Williams told Hall there is 0% chance he is on the field Week 1. Hall says there is a better chance that he shows up before Week 10, which is required to get an accrued season.
#BREAKING: @DeAngeloHall23 tells @ErinHawksworth on 'Hail to the Podcast' that Trent Williams could return to the Redskins 'sooner rather than later.'
— The Athletic (@TheAthleticDC) September 3, 2019
Hear all the details in this exclusive bonus episode: https://t.co/ivYestsHSW pic.twitter.com/mmuwR5jNPz
DeAngelo Hall says Trent Williams is ending his holding soon, per @TheAthleticDC Hail to the Pod w/ @ErinHawksworth
— Hogs Haven (@HogsHaven) September 3, 2019
Last nugget I'll drop, because you should just subscribe to @TheAthleticDC and listen yourself (WELL worth the $):
— Hogs Haven (@HogsHaven) September 3, 2019
-Bruce asked Trent 'tell me who to fire [on medical staff] and I'll fire them'
-Trent's response: 'I don't want to cost anybody their job'
Trading Trent to Houston:
“Houston was the premier destination for a guy like Trent Williams. He has a home, he has a gym in Houston, he trains there for the better part of the year when he’s not here in Virginia.“
To cut your nose off just to spite your face just doesn’t make any sense to me. It wasn’t necessarily about Trent, it was about making this team better. Jadeveon Clowney makes this team better, let’s be real.”
Bruce’s opinion on a trade:
“Bruce simply said you don’t ask for a trade in mini-camp, you ask for a trade in January, February before the draft, that’s when you ask for a trade.”
Will return this season:
“I don’t think you ever come back with your tail between your legs. I think his point has been made, regardless when he comes back. And yes I said he wasn’t going to come back for week 1. I didn’t say he wasn’t going to come at any point. I think he does come at some point, when that is, no one actually knows. I could be week 2, it could be week 8. I know it will be before the cutoff for him to get an accrued season because Trent’s really smart, he understands the business side of things. He would not let a year go by without getting that season credit for himself and you have to be here by a certain point so I know he’ll do that.”
Banking on himself
“Look, I’ve made my point. If they don’t want to trade me, they don’t want to trade me, they don’t want to trade me. I’ll bank on myself. Not a problem. Knowing that I’m banking on myself, when my deal’s up, what are you going to do, keep franchising me? Trent’s so athletic he can play as long as he wants. The benefit of doing that, I can remember Julius Peppers did the same thing to the Carolina Panthers. They didn’t want to pay him when he wanted to be paid. He said cool, he just kept taking that franchise tag until they couldn’t afford to franchise tag him anymore. At that point, he made more money than he would have made if they just signed him to a long-term deal. Kirk Cousins same exact thing. Trent’s words exactly, “I’ll bank on myself.”” He knows and believes he’s the most dominating offensive lineman in this league and he wants All-Pros and you’ve got to win football games to be voted to the All-Pro list. This dude’s thinking gold jackets, he’s not thinking Pro Bowls. He’s thinking gold jackets, Super Bowl rings.”
Bruce/Trent negotiations:
“He wants to be a part of whatever team wants him on their team fighting for him. Bruce has said, we want Trent Williams on this football team. We’re a better football team with him here. For him, there’s other things that factor into this. It’s the money thing, it’s the medical staff, the way things kind of shook out from that standpoint. Bruce said he’d make adjustments for Trent when it came to the medical staff. It’s just about getting those two guys together and figuring out what that is.
These guys aren’t very far off. If it’s a situation where they don’t want to pay him the money. He doesn’t mind saying ok, I’m going to come in here, play football, make the money I’m supposed to make and when that time comes, whether it’s free agency, the franchise tag, this is the same kind of treatment it will be. I’ll hold out, I’ll come in I’ll play I’ll be dominant, at some point it will get worked out. The same thing happened with Kirk, it’ll get worked out.”
Honoring the contract:
“Did you guys say that when I was supposed to make $8 million and I was cut and had to come back for minimum? They do it all the time as an organization. They cut players they don’t feel like that player is worth XYZ. It’s nice to see the players feel like they want to empower themselves. The NBA has been doing it for years. The players run the league, not the owners, not the coaches, it’s the players. It’s nice to see the NFL players trying to shift the balance. For Jadeveon Clowney to basically force his way out, and get somewhere that has a chance to win football games. I’m happy for the guy.”
Bruce Allen:
“Bruce understands that you have to keep guys like Trent Williams in your locker room. Bruce told me he asked Trent, “Tell me who to fire and I’ll fire them.” Trent’s response was “Man I don’t want to cost nobody their job, I don’t want to put anybody’s livelihood in my hands.” It’s just the human element. You develop relationships with these people, so even though you’re frustrated, even though something might have happened. And it’s like, dang, this could have been prevented if xyz happened, you forgive and you forget...you try to move on.”
Wanted to believe he’d be there:
“It’s never one person’s fault 100% of the time. It’s his side of the story vs their side of the story and somewhere in the middle is the truth. Those are the layers they’re going to have to dig through. It’s going to be easier to dig through them with Trent in the building. Everyone in the organization wanted to believe that he would be there week 1. I don’t think they ever had any direct knowledge that he would be there or not. They just wanted to believe that he would be there.”
Ready to play?:
“I heard somebody say he won’t know the playbook. He’s been in this offense for 4 or 5 years, he’s been in this offense for as long as he’s been here. He knows every piece of that offense. Is he in shape? Absolutely. The dude probably in better shape than anybody on the team. He works harder when he’s away, than when he’s here because it’s just not hard enough to push him, it’s not hard enough for him to get the maximum work. That’s why he has to go away to even push himself even harder. He’ll be ready to play, that’s not a question at all.”
Money:
“They could very easily pay Trent. The reason they won’t pay Trent is they don’t want the precedent to be set. Like hey guys, this is the way you go about getting paid early. Just hold out, just hold out Jonathan Allen, I’ll pay you. Because he’s coming next. Bruce doesn’t want these young guys coming up to see you hold out, you get paid. Trent’s so different on so many different layers. The medical issues and the scare. Bruce said there’s always going to be different layers in every contract negotiation. They’re always going to have something else on top of it just being about the money or them having outplayed their contract. Because I’ve never dealt with contract negotiations outside of myself, and I started thinking about it, all mine kind of had different layers.
I think he comes, I think he comes sooner rather than later. I think he reports and I think he’s a part of this football team. And then I think everything else is just a mute issue. Bruce has said he would make concessions when it comes to the medical staff, whether it was having Trent use his own guys, or bring his guys in or giving him the ability to get to his guys to get worked on, get looked at. I think that will be resolved. I think the money thing is a situation where I think he’s made his point, if they don’t want to pay him I think he shows up because he doesn’t want to default the rest of that money. He doesn’t want to lose a season, he wants to be a part of this football team. I think once he’s in the building, they start to figure how they can repair this relationship. I know they want him on this team, if they didn’t they would have traded him when they had the opportunity.”