As the Tennessee Titans contemplate whether to pursue tampering charges against the Redskins regarding the recruitment of Albert Haynesworth, who had agreed to terms on a $100 million contract barely five hours after the opening of the period during which other teams were permitted to talk to the player or his agent, the Titans also might want to explore whether the Buccaneers were engaged in advance discussions with the Pro Bowl lineman.
Explaining to Sporting News Radio’s The Monty Show regarding his decision to sign with the ‘Skins instead of the Bucs, Haynesworth had this to say: “I felt comfortable with [Tampa Bay coach] Raheem [Morris], he seemed to be a good person and he’s going to be a good coach, and I thought they had a lot of upside.”
So precisely when did Haynesworth develop a comfort level with Morris? Between midnight and 12:30 a.m.? From 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.?
And how did he allocate his time between developing a comfort level with Morris and balancing out the offers of the six teams who were supposedly causing his agent’s phone to “explode” and then ultimately negotiate from scratch a nine-figure contract in less than six hours?
Meanwhile, Haynesworth explained that he opted for the Redskins instead of the Bucs in part because of the overall quality of Washington’s roster.
“I looked at the roster of the Redskins and looked at the roster of the Bucs and they cut a lot of starters, I mean they were older guys, but they cut five starters the day before,” Haynesworth said. “And then you look at the ‘Skins and their team wasn’t old, and it’s not young, it’s in that middle age group like my age type of guys. And you know having all the names we do that are really good players out there, even great players, I definitely thought we had a great shot at making a nice run for the playoffs and hopefully winning our division and getting deep in the playoffs.”
We wonder how he would have felt if the ‘Skins had dumped cornerback Shawn Springs and defensive end Jason Taylor before recruiting Haynesworth.