Commanders signing Haynesworth today (7 yr 100 million), Titans may sign Canty

[Alexander]

Dana Stubblefield.

Dan Wilkinson.

Sean Gilbert.

I win.

 

[Alexander]

I don't think Haynesworth is going to be any less the player he was before the contract. I think he likes going to the pro-bowl, and may one day end up a HOFer.

He'll have to have two-three more seasons as dominating as last year before he can even sniff the Hall of Fame. Given his unstable nature and inability to play full seasons at a time, I think that's fairly doubtful.

He'd probably like to win a ring as well.

Then he picked the wrong team to go to.

 

[DasTex]

Then he picked the wrong team to go to.

He'll get his ring



FA Superbowl Champs - 2009

The 6 time defending champions - Washington Commanders

 

[Bob Sacamano]

there's obviously been tampering, what's up w/ that?

 

[Cajuncowboy]

Trust me on this one.

Albert just slipped into coast mode as soon as he inked that deal.

He will be a non factor in a year or so and this year he will be called a "Disappointment".

 

[theebs]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701209.html

Haynesworth Signing: A Risky Quick Fix



Who's Blogging» Links to this article
By Les Carpenter
Friday, February 27, 2009; 11:29 AM

The signs this morning should scream "danger."

By agreeing to spend $155 million to sign Albert Haynesworth and keep cornerback DeAngelo Hall, the Commanders are heading down the same slippery, treacherous trail they have walked so many times before, only to lose their footing and tumble to the bottom.

Since Hall was already here and the team simply spent too much to keep him, the message the team sent with the early morning deal with Haynesworth is that Washington is merely a player away from overtaking the Eagles and the Giants to become the best team in the NFC East. The Commanders are not a player away. Not even close. Haynesworth helps; he may help a lot. He may be the best defensive lineman who was available. He might be the best defensive lineman in the league. But bringing him here alone and inserting him on the same shoddy defensive line that failed the Commanders so many times last season is not going to send this team to the Super Bowl.

The foundation here is fractured; offensive and defensive lines broken from so many quick fixes in previous years that one more quick fix isn't going to save everything.

While Haynesworth is a fantastic player and one who, when healthy and motivated, can break down the middle of offensive lines, opening the lanes for pass rushers from either side, he is far from a sure thing. The case against him has been stated many times these last few days as word trickled out that the Commanders were going to do any and every thing to sign him: He has never played a full season, he has a history of anger problems that finally manifested themselves in the infamous stomping on the head of Dallas's Andre Gurode in 2006 (leading to an unprecedented five-game suspension), he weighs 320 pounds, and his desire to be great has repeatedly been questioned.


This is not a London Fletcher the Commanders have bought. When Fletcher signed two seasons ago for $25 million, including a $10.5 million bonus, the deal made sense. Fletcher was a leader, he did not miss games, he was a quick fix that instantly made Washington's defense better. Haynesworth is not a team leader and has always missed games. If you lavish a contract as rich as the one the Commanders are handing Haynesworth, he must not only be the best player by far, but he must also be the one who can single-handedly pull the players together and drive the team to the Super Bowl. To date he has been none of these things.

Commanders Coach Jim Zorn should know the danger of his team's early-morning splash. He was an assistant coach, just starting out in the NFL, in 1997 when the Seattle Seahawks shocked the league with a similar move, swooping in to whisk away the top defensive player in free agency and hand him a then-unimaginable $7 million guarantee. The player was Steelers linebacker Chad Brown. And while Brown turned out to be a wonderful player who played behind a defensive line far better than the one the Commanders have, Seattle went 8-8, gazing longingly at more complete Kansas City and Denver teams. Washington's needs are still significant: two guards and a right tackle to negate the pass rush and perhaps a dependable wide receiver. With only four draft picks, the Commanders have plenty of holes and nothing left with which to fill them.

Quick fixes almost never work in the NFL. Again and again it has been proven that winning teams are built carefully, through the draft, from the bottom up.

All the Commanders have done today is place the biggest weight yet on a shaky foundation

 

[LowTech]

Thats gotta hurt.

 

[AsthmaField]

IMO no player can live up to his contract, unless his name is LT (as in Lawrence Taylor)

Yes, he makes the d-line much better. But will he ever have the ROI on a 100 million dollar deal?

Whenever Dan Snyder understands that you can spend 1/10th of that money on a dominant scouting department and find more Chris Horton's in a draft, the Commanders will be a middling 8-8 team

You simply can't expect a team to be very good long term when you tie up 100 million on a DT, who can't possibly live up to that deal without winning some games all by himself (sack, fumble recovery TD type plays)

A very level headed viewpoint, and one that I pretty much agree with.

There is no doubt that Haynesworth is a good DT and will make other's on that DL better. However, there is nothing Albert can ever do to live up to that contract. The amount of guaranteed money he's getting early on is insane and I would be afraid to do that with any athlete, much less one that there has rumblings of him coasting once he got complacent. Not to mention the fact that he can't play a complete season without getting hurt.

Haynesworth at 50% is still better than a lot of DT's around the league... but tying up that much money in him and then him playing at 50 or even 75% is going to be a catastrophy.

As for spending big money on any player... I only feel good about any team doing that when those players are home grown guys who are staying with their original team... i.e. Demarcus Ware, James Harrison, Terence Newman, Dwight Freeny, etc. I think there is a ton of risk involved any time you pay big bucks to a guy that has never even played for you. In other words... had Tennessee payed Haynesworth the same thing, I would have thought it not nearly so crazy as any other team doing so.

And before you ask... yes I was concerned when Dallas signed Leonard Davis. I had similar concerns as I do about the Haynesworth deal... only it was for about one-half the money that Albert got.

I had concerns about Pacman and Tank too... only very little money was actually involved with those guys. My concerns there were different than what I had with Haynesworth and Bigg Davis.

As for the draft... I cannot tell you in strong enough terms how much I think the draft means to NFL teams. You pay so little to those guys (except for first rounders) and they can give so much to your franchise, if you choose well. Young, aggressive players who cost very little and are hungry to prove themselves are invariably the backbone of any successful team.

Anyway, Haynesworth might actually work out ok for you guys... but for that to happen he will have to stay healthy, play lights out, be a good teammate and be dominant over a period of years.

Otherwise, you guys got a good DT who could hurt the franchise overall because of the money he going to be taking away from other areas of the team where those resources might be better spent.

 

[Alexander]

there's obviously been tampering, what's up w/ that?

It happens every season. The Dolphins signed Justin Smiley less than an hour after midnight last year.

 

[AsthmaField]

It happens every season. The Dolphins signed Justin Smiley less than an hour after midnight last year.

Maybe they just happened to reach an agreement quickly and just drew up a contract real fast and both parties signed it.

Or maybe both Smiley's agent and Parcells had diarreah and worked things out in, like half an hour. :

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Maybe they just happened to reach an agreement quickly and just drew up a contract real fast and both parties signed it.

Or maybe both Smiley's agent and Parcells had diarreah and worked things out in, like half an hour. :

well they have reports of Danny boy and Fat Albert eating together

this is hard-core evidence of tampering

 

[Vintage]

well they have reports of Danny boy and Fat Albert eating together

this is hard-core evidence of tampering

They said it was Danny and Haynesworth's agent IIRC.

The agent also represents Malcolm Kelly.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

They said it was Danny and Haynesworth's agent IIRC.

The agent also represents Malcolm Kelly.

quiet you

 

[Vintage]

quiet you

Sorry.

I'm still bothered by the Boley to Giants stuff.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Sorry.

I'm still bothered by the Boley to Giants stuff.

I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have snapped at 'ya

Boley to the Giants is eating me up inside

 

[Doomsdayblitz]

Dude will one of two things, IMHO. Either he sits back on his stack of bills & doesn't come close to the numbers he put up the past two seasons, or he puts so much pressure on himself to justify the money that he chokes. Either way, as was mentioned, Gurode owned him last time. Of coarse, Haynesworth has put up some gawdy numbers since then.

I could almost see paying that kind of money to a NT that played as well as Haynesworth, but unless the 'Skins are changing over to a 3-4, it makes no sense. To have that large of a percentage going to one of four starting DLs is ludicrous. Then again, that's why we love big Dan.

 

[dallasfaniac]

Jay Ratliff - 5 year $20 Mil
51 Tackles, 7.5 sacks

Haynesworth - 7 year $100 Mil
51 Tackles, 8.5 sacks

Is Albert worth $10 mil a year more?

 

[bbgun]

$100 Mil for Haynesworth and $54 Mil for Hall. I wonder what those recently laid off Commanders employees are thinking today.

 

[Woods]

Jay Ratliff - 5 year $20 Mil
51 Tackles, 7.5 sacks

Haynesworth - 7 year $100 Mil
51 Tackles, 8.5 sacks

Is Albert worth $10 mil a year more?

JJ got a great deal with Ratliff.

Can you imagine what Ratliff would command in this market?

 

[Eddie]

BWAHAHAHA

Ridiculous money to give to anyone other than a QB. And even then you better have a Tom Brady, Peyton Manning type QB as well.

Really? Wait until you see what we give Ware.