ASHBURN – Mike Shanahan hoped it would change, wanted to coax Albert Haynesworth into doing more and accepting his role. But it never did. And Shanahan then said he felt as if he had no choice.
Which is why Shanahan suspended the former All-Pro defensive lineman Tuesday for the final four games of the regular season.
Of course, financial reasons could have played a factor. Had the Redskins cut Haynesworth and he went unclaimed off waivers by another team, they would have owed him next year’s base salary of approximately $5.3 million. Also, they can’t suspend him for more than four games without pay, according to the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement.
Still, for Shanahan, Tuesday’s move seemed to represent a sense of relief.
| Up next |
| Redskins vs. Bucs |
| When » Sunday, 1 p.m. |
| Where » FedEx Field, Landover |
| TV » Fox |
| Radio » 730 & 980 AM/92.7 & 94.3 FM/Sirius 127 |
“I was going to share the conversation Albert and I had,” Shanahan joked, “but since he wouldn’t talk to me I couldn’t share the conversation with you guys.”
Shanahan said he recalled a conversation with Haynesworth nearly a year ago, shortly after he was hired. Haynesworth, he said, complained about the 4-3 scheme last season.
“He didn’t like the base defense, didn’t like the nickel defense,” Shanahan said. “He didn’t want to play nose tackle or defensive end. He didn’t like first- and second-down nickel. He wanted to play nickel in passing situations. It was just time. I’ve never been quite through a situation like this before. We did it in the best interest of our team.”
Shanahan said he did not consult with owner Dan Snyder before making this move. He also said he had a good relationship with Haynesworth, saying it was never argumentative.
“But when someone dictates when they’ll go in and won’t go in, that was a little too much for me,” Shanahan said.
A lingering question is: What took so long? Haynesworth’s reputation, numerous people around the NFL have said, suggested he would not adhere to Shanahan’s wishes. That became evident when he skipped offseason workouts, including minicamp, and failed to pass the conditioning test last summer.
“You give it a chance to make it work,” he said, “especially with good players.”
The only question left is what will the Redskins do with Haynesworth in the offseason. It’s expected that they will try to trade Haynesworth. One NFL general manager said the Redskins likely would have to settle for a fourth-round pick, at best.
“There will be growing pains and mistakes along the way, but hopefully we’ll make enough right decisions where we can get this organization back to where it’s been,” Shanahan said.
Haynesworth remained a strong topic in the locker room, too — if only for one more day.
“There’s nobody like him in the league as far as being that big, that athletic, that powerful,” Redskins linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. “We’ll miss him in third-down situations.”
But the players know this once more signals that Shanahan is in charge.
“You knew from day one what his rules were,” Redskins cornerback Carlos Rogers said. “But Albert probably doesn’t care. They gave him $41 million. He probably doesn’t care.”
