We’ve been saying for the past few days that the Redskins likely are hoping that a 4-3 defensive tackle on another team tears an ACL in the near future, giving someone a need for Albert Haynesworth -- and the motivation to give up something more than a low-round pick for him.
Barring a season-ending injury to Kevin Williams or Tommie Harris, the Redskins could ultimately find a face-saving path out of the Haynesworth morass via the Buccaneers.
Appearing on a local radio station, Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune suggested Monday night that the a trade to the Bucs isn’t as crazy as it sounds.
“It makes a great deal of sense and here’s why,” Cummings said, via JoeBucsFan.com. “Don’t forget, the Buccaneers were the team that offered Albert Haynesworth more money than anybody else in the NFL last year. A lot of people forget that -- conveniently want to ignore that fact. . . .
‘You know what, I think it makes all kinds of sense,” Cummings said, seemingly warming up to the idea on the fly. “It’s a ballsy move. I don’t know if he’s going to do it. They do want to be young here more than anything. But you know what, if Stylez White can’t wake up in these last two preseason games and show them what he’s got, why not? Go give it a shot. I mean, money really is not an issue. People don’t want to believe that here. Everybody, you know, on your end of things here in Tampa Bay wants to keep talking about money here and money there and how much the Glazers are or are not spending. I can tell you right now, if they think can get Albert Haynesworth, and it ends up becoming a wash in terms of what the payroll is, they’ll do it. And they’ll go out and get him. And you know what, he’ll make the team a better football team in a hurry.”
The only surprise in Cumming’s comments comes from the disclosure (which was made in the question posed to Cummings) that Haynesworth actually wants to play defensive end in a 4-3 scheme. Maybe we haven’t been paying attention as closely as we should, but we think he wants to play defensive tackle in a 4-3. If he’s interested in being a defensive end in a 4-3 alignment, he’d be lobbying for some snaps at the equivalent position in the 3-4 -- outside linebacker.
Regardless of whether he’d play outside or bolster the rookie-heaving rotation on the inside in Tampa, Haynesworth makes sense from an Xs and Os standpoint.
And here’s where it gets interesting. Cummings thinks that Tampa receiver Michael Clayton would be an attractive addition to the trade package. "[L]et’s not forget, Bruce Allen drafted Michael Clayton,” Cummings said. “One thing Bruce Allen will always do as an NFL General Manager is try to prove that many mistakes he’s made as a General Manager were not mistakes at all. He’s not good at what he does. And he makes a situation worse by trying to constantly prove that he did not make a mistake in drafting this guy in the first round, second round, third round. . . . I wouldn’t be surprised to see him do it again.”
Right, but this presumes Allen actually has the juice in D.C. To get the Redskins interested in Clayton, coach Mike Shanahan will have to be interested in Clayton. That said, given the team’s overall quality at the position, it may not be a hard sell for Allen to make.
That said, it’ll likely take more than Clayton to get Haynesworth. But if the Redskins truly want to get rid of a guy who has three years (as a practical matter) left on his contract at less than $20 million, the Bucs could provide a semi-face-saving strategy for making it happen.