Keeping or trading Haynesworth?

Peter King of Sports Illustrated takes a reader’s question about what the Redskins will do with disgruntled DT Albert Haynesworth and he provides an interesting answer.

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•THE HAYNESWORTH GAME. From James of Rochester, N.Y.: “How do you see theAlbert Haynesworth vs. Mike Shanahan faceoff playing out? Personally, I’d love an early 2nd round pick or a starting caliber 3-4 NT for Haynesworth. And as far as the money that’s already been paid to Albert, it’s gone. Keeping him around would just be throwing good money after bad to me.”

All good points, but I think if a team like Tennessee (which is interested, I can tell you that with certainty) wants to pursue Haynesworth, it would have to find good compensation to offer Washington. I doubt a second-round pick this year is good enough. My gut feeling is Washington will keep Haynesworth this year, experiment with him on the nose early, and if it doesn’t work, use another player on the nose and use Haynesworth as a 3-technique tackle to get to the quarterback on second and third downs.

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I completely agree with King. Firstly, I don’t understand the urgency to trade Haynesworth. The team has signed Ma’ake Kemoeatu and now Anthony Bryant, both experienced nose tackles. If Kemoeatu is healthy, it seems to me he’s the nose tackle because he’s played there plenty, doesn’t mind the position, and has done well in the past for quality defenses in Baltimore and Carolina. Bryant provides depth. If you’ve got a nose tackle or two on the roster now, why trade Haynesworth? Play him at defensive end in a 3-4 defense and watch quarterbacks quiver with fear. Haynesworth is stout enough to play the run at end in a 3-4 defense and he would still get chances to play forward and make things happen in the opposing team’s backfield.

Read more at

http://dcprosportsreport.com/2010/04/13/keeping-or-trading-haynesworth/