Why Albert Haynesworth Will Not Be Released by New England Patriots

Recent speculations have indicated that the New England Patriots could potentially cut both Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco, but neither of those moves seem logical—especially cutting ties with Haynesworth. 

In a recent article by Dan Pompei of the National Football Post, he was the first to explore the possibility of New England releasing at least one of their two big acquisitions this offseason: 

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Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth might not be long for New England. One day before this story came out by my guy Mike Reiss, one NFL executive familiar with the Patriots ways told me he believes one or both of the big name acquisitions will be cut before the season starts. The front office man thinks coach Bill Belichick will use the controversial players to help control and send a message to his locker room.

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Where does all of this speculation come from? Why in the world would Bill Belichick want to release a player with so much potential like Haynesworth? Just to send a message to his locker room? I don't think so. 

Pompei clearly misunderstand the article posted by Reiss, or he simply wanted to stir up the false "rumor" mill. 

Reiss is simply pointing out that the team has set themselves up nicely, just in case if they need to part ways with one of the two, considering their history:

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The restructured contracts signed by defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco present a low-risk, high-reward scenario from a team perspective. 

Haynesworth's deal, in particular, fits into that category. 

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Allow me to reiterate that the Patriots literally acquired Haynesworth for nothing, it is the ideal low-risk, high-reward kind of deal. 

In fact, Reiss goes into further detail regarding Haynesworth team-friendly contract:

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Haynesworth is scheduled to earn $1.5 million in 2011 (not including incentives), and the team is not on the hook for any bonus payments this year, according to the restructured contract filed with the league. So essentially, the club could cut Haynesworth tomorrow and it would have little financial impact.

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I'm sorry to say it, no matter how much I respect Pompei of NFP, but his article was clearly trying to create news out of nothing. 

As New England transforms into a 4-3 defensive team, keeping around Haynesworth almost becomes a necessity. The 6'6", 335-pound Haynesworth is the ideal defensive tackle for a 4-3 defense and could create much havoc alongside Vince Wilfork—they will create two of the largest defensive tackle pairings in the league.

I am not saying that Haynesworth is not going to be cut; in fact, I believe that it's only about a 20 percent chance that does. However, I am not saying that he's going to perform at an All-Pro caliber level.

What I'm trying to get across is that Haynesworth is in a great situation in New England, and the Patriots are in a near-perfect situation with him and his contract.

I know that this is cliche, but if you look up the term "low-risk, high-reward," then I'm sure that Haynesworth's contract with the New England Patriots would be a prime example.

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