Haynesworth: I Could Have Made More Money In Tampa Bay

Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth broke the bank during free agency with a seven-year contract with a maximum value of $100 million that includes $41 million in guaranteed money, but he claims he could have made even more money if he had signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During an interview with Adam Schein and Jim Miller of Sirius NFL Radio, Haynesworth revealed that the Buccaneers offered more money than the Redskins. “No, I could’ve made more money with Tampa Bay if I had really wanted to,” Haynesworth said when asked if money was the top determining factor in his decision. “They offered me a whole lot more, and even with their tax situation, it could have been 20 percent more.” Man, that’s a lot of clams. Based on Haynesworth’s claim and if it had been structured over seven years, he could have garnered a contract from the Buccaneers worth a total of $120 million. So, why did Haynesworth ultimately choose the Redskins? “You look at Washington, they’ve got a lot of the pieces together,” Haynesworth said. “They’re right there. They’re in a huge market. It’s one of the largest markets in the world. You’ve just got a large, huge media outlet and it can be life beyond football. Going to Tampa, I mean, great city. “Looking at it from the offseason standpoint, I love the water. I love to be out in the sun. It’s just awesome, but it would’ve been like another Nashville. Tampa doesn’t have that big market and they don’t have a huge fan base like the Washington Redskins do, so I think it was just a choice just to look at it that way.” Haynesworth said that the New York Giants made a significant offer, but it was much less than the Redskins and the Buccaneers’ respective offers. He also said that the Atlanta Falcons and the Denver Broncos displayed some interest, too. “There were a lot of teams that wanted me,” Haynesworth said. So far, Haynesworth is loving it in Washington and he’s happy to have exited Nashville. “I’m doing quite well,” Haynesworth said. “I think it’s a good fit for me. It’s almost like I was getting too big for Nashville. It’s like say you’re in kindergarten or first grade in the same elementary school and you’re this young kid at six years old and you do something like misbehaving. You get to the fourth or fifth grade and you grow out of that, and you still have those same teachers that still view you the same. “That’s kind of how I felt in Nashville. No matter what I did, they always wanted to refer to me the same way as when I came into the league at 20 years old. In D.C., I have a clean slate. I can go out, have fun, play the game and try to build this legacy I’m working on.” Plus, Haynesworth said he’s glad that a deal wasn’t worked out for him to stay with the Titans. He claimed that they dragged their feet during negotiations. “I’m kind of glad that we didn’t work something out because it was really time for me to go,” he said. “It was time for me to start from zero elsewhere.” Haynesworth also discussed the Titans’ tampering claims, denying there were any irregularities about his middle-of-the-night deal with the Redskins. “They want to get something out of it,” Haynesworth said of the Titans. “They want to get a draft pick. Now, they feel like they lost me, so they feel like they want to get a draft pick. . . . “The Redskins called at 12:15. The Giants called right after that. Actually, Tampa was the first team to call. Then, Atlanta called and the Denver Broncos called after that.” Haynesworth said that by nearly 2:00 a.m. EST the Redskins had made a formal offer to him.