The Time to Win Is NOW: The Eagles Need to Pursue Albert Haynesworth

Earlier this week, the Philadelphia Eagles signed a man who could be extremely influential to their future success.

They signed Jim Washburn, the defensive line coach from the Tennessee Titans. Washburn is arguably one of the top defensive line coaches in the National Football League.

With Washburn, the Eagles should be able to expect a lot more production out of players like Brodrick Bunkley, Mike Patterson, Brandon Graham and Trevor Laws.

But more importantly, the Washburn signing resulted in a very popular defensive lineman expressing his interest to play in Philadelphia.

That would be Albert Haynesworth.

Haynesworth basically wore out his welcome in Washington this season. He is still officially a member of the team, but I don’t think he will be on the team’s roster in four months.

The Eagles need to pursue Haynesworth.

Yes, he had some on-the-field and off-the-field problems. Too many.

But he’s also a fantastic football player, and right now, I want to win a Super Bowl so badly that I think it’s worth the Eagles signing Haynesworth.

This is a man who could just completely change the Eagles’ run defense around.

Do you think James Starks would have picked up 123 yards on 23 carries with Haynesworth on the field two weeks ago?

Neither do I.

I have not been a fan of Bunkley and Patterson for a while. I know that they’re supposedly very good players, but I think they should be better.

They also don’t get enough sacks. No, that’s not a necessity for a defensive tackle, but these two have six combined sacks in the past three seasons.

C’mon, man. Six sacks?!

I want four sacks a year from my defensive tackles.

Haynesworth will do that. And he will help make a noticeable improvement on our run defense.

He’s 29, and I don’t see the Eagles signing him to a long-term contract (if they even decide to pursue him). I also read that he is due $28.5 million dollars in 2013, so if we did get him, he’d be as good as gone after 2012.

I’d be fine with two solid years of production.

Haynesworth is the type of player who can change a defense around, and despite the majority of the good players on the Eagles being young, I have my concerns about how many more years this team can continue to qualify for the postseason.

Michael Vick is going to be 31. I am not sure how many more years he has left.

And let’s be honest. Andy Reid has to be getting close to wearing out the patience of the Eagles’ management.

I’m not trying to take away any of his accomplishments. I’m just stating that a head coach who reaches the postseason nine times in 11 years usually walks away with one to two to three championships.

Reid has one to three fewer championships than he should.

The time to win is now.

The Eagles absolutely need to pursue Albert Haynesworth.

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