League Launches Tampering Investigation Regarding Haynesworth

When defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth signed with the Redskins only five hours or so after becoming an unrestricted free agent, no one believed that the communications started from scratch at 12:01 a.m. ET. In most cases, however, nothing happens. Primarily because most teams at some time or another violate the rules regarding tampering. In this case, the Titans have opted to take a stand. They have accused the Redskins of tampering. According to Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, the league is now formally investigating the matter. Per Cole, the league has interviewed at least two people regarding the situation. In our view, the best evidence might ultimately come from cell phone records, or from internal e-mails exchanged by Redskins officials. The bigger question, in our view, isn’t whether the Redskins got a head start, but whether they started so early that it prevented the Titans from having a full and fair crack at re-signing Haynesworth. The Titans, and every team that holds a player’s rights, are entitled to have the ability to negotiate with the player exclusively, without having the player or his agent find out what other teams might pay. Again, this kind of stuff happens all the time. But if the league can prove that the Redskins started the process before they were permitted to do so, the Redskins will be one of the unfortunate few who lose one of more draft picks because of it.