Albert Haynesworth Trade: What It Means for the New England Patriots

Throughout the 2011 NFL offseason, the talk around the New England Patriots has centered around the front seven and needed improvements in that area.

Well, the Patriots made a big edition Wednesday night in the form of "Fat Albert".

According to an Adam Schefter tweet, the New England Patriots traded a 2013 fifth-round pick for Albert Haynesworth.

Maybe Haynesworth and Ron Brace can help each other pass the conditioning test required to practice at training camp.

We couldn't talk about Haynesworth without mentioning his history of being a negative presence in the locker room. In that sense, Bill Belichick wouldn't have traded for Haynesworth if he weren't confident that the locker room was strong enough to keep him in line.

Belichick has proven before that he can keep potential character issues at bay with the Patriot way, convincing the player to do whatever it takes to help the team win while simultaneously keeping their mouths shut.

This makes sense far beyond that, though.

Whether he likes it or not, he is playing in a team that runs a base 3-4 defense. The Patriots, however, were in their sub package (57 percent of downs) more often than the base defense (40 percent of downs).

In those situations, Haynesworth will get to do what he loves to do more than anything else, and that's lay the smack down on the quarterback. The Patriots had a hard time getting after the quarterback in 2010, registering just 36 sacks.

They have also generated their pass rush in less conventional ways than teams who just put their stud pass-rusher on the edge and send him after the quarterback. They do it with a solid interior rush in the sub package and solid coverage.

The defensive linemen in a 3-4 aren't frequently called on to rush the passer, but the interior pass rush was where the Patriots did most of their good work last year, as 14.5 of their 36 sacks came from the defensive linemen and 5.5 came from one guy, Mike Wright.

Haynesworth will challenge young upstarts Kyle Love, Brandon Deaderick, Myron Pryor and Ron Brace for playing time in 2011. The training camp battle on the defensive line will be an interesting one to keep an eye on.

It bears mentioning, too, that the last two times the Patriots made a blockbuster deal for a disgruntled player with character issues were in 2004 (Corey Dillon) and 2007 (Randy Moss). Those were very different teams, but the fact remains that those potential character problems were able to close their trap and get to work, buying into the Patriots system and putting the team first.

Whether Haynesworth is able to do the same remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: Belichick continues to surprise us.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter @erikfrenz.