The Washington Redskins still insist that Albert Haynesworth is not available to other teams via trade, but now that he’s begun skipping team activities and doesn’t appear ready to break anytime soon, they could start softening that stance.
He’s already received the bulk of his money from Danny Snyder and the ‘Skins, so he will have no problem with the fines that come from missing training camp or even the regular season. At this point, he’s become too much of a nuisance to keep around and it’s time the Redskins start shopping him.
When they do, their first call should be to the Minnesota Vikings. It’s looking like the Williams Wall will wind up having to serve a suspension from the StarCaps fallout, so the Vikings could use some help along that line.
Without Pat and Kevin, the Vikings would start Jimmy Kennedy and Fred Evans in their place. Both played well in the Vikings’ rotation, but neither is starting-caliber and the Vikings’ defense would struggle mightily because of it. A lot of the success Minnesota has had over the past couple seasons have been due in large part to dominant play from their defensive tackles — something they won’t get from a Kennedy-Evans duo.
So rather than risk putting the team at an enormous disadvantage for the first four weeks (if not longer), they should swing a trade for Haynesworth and cover their bases.
Haynesworth isn’t happy about the ‘Skins switch to the 3-4 and would love to play in the Vikings’ system. He would fill in for Kevin Williams, who is asked to shoot the gap and rush the passer on obvious passing downs, rather than eating up space like the Redskins would ask him to do.
Then, when the Wall returns, Haynesworth would become the third guy on a defensive line that does a lot of rotating anyway. And with Pat Williams reaching the end of his career, the Vikings would have a replacement ready to go rather than worrying about drafting a young guy with a high pick next season.
The ‘Skins are sick of Haynesworth and the Vikes could use a defensive tackle to help soften the blow of the StarCaps decision, so this would make a lot of sense for both teams if they can agree on a price.