Washington Redskins Have Mistreated Albert Haynesworth

Albert Haynesworth doesn't deserve the treatment he has received from the Washington Redskins. How can they possibly expect a great player like himself to play in a 3-4 defense?

After all, they have only paid him $32 million for one year.

For some unknown reason, NFL teams expect players to do what they're told after they have been given a contract. That is completely unfair.

Players should have complete autonomy within a team's scheme. On defense, there should be no set-in-stone roles. Players need to be allowed to freelance as much as possible.

Teamwork is greatly overrated. Today's NFL is all about the individual, and teams need to recognize that. Players like Albert Haynesworth are above the team, and they need to be treated as such.

The Washington Redskins have simply demanded too much from Haynesworth. They want him to practice at OTA's with his teammates, they want him to play nose tackle in the 3-4 and they want him to report to training camp in shape. The list of their ridiculous demands goes on and on.

Finally, the Redskins have overstepped their bounds, and Albert Haynesworth wants to be traded.

Redskins management will probably make some silly demand about Haynesworth paying back some of his bonus money before a trade can happen. How dare they? Haynesworth earned every penny of his $32 million last year.

Sure, he was out for four games last year and he only had four sacks, but he was still the heart and soul of the Redskins defense last year. He clearly out-shined lesser players like London Fletcher and Brian Orakpo.

Another overlooked and underrated stat of Haynesworth's last year is the amount of injury timeouts. Cleverly, Haynesworth would fake one or two injuries per game in order to give his teammates a longer rest. It was pure genius on the big guy's part.

Mike Shanahan and the Redskins have said they want to change the entire culture of the organization. And yet, they continue to show their under-appreciation for mega-stars like Albert Haynesworth.

Shame on the Redskins, and shame on Mike Shanahan for being so overly demanding.

Here's to hoping that Haynesworth escapes his extremely unfair situation. There are much classier clubs like the Oakland Raiders who will allow him the freedom he truly deserves.