Albert Haynesworth: Which Teams Should Trade for Him?

Washington Redskins DT, Albert Haynesworth is reportedly on the trading block. According to league sources, the team offered Haynesworth to the Philadelphia Eagles in trade talks for Donovan McNabb, and they are still entertaining offers.

Just last summer, Haynesworth signed a lucrative $100 million contract with the team via free agency. Last season, he posted just 29 tackles and 4 sacks; mediocre numbers for an average DT, let alone the highest paid one in league history.

In addition, the Redskins are flirting with the possibility of switching to a 3-4 defense for puzzling reasons, considering they ranked 10^th last season in overall defense. That aside, every defense under that system covets a dominant nose tackle who can demand multiple blockers, while still wrecking havoc in the backfield.

It has been noted that Haynesworth firmly opposes the switch to a 3-4, and doesn’t want to be the featured NT. Moreover, Haynesworth clashed with his coach’s last year and hasn’t got off to a good start with newly-hired, two-time Super Bowl winning head coach Mike Shanahan.

Shanahan stated that he wants everyone on the team to be fully committed, including the player who they just paid a $21 million roster bonus to. Instead, Haynesworth decided to skip out on the team’s offseason conditioning program.

Immediately, the Jay Cutler saga with Josh McDaniels comes to mind, and it seems like a similar result may occur this time around. 

While there are few denying Haynesworth’s talent, dealing him may be very difficult because of the financial commitment that would accompany him.

The Eagles already rejected the proposition, and I’m not so sure if there will be too many suitors for the league’s $100 million man.

Since the Skins’ offered him outright for McNabb, we can derive that their asking price for him will be in the approximate range of a 2^nd and future mid-round draft selection.

Now the question is which possible trade suitors are interested?

Looking across the league, really, any team that doesn’t run a 3-4 could be a likely landing spot. In my mind, the three teams that should definitely try to trade for him are the St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, and Carolina Panthers.

The Rams currently hold the No. 1 pick in the draft and they will have the opportunity to take the two elite defensive tackles available in Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy.

However, they also have a pressing need at QB, which is why I, along with many others, believe they should go in another direction with the pick and select Sam Bradford. If they execute this deal, they would feel more confident drafting Bradford, knowing they’ve already secured a very dominant DT.

Furthermore, Head Coach Steve Spagnola has stated that they’re looking for a “space-eater” on the defensive line, and standing at 6’6” 350 lb., Haynesworth fills that bill.

Also, note that this hypothetical trade would have a similar effect that the McNabb trade did. Now that the Redskins got their franchise QB, they can focus on drafting the best available offensive lineman.

As for the Raiders, they are known to be aggressive and trade for big-name talent such as Moss and Seymour. Their owner, Al Davis, has deep pockets; so he could easily afford to pay Haynesworth his massive price tag. Moreover, the team desperately needs to upgrade their porous run defense; that has ranked in the bottom ten in the league for the past seven seasons, and Haynesworth would undoubtedly improve that.   

Finally, the Carolina Panthers could definitely use Haynesworth services. They have six defensive tackles on their roster but none are proven starters, and they could definitely use an experienced run-stuffer like Haynesworth to show them the ropes and help them progress.

In addition, if Panthers fans recall back to the ’02-’03 season, they will remember that Jenkins led the 2^nd best defense all the way to Super Bowl XXXVIII. Haynesworth and Jenkins are very similar players, and I’m sure that the franchise would love to have a player of that caliber back on the team.

The one thing stopping them from executing a deal would be their limited ammunition, as their highest pick in this year’s draft is a 48^th overall. Even though this is a deep draft class, I would feel much more comfortable with 2-time All-Pro Albert Haynesworth than an unproven commodity.

Nobody knows for sure where he’ll end up. What we do know though, is that a player who was seen a critical cog to their defense is now being shopped on the market.

Whatever happens to him, though, I wish Albert Haynesworth the best of luck moving forward. He’s an extremely talented player and if he can straighten out his character a bit, I think sky is the limit for him.