There’s a scene in the movie “Swingers” where the main character meets a girl at the bar, gets her number, then proceeds to go home and call her repeatedly – ruining any chance he had of ever getting a date with the chick.  For some reason, this is what I think of every time I read about the Washington Redskins and their handling of Albert Haynesworth.

I’ll make something clear off the bat: I don’t support Haynesworth, the record-setting contract he signed in 2009, what he’s pulled the last few months and everything in between.  The guy has always had a reputation for being immature, face-stomping included.  So, the Redskins’ signing of Haynesworth was always a risk.  Paying him millions more than anyone else offered was just stupid.  However, if the Redskins, or better yet, Mike Shanahan, wanted to ensure they’d get the most out of him, they couldn’t have picked a worse way to go about it.

The balance of public opinion when it comes to financial issues between players and ownership is inherently balanced in favor of the team.  For some odd reason, fans think players are completely at fault when they hold out for more money.  Without getting into not-so-complex labor law, we’ll just go with that premise for now.  In any case, Haynesworth gave fans every reason to dislike him: he showed up last year out-of-shape, missed a

bunch of time, and then took $21 million from the team knowing full well he’d be asked to play nose tackle.  Adding insult to injury, he skipped off-season workouts and made no secret of his desire to be traded.  In the world of public opinion, the Redskins had the head of Haynesworth on a platter.  They could do whatever they wanted with him.

Nevertheless, the Redskins had to screw it up.  First off, after Haynesworth showed up in camp (on-time), Shanahan embarrassed him with a conditioning test that he was never going to pass.  As that kept him from practicing, he fell further and further down the depth chart with a sore knee.  The two-time former All-Pro spent much of preseason playing with the scrubs on the second team (and still played well, albeit against terrible competition).  Oh, and then there were the “headaches.” In the team’s final exhibition game, a game usually reserved for guys on the cusp of making the team, he played almost the entire game.  Now, they seek to demean him once more by somehow allowing trade talks to leak again.

One wouldn’t expect the man who was close buddies with former President George W. Bush to understand the fundamental rules of economics, but devaluing your best asset in an effort to assert your dominance is a pretty stupid idea.

The Redskins need to make a decision about what they want to do with Haynesworth and live with it.  If they are happy being 7-9 without him, that’s fine, but cut the cord now: trade the player (even if it’s the Titans) and at least get something or cut him and eat the money.  At this point, you’ve already embarrassed yourself beyond recognition with the way you’ve treated him and how much money you’ve wasted.

If you think Haynesworth can be motivated again, commit the organization to keeping him and try to get something out of the $32 million he’s been paid.  Worst case scenario, he loafs around for a few games and makes himself look worse, which again puts the court of public opinion in your favor and allows you to cut him next year when memories of this debacle aren’t so fresh.

Do whatever you want, but do it now.

[picappgallerysingle id="9462388" align="center"]So it only took him 10 days and four tries but congratulations to Albert Haynesworth of the Washington Redskins for finally being in semblance of shape and passing his conditioning test. Fat Albert finally ran out of excuses after an MRI on his knee showed no real damage that would prevent him from running, so he kinda had to pass. At last our long city-wide nightmare is over.

Thankfully, now Redskins fans can worry about the 3 headed running back battle, the lack of any wide receiver under 30 starting for the team, the offensive line, McNabb learning a new offense at QB, who McNabb’s backup will be (Rex Grossman or John Beck), how strong will this defense be in a 3-4 … and more. See how much other news is out there besides Albert?

But while the corpse of this story is warm, I’d be remiss if one last parting shot wasn’t sent Albert Haynesworth’s way. Take a listen to Kirk McEwan and Mike O’Meara, from 105.9 The Edge, having a good laugh at Weird Al Haynesworth’s expense. Kirk interviewing Mike doing an impression of Albert. Enjoy!

Yesterday Brian Westbrook sat down with the NFL Players Association for an interview about his offseason and his career.  In this interview, B-West had a few things to say about the Redskins and his offseason visits with teams and a couple things he said really stuck out to me.  First:

Q: How did your recent visit with the Washington Redskins go?

A: It went really well. I enjoyed them and the coaching staff. I’d love to be a part of that organization. They have a quality organization—I just have to find out if I can fit into their system.

Ok, nothing super interesting there, just typical “Please sign me!” type stuff, except for the fitting into the system thing.  I think what he’s really saying is that he’s not sure he wants to split carries with the “Return of the 2005 Running backs SUPER STARS!” backfield the Redskins currently have on their roster.  Apparently he’s not sold on Mike Shanahan’s VOLTRON theory on old running backs…neither am I.

Let us continue…

Q: Being from the Washington, D.C. area and playing your high school ball at DeMatha, how special would it be if you were to play here?

A: Of course it would be special to play in your hometown, where you were born and raised and still live. Of course it would be special to be on a team with a winning tradition.

Wait a minute here, a winning tradition?  In Washington DC?  Maybe if he’s talking about DeMatha but I’m not sure he really believes that the Redskins really have a great winning tradition.  Sure from 1971-1976 they made the playoffs for 5 out of 6 years.  Also, we all know what they did in the 80s and early 90s…but since 1992, this team has made the playoffs just 3 times.  3 times in 18 years.  Hell of a tradition there, huh?

This team has been in DC since 1937, do know how many times they’ve made the playoffs since they arrived in Washington?  22 times.  Yes, just 22 times in over 75 years.  As a comparison, the Dallas Cowboys didnt come into existance until 1960 and you know how many times they’ve been to the playoffs?  30…in almost 30 less years.  Winning tradition in DC?  Hah!

Lets move on, here’s what else he said about the Redskins: Read the rest of this entry