The Redskins have thrown a lot of resources at their putrid offensive line from the last two years in a desperate attempt to make it seem not quite so awful this year.  Their efforts landed them G Kory Lichtensteiger and G-T Artis Hicks in free agency, and then T Trent Williams, G Erik Cook, and T Selvish Capers in the draft.  They they traded a pick or three for T Jamaal Brown.  If you're keeping track, that's six offensive lineman who weren't on the team next year, of which the team is likely to keep five for the season, which could be more than 50% of the entire line.

Change is much welcome to a unit that never really seemed to get any better...or even to be all that interested in a sustained improvement.  Out are the veterans who couldn't stay healthy (Chris Samuels retires, while Randy Thomas is likely to retire after being released), and who started this whole mess.  Also gone is Levi Jones, whose contract has expired after playing in just ten games with the Redskins.

Furthermore, the team pushed out...actually, that's it for players pushed out by the Redskins.  They got rid of three players, all veterans, one of whom a 6-time pro bowler who retired, most recently making the pro bowl way back in 2008.  Everyone else is back.  Casey Rabach and Mike Williams both contributed to the line's struggles last year, but at least offered the saving grace of expired contracts.  They've been extended, each for three...more...years.

Despite the change to the roster, this is pretty much the same interior group that played last year: it's going to be Derrick Dockery, Casey Rabach, and Mike Williams in the middle of the line.  Dockery and Rabach work well together, at least, though neither is as valuable as was Pete Kendall just two years ago.  Williams offers some upside at guard: he's only 29 and was at one point considered to be an elite LT coming out of college -- it's still possible he takes to the Right Guard position and dominates like he was always supposed to.  But overall, that's just not very good on the interior.  Dallas probably has the best interior OL in the division, but what the Redskins offer isn't even comparable to the three guys on the interior of the New York Giants line.

Where the Redskins make up their ground on the NFC East, and the rest of the conference, is at the tackle position, where there just aren't very many good offensive tackles.  The Redskins should have great confidence that between Doug Free, Jason Peters, and David Diehl, it's not going to take Trent Williams long to establish himself as the premier LT in the division.  And at right tackle, where the Redskins had been starting Stephon Heyer, there is now no discernible advantage for any of the four teams between Kareem McKenzie, Marc Columbo, Winston Justice, and Brown.  That might sound a little like I'm underselling Brown, but that's a huge improvement to cut down that gap at RT between the Redskins and the NFC East to meaningless: one that probably makes another 0-6 record against division opponents unrealistic based on the similarities in the roster.

Position by position -- or how most fans try to compare offensive lines -- the Redskins don't appear to stack up well against the rest of the NFC East.  However, offensive lines tend to function more as units than as a group of individuals, which is what makes player evaluation so difficult for the untrained eye.  For every person who thinks, on paper, that Jamaal Brown is a better player than Kareem McKenzie because he has played in more pro bowls; ignoring, of course, that the pro bowl honor is biased towards the left tackles in a high powered offense, is failing to understand the evaluation of single players.  But evaluating offensive lines is so much more than knowing that "the Giants have better players, so they have the better unit".  Injuries disproportionately affect the quality of offensive lines versus other positions.  So when you have a heavily injured OL unit, you don't just lose the talented first stringers.  You lose the talented first stringer that gets hurt AND the combined value of his relationship with both of his linemates on either side.

If Randy Thomas gets hurt in Week 1 (imagine that), the Redskins have to replace Thomas with Will Montgomery, a large downgrade in skill, they also lose all the accrued value that Thomas has with Rabach and that Thomas has with Stephon Heyer in working the same blocking scheme.  Montgomery has none of that.  If he had, instead, gone through the whole offseason as the starting RG, he would have had value with Casey Rabach and value with Stephon Heyer, despite a lack of talent.  This is a big principle that Vinny Cerrato was leaning on when he built the lines the last two years: if less-than-talented players can stay healthy and play together, he can get more out of the whole than the sum of its parts.  When Thomas got hurt early, those ideas were brought into question.  When Samuels got hurt, they were crushed.  When Joe Bugel and Jim Zorn failed to agree on a starting RG...well, the offense never did find it's stride.

By getting rid of their oft-injured linemen, the Redskins decrease their terrible OL attrition rate, and give themselves a better chance to outperform teams in their division over the course of the year.  Derrick Dockery and Casey Rabach are hardly ever hurt, no matter how much each struggles individually.  Jammal Brown misses games but he also has multiple 16 game seasons in his career.  Trent Williams was a college workhorse.  Mike Williams is the wild card here, of course, but he might lose his job to Artis Hicks.

Based on this, even though they hardly have the most talented offensive line, they have a durable one, and have invested enough in improvements for this year to really make a difference in the hierarchy of NFC East offensive lines.  To be ranked number one in the division at year's end is something that probably won't be achieved.  It's much more likely, however, than just a year ago.

There will be incremental improvement in the offensive line -- and at least the opportunity to be very, very good.

Today's column by Washington Post sportswriter Mike Wise points to a statistic you won't read on sports pages:

"...78 percent of all NFL players go bankrupt or are in financial duress just two years into retirement."

Whoa! That's the kind of thing you expect to hear about boxers. Don't NFL guys go to college (classes)?

Wise says that Joe Gibbs quietly returned to Redskins Park last month to coach a few players on money management and financial savvy. It's like Gibbs to do that sort of thing. And the need is so great.

Wise points out that Albert Haynesworth is the target of several lawsuits. Mark Brunell filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after investments went bad. Gibbs himself faced a similar situation in 1981when he naively allowed others to commit him to bad business obligations. He was too busy trying to win Super Bowls. Read Wise's story at washingtonpost.com.

Here at Redskins Hog Heaven, we spend a lot of time in thoughtful analysis about this team. Today we're just pointing out that NFL teams are no different than other large employers who make their bucks through a talent-rich workforce. The Redskins failings in the Snyder era rise from poor organizational management. This may be one thing they are getting right.

It's hard to find good help these days. It's more costly to replace elite talent than to keep it. Whether you are a football team or consulting firm, when your high revenue players face trouble, you try to help them before you think about firing them. That's a pure business calculation.

That's why Albert Haynesworth is still here, though I'm not sure he wants to be helped. (No, he was not at the Gibbs sessions.)

It's why the Washington Redskins are taking a chance with Larry Johnson who was every bit as disruptive to the Kansas City Chiefs last season as Haynesworth is now. Hey, General McChrystal was fired for making similar comments about his civilian bosses as Johnson's did about his KC coaches. Both McChrystal and Johnson suffered similar fates.

Brandon Lloyd was an untalented diva. It was worth giving him two seasons to make a go of it in Washington. Clinton Portis was a talented diva; "was" being the operative word, we hope.

Employees are going to mess up. If they are worth keeping, they are worth helping, whether it's for money management skills, or for a life out of control.

That's just good management.

[hype]

Don Coryell, 85, one of the bright minds of modern football offense, passed away. Tributes about him will mention the mentor relationship he enjoyed with Joe Gibbs. Few will mention how deeply Coryell's coaching tree was embedded in the Washington Redskins' DNA until purged by Daniel Snyder in 2008. Fewer still will mention that Coryell was a menace to the Redskins before he was our friend.

The NFL Beast owes its reputation as much to Coryell as to George Allen and Tom Landry. Allen was one of the few coaches who never had a losing season while with Washington. Yet Allen's Over-The-Hill-Gang won but one uncontested division title. Coryell made the contest an annual three-way race between the Redskins, Cowboys and the once woeful St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis took the division in 1974 and 1975.

The '74 Cardinals and Redskins finished 10-4. Coryell swept Allen that year so the Cards took the title. Allen and Coryell split their series in '75. The Cardinals finished the year atop the Beast at 11-3. Washington finished at 8-6 for division third place.

Escaping notice in the brouhaha were Coryell assistants Joe Gibbs, offensive backfield coach, and Jim Hanifan, offensive line coach. As offensive backfield coach, Gibbs mentored Terry Metcalf who ended his pro career in Washington in 1981, Gibbs first year as head coach.

A loss to the Redskins ended the Cardinals 1977 playoff hopes and Coryell's tenure in St. Louis. Gibbs spent time in purgatory as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There he tried to run Coryell's offense without Coryell's players.

Head coach John McKay dispatched Gibbs to scout a bright quarterback prospect from Grambling University. Gibbs did so and returned raving about the guy, Doug Williams. Tampa Bay broke the color line when they drafted Williams as quarterback in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft.

Williams made things better for the Buccaneers, but Tampa was still Tampa. Under pressure, McKay decided to call the Bucs' offensive plays for the 1978 season. Gibbs moved on the offensive coordinator for Coryell and the San Diego Chargers.

Air Coryell reached high art form with the Chargers. And it brought Joe Gibbs to Jack Kent Cooke's attention when The Squire went coach-shopping after firing Jack Pardee in 1980. Al Saunders replaced Gibbs as OC for the Chargers when Gibbs took the Redskins job.

Big armed Doug Williams was the hero of the 1988 Super Bowl. Jim Hanifan was the Redskins offensive line coach for the 1991 Super Bowl year when The Hogs O-line reached their highest level of performance.

When Gibbs stepped down from coaching in 1992, Cooke sought to duplicate the Gibbs magic by hiring Coryell disciple Norv Turner.

Turner inherited an aging team with salary cap problems and an ownership in turmoil after old Jack's death in 1997. Washington's top draft picks, Heath Schuler, Desmond Howard, Michael Westbrook, who looked so good on paper were never equal to the Down Field Offense Turner tried to run.

Gibbs returned in 2004. His wide receivers, Laveranues Coles and Rod Gardner, balked at Gibbs' offensive concepts. They thought it was too ground-oriented for a Down Field Offense. (Where do players get off criticizing coaching schemes?) Gibbs brought in Al Saunders hoping for the scortching offense Saunders ran in San Diego and Kansas City. He never let Saunders fully open his playbook.

Dan Snyder fired Saunders as soon as Gibbs stepped down after the 2007 season. That ended the 26 year influence of the Coryell system in Washington.

Redskins Hog Heaven offers our condolences to the Coryell family.

Point After: Read about Don Coryell's influence on Joe Gibbs in my 2006 story Joe Gibbs' Coaching Pedigree. 

[hype]

Knowing that the team is woefully incomplete, especially at wide receiver, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the Redskins are one of three teams sniffing around WR Vincent Jackson.  Jackson, who is a free agent, is tied at the hip to a Chargers team that has been slow to pay him by his restricted designation: it is past the deadline to accept offers from around the league.  Jackson can only sign his RFA tender with the Chargers or sign a long-term contract with the Chargers.  Jackson, who wants a long-term deal, isn't finding what he wants in San Diego, so he's holding off on signing his tender -- possibly into the season.

Strangely, the Chargers seem more willing to work with other teams at hammering out compensation than they are willing to work out a deal with Jackson.  According to Schefter, the Chargers are still asking for a 1st round pick and a 3rd round pick to trade Jackson.  They're not going to get that, as a team could have signed Jackson to a deal prior to the 2010 NFL Draft, given up the same compensation, and they wouldn't have to go through the Chargers.  Jackson is probably worth more than a first round pick -- he's just 27, but the Chargers might need to drop their asking price to a first round pick (or equivelent value) just to find a trade partner.

When the Chargers drop the price tag on Jackson, I hope the Redskins get involved.  He's exactly what this team needs.  But the Redskins need to lean toward creativity in coming up with a suitable trade package, rather than just loading up on picks to send over to San Diego in exchange for Jackson.  It's the team's top two 2011 draft picks that are more important than any player on the team right now, and can't be dealt as part of a Jackson trade.

Here's how I would approach this: I would start my package for Jackson with a 2012 first round pick, which gives the Chargers the future value that they require in a trade, but doesn't kill the flexibility the Redskins absolutely need in next year's draft.  Right now, the Redskins hold 2 picks in the first 130 and are unlikely to receive additional picks.  The last thing the Redskins should be doing is forcing themselves into a single player in those rounds -- those two rounds are the surest things of all the draft rounds, and so the price tag on a player like Jackson needs to be wary of this.

The Skins can try to leverage the fact that while they are receiving a top talent, they are also are solving a problem for the Chargers with Jackson's contract issue, a fan base that is tiring of some off the field transgressions, and a looming 4 game suspension, and that there's a limited amount of suitors for a guy who is under team control this year, and has that baggage.

There are two things I've heard about a potential deal that would send Jackson to the Redskins.  The first, a news item, is that Jackson has been working out with Donovan McNabb at his camp in Arizona, which is probably the things that's fueling these rumors: these guys know each other.  Shanahan knows Jackson from his AFC West days.  The Redskins are sniffing around receivers of all sorts, and this deal just makes a bunch of sense for them.  This workout thing placing Jackson with the quarterback of the Redskins in the middle of the offseason is pretty benign, but because Jackson doesn't have a contract to tamper with, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that this meeting could have been both intentional and a precursor to a  transaction.  It's got no meaning to those who don't like a good conspiracy, it's actually just convienient.

That's one thing.  The other thing to keep in mind here is that San Diego plays a 30 front, meaning they will not be dabbling around one Albert Haynesworth.  Seemingly, that would limit the players that they would be interested in to recent Redskins draft picks, including a swap that sends a 2012 pick and Carlos Rogers or LaRon Landry, or possibly someone like Chris Horton or HB Blades on the defensive end, where the Chargers need the help.  You'd also like to offer the Chargers their pick of Malcolm Kelly or Devin Thomas in the deal, because they probably would not want to pay Santana Moss.

Those would be some creative trades, but Mike Shanahan has done better.  You probably remember that Jay Cutler was the 11th pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, after the Broncos entered that draft with two first round picks (one of which from the Redskins).  You might not remember that the Broncos didn't have to move the pick they received from the Redskins to move up.  Instead, they finagled a trade up from their own late draft pick 29th in the John Abraham trade -- even though they never traded, nor received John Abraham.  The Broncos played the intermediary party in a three way trade, giving up a second and a third rounder to go up about 15 picks in that round, putting them in position to get a quarterback they coveted.

In this case, a three way trade would allow the Redskins to move Albert Haynesworth in a trade that nets Vincent Jackson.  Although I wrote recently that Haynesworth wouldn't be traded because its not in the interest of the Redskins to move him, that trade value is relative.  If a team like Oakland or Seattle decides that they are better off with Haynesworth than a draft pick, they could opt to send that pick (or two) to San Diego in addition to a pick the Redskins throw in, in order to land Haynesworth in their 40 front.  Haynesworth's contract is a great incentive for those west coast teams to make that deal because the Redskins would be selling him at a major discount because of the timing: they are probably better off with Jackson than Haynesworth from a football standpoint, even though they are much better off with Albert than without him from the same perspective.  So the Redskins sell a really good contract at a discount, a team that's looking to get back to the postseason buys on him, and the Chargers receive multiple picks for a player they don't want to throw a long term contract.

It's that universal benefit principle that gives that rumor some legs, but the Redskins would have to find a suitor for Haynesworth, who is willing to grab a great contract, understanding that they need to accept the risk that Haynesworth comes in out of shape.

If the Redskins can pull Jackson from the Chargers, the effort put into making the trade would be well rewarded, but the team's past deals for far lesser veterans makes it difficult to again meet a rival's asking price for draft compensation.  It's unfortunate that the line needs to be drawn on a really good player like Jackson, but if the Chargers won't work with the Redskins to send him outside of the conference, the Redskins can't afford to make McNabb to Jackson any more than an offseason reality.

So you think you have problems? Consider poor Albert Haynesworth.

Divorced in January, his ex is back in court demanding more money. The former Mrs. Haynesworth's return to court may or may not be related to accusations by exotic dancer Silvia Mena that she is pregnant by Haynesworth and that she taped an embarrassing conversation with Fat Al wherein he says what many men say when they don't want to be daddies.

Ms. Mena has a paternity case against Haynesworth.

She'll have to stand in line. A Tennessee man, Corey Edmonson, says he is disabled as the result of an automobile accident last December when he says Haynesworth dove "like a maniac" to force him off the interstate and into a concrete median. He is suing Haynesworth for $7 million.

A Tennessee bank is suing Haynesworth for repayment of a $2.4 million commercial loan.

Irate Washington Redskin fans see this legal litany as proof that Haynesworth is out of control. They want the Redskins to dump him.

Most Hog Heaven readers are younger than I. So. I'll tell you a secret. At some point, we will all be in Haynesworth's boat. Not of the same scale as Fat Albert's vessel of misfortune, but big enough to make idiotic career decisions.

Speaking as a man with a little more, ah, seasoning, I can see that what Haynesworth needs is a lifeline.

Often that the lifeline comes from the employer. I've not worked for a small company, but the large employers I know of offer such help through their benefits package for anything from advice about aging parents to emotional problems, including addiction. They do that to keep talented workers productive.

Helping such workers is less costly that replacing them and can strengthen ties between man and company.

The Washington Redskins are a sports team, but they are a business too, with a well compensated professional workforce. What they do with Fat Albert reverberates through the locker room. Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan have to think through all the ramifications of their dealings with Haynesworth. Here are two management points to consider:

First, don't reward the behavior by trading him. Employees take note and wiil repeat what they see others do.

Other teams already think the Skins are over a barrel. They have to wonder how they would motivate Haynesworth. Money won't do it. As more and more teams move to the 3-4 defense, fewer and fewer teams will bid for his services. There is no value coming to the Redskins for Big Al.

Second, the Redskins defense is better off with Haynesworth than without him. Washington already smothers opponents. The defense does not disrupt them. They are less likely to be disruptive without Big Al.

Haynesworth is better off in Washington than elsewhere. For one thing, he cuts himself off from teams that will move to the 3-4. And that could be any new team he signs with. My writing partner Greg Trippiedi pointed out already that Haynesworth is will prolong his career by playing in the 3-4.

So everybody take a chill pill and calm down. Somebody give Fat Albert the number to Washington's equilivent of the 1-800 NURSE Line.

Editor's Note: This 3,500 word monstrosity was written a week ago, and got eaten in a Bloguin server migration.  It's resurrected thanks to the work of the fine folks at Google.  Hopefully, you'll find it was worth saving.  I can't promise anything.

*******

The Redskins have dealt what amounts to a mid-round draft choice to the Saints for OT Jamaal Brown, a two time pro bowler in his first four NFL seasons.  The obvious: the Saints had little use for Brown, and were only going to be able to keep him in the fold for just one more season at reasonable dollar.  It's a hard task to ask a team to take a guy who was on IR all of last season and move him back into the left tackle spot for a year until he leaves to be a tackle elsewhere.  Outside of just not making a whole lot of sense in building and sustaining a top offense, he goes in and blocks young guys like 4th year left tackle Jermon Bushrod and second round rookie Charles Brown (no relation), which isn't good for anyone involved.

It's because the Saints had to move Brown that I really don't like the price the Redskins paid, essentially insuring that they will not pick in either the 3rd or 4th round in the 2011 draft, giving up one of those mid-round picks to the Eagles as the final compensation in the McNabb deal (which is unfortunate, of course, that the Eagles were able to squeeze as much out of that deal as they did), and now the other for Jamaal Brown.  There will be plenty of opportunity with two picks in the first two rounds to add some blue chippers to this offense, but it's almost certain that next year's Redskins draft will lack depth.  That could have been avoided if they drove down the price on Brown to the late rounds.

Of course, a report surfaced after the trade that the Dallas Cowboys had been in on trade talks for Jamaal Brown as well.  Faced with the ability to wait out the Saints for a lower price, they might have been risking their ability to land their man, and keep him out of Dallas.  This is a play that the Redskins didn't feel like making, and so if the statement here is that they aren't willing to play value games when it comes to their offensive line, I say: good for you, ShanAllen.

The other side of the coin is that whenever the Redskins are involved in a trade, going back past the Vinny Cerrato/Jim Zorn days, through the second Joe Gibbs era, and really back into Cerrato/Spurrier, the Redskins have never been able to get fair value out of any of their trades.  Brown, a player who the Saints would have been thrilled with landing just a fifth round pick for his rights, turned into potentially a third and a sixth (minus a fifth).  Great timing on the part of the Saints to get that price, and while it's difficult to be thrilled about paying more than the Saints were hoping to get for a tackle, this is a trade that the Redskins NEEDED to make to give themselves a shot this year.

One of my big problems with the Donovan McNabb trade was that it was an exercise in pure excess.  There was absolutely no necessity in Washington to do anything with the quarterback position, and even if the Shanahans had decided that ultimately, Jason Campbell could not be the man to lead Washington into the future, trading for a guy with a very similar skill set, a lengthy injury history, and at an age where any season in the future could be the one where he falls hard and costs his team the postseason, certainly, is a questionable acquisition for a player who's best assets are his plus intangibles and his previous track record of successes.  The main reason for Jason Campbell's failures were purely tangible: accuracy, footwork inside the pocket, and really, really awful teammates (good people, by all reports).  By saying that this trade was an exercise in excess, I'm pointing out that if the Shanahan's thought that there's no way that a player of Jason Campbell's skill set could learn to execute in their system, then McNabb with a pretty similar set of abilities figures to struggle as well.  Thus, a second round pick for a nominal upgrade (until the inevitable age decline) seems ridiculous.

I like the Jamaal Brown trade because of reasons to the contrary.  After throwing an early pick and a mid round pick at a division rival for a QB that they had tired on, the Redskins got Jamaal Brown for reasons of necessity.  The Redskins have made some really terrible trades for reasons of excess: T.J. Duckett, Brandon Lloyd, and Jason Taylor among them.  But with Brown, the Redskins were certainly headed into the 2010 season with either a 31 year old Guard handling right tackle, or returning Stephon Heyer to the position after a year that ended disasterously for the 25 year old.  Neither option was very ideal for a team that considers itself ready to compete: the Redskins simply couldn't afford to throw the kind of one on one responsibility on Trent Williams that they might have to with that lineup.

Getting Brown to play the right tackle position takes a whole lot of unnecessary pressure off of Trent Williams' development, which is the best part.  It would have been a bad trade if the Redskins had opted to move Brown to LT and delay Trent Williams from taking his rightful spot in Chris Samuels' shoes, but it appears that was never the plan.  Despite two pro bowl nominations, Jamaal Brown has been a pretty weak pass protector for most of his career.  In New Orleans he was asked to go one on one against the best pass rushers in the league.  Someone has to do that job on every successful team, and Brown worked to meet the challenge, although his performance never really met the expectations for a pro bowl tackle.  He was not Walter Jones, Orlando Pace, Jason Peters, or Chris Samuels in there.  He was more along the likes of Bryant McKinnie, Chad Clifton, or David Diehl in that, when at his best, he's not hurting you at a premium position, and is eating snaps so that you don't have to get someone else to do his job.

Brown has always been strong in the run-oriented aspects of blocking, with his quickness as his best ability.  That should translate very well to the right side of the field.  The Redskins are gambling just a bit that he will be able to improve his pass protection going over to the right side and facing the opponent's second best rusher for 80% of his snaps, but I don't see any reason to think that they'll be wrong on this: Brown will probably have his best pass blocking season yet due to a reduced level of competition on the rush.  Of course, the flip side of that coin is that the amount of quality second rushers in the NFL today is at an all time high, and the need for having two "left tackles" who can both protect the QB was evident in Redskins games all of last season.

Which, of course, is just another reason to like the initive shown here by the Redskins.  You can win with a crappy offensive line, if, you know, your defense can put some points on the board for you and dominate the opponent, but the Redskins have tried that formula for the last two years, and it's gotten them to 12-20.  It's time to try something new, and get with the current era, which is big passing, and spectacular pass defense.  Now that you have a vertical quarterback, and want to flex your muscle with two receivers who you drafted and think can do nice things in this offense and two playmaking tight ends who should both be starters in your fantasy league this year, there is some upside in the passing game, but there's always been that upside.  To make big passing numbers a reality, the Redskins had to get serious with their offensive line.  Trent Williams was the big first step, but left alone as the last step, he by himself would have been inadequate.  Now you add Jamaal Brown to the mix, and this pair of tackles is one that you can count on to compete every week, in the running game, the play action game, on screen plays, and even on longer passes, staple NFL plays that had long been called as a shot-in-the-dark in Washington.

Adequacy is the key here.  This is a team that still starts the mediocre Derrick Dockery at LG, has an open competition at RG between a reclamation project, a utility backup, and a young player coming off a broken leg, and will move forward at C with one of the few interior players in the league to survive so many treadmarks from the feet of NFL defensive tackles.  That's not a very good interior line.  You'd be hard pressed to find a weaker one elsewhere in the NFL.  But, with the tackle situation seemingly decided for 2010, it's going to offer a fighting chance.  The next frontier of pass rushing is exploiting those interior matchups, so the Redskins won't have very many years to turn that weakness into a strength -- they'll just have to be thankful that they have at least one more offseason.

Also, for a moment, we'll consider the alternatives to meeting the price the Saints wanted for Jamaal Brown in June.  There are four options the Redskins had at RT: stick with the status quo, promote from within, sign a free agent, or trade for a player.

• Status Quo: Artis Hicks
• Promote from Within: Stephon Heyer or Selvish Capers

None of those options offer much in way of adequacy.  If there wasn't any pressure to win in 2010, promoting a younger player would have had its potential benefits, but with the McNabb trade, the Redskins had sort of forced their own hand: they would have been scrutinized a lot more for playing an unready tackle ahead of a veteran than the will if the veteran went in and struggled.  This could have been avoided by a liberal usage of the term "rebuilding", but to their credit, Redskins decision makers have never once stepped down that road.

The Tackle Trade Market

Not much.  The Bears are probably willing to part with vet Kevin Shaffer for the right price, the Vikings would probably not be too sad to trade Bryant McKinnie.  Some think Marcus McNeil is available from the Chargers, but 1) that's hearsay, and 2) he would command a premium price and a big contract.  The Bucs aren't married to Donald Penn, who himself was a Bruce Allen acquisition.  The Raiders would trade Khalif Barnes for a cup of milk.  The Browns don't have a lot of use for John St. Clair anymore.  The Patriots, who love to trade, would be willing to sell off Nick Kazcur for a price similar to what the Redskins gave up for Brown, while Matt Light would probably be had for a second round draft choice.  The Colts seem to be done with Tony Ugoh as a LT, and he could be a nice pickup for a team willing to work with him.  You already know about Ravens T Jared Gaither, who the Redskins were sniffing around during the draft.

Okay, so that's a lot.  But many of those options are either a lot more expensive than it would have made sense to pay for, or would have brought players that are nowhere near as skilled as Brown.  I think Gaither or Ugoh (alone) would have been more inspired acquisitions, but if the price wasn't right, I would have critiqued those moves as well.  Additionally, any player that I'm giving up as much as a second round pick for is going to get a long term contract, so Brown comes at a cheaper price and doesn't lock in the Redskins to his performance should he struggle in his role this season.

The Free Agent Wire at a Glance

According to records I have meticulously kept since February, the following free agent offensive linemen would not be out of place in an NFL starting lineup this year:

With the exception of Andrews' youth and upside (given time to get his life straightened out, of course), that's a very old group, especially so at the edges and the center position where the Redskins are the weakest.  For all the complaints one may have about Jamaal Brown as a player, he is head and shoulders above all those players in present value and once you accept that it costs draft pick compensation to acquire him, he's not even a more expensive player than any of those replacement starters.

If you're going to bother to make an investment for 2010 in a tackle that your organization didn't develop, doesn't it make the most sense to go get someone worth your time?  At the offensive tackle position, that would be my philosophy.  The Saints could trade Jamaal Brown because they weren't invested in him at all after winning the super bowl without him.  The Redskins, who only had one tackle instead of three, made a move to get a second quality tackle, which couldn't have been done with a free agent stopgap.

Other players who might be able to help

Ignoring the line for just a second, would the free agent market offer help at other positions?  Here's a quick look at the best available players at all positions according to my spreadsheets:

The name that sticks out right away is Brian Westbrook, who still could be a Redskin if they can agree on money and (probably more significantly) length of contract.  I'm predicting that will get done.

Keith Bulluck would be an inside linebacker in this defense.  His signing would displace either Jeremy Jarmon, HB Blades, or Chris Wilson, all of whom are quality young players.  The Redskins could probably squeeze ten LBs on this roster in order to have their cake (young players) and eat it too (a year of Bulluck), displacing only Chris Draft in the process, but doing so would mean that there's almost no point to keeping Rocky McIntosh with the team.  Hey, if the Saints would take McIntosh for an offensive player, the Redskins might become interested in Keith Bulluck.  To date, they have shown no interest.

Adailus Thomas is a player that many fans thought could find a home with the Redskins, but unless they want to move him inside (which creates the same issue as Bulluck), they have no role for him on this team with Orakpo, Carter, and Lorenzo Alexander all figuring to play ahead of him on the depth chart, and then having to move either Chris Wilson or Jarmon to make room for him.  Frankly, his play just hasn't been good enough to justify the age increase.

Mawae is old, declining, and well, better than Rabach by a lot.  Still, bringing him in makes very little sense unless Rabach is outright released because at least you can expect Casey to go in there and give you 16 games.  If you can get 12 out of Mawae, that's a pretty fortunate year.  Center would still be a weakness with Mawae in there, if just at times.

Brad Hoover is probably better than Mike Sellers at this point, but he's not versed in the Shanahan offense, and thus such a move (with Sellers in camp all spring) wouldn't make sense.  More interesting is Terrell Owens, who has certainly postured himself to join the Redskins all offseason.  The Redskins have not returned his advances.  Owens is, by far, the best available free agent WR remaining, but the team could have signed Josh Reed just two weeks ago on a short term basis, and opted against the help.  Don't get me wrong, they're worried about the position, but Owens wouldn't fix that.

Antonio Pierce isn't going to return to Washington under most reasonable circumstances, and I'm not sure why the Redskins would want him anyway.  Their plan at LB appears to be pretty much settled.  Finally, Chris Hovan played for four years under Bruce Allen in Tampa, and so links to the Redskins would be pretty much inevitable.  Hovan hasn't ever played 3-4 end in his career, but with the defense taking over the entire league slowly, now would be a pretty good time to learn.  I don't think Hovan will come here, however, and I'm perfectly happy with the Vonnie Holliday pickup.

The Big Wrap-Up

There's a lot of reasons to like the move to get Jamaal Brown in the fold for the Redskins, not the least of which is that the Redskins are now a better team than they were at minicamp last week.  RT was the team's biggest weakness, and now it's a relative strength.  The Redskins are going to get more value out of one season of Jamaal Brown than they will get from the expected early career value of the standard-level fourth round draft choice...about a win by my count.  The Redskins could have waited to get a better price, but that would have come at the risk of losing a deal that really helps the team, and I do not fault the team for not playing the Saints game w/Dallas.  There could be more trades in the works with some nice pieces in free agency still available, but if the Redskins happened to sit on their current roster, they could really do some things in the passing game with the current offense (I'm estatic that Cooley is learning to run all of the receiver positions in the offense), and that's thanks to a pair of offensive tackles who can be expected to win their one on one match-ups...the same match-ups the Redskins lost (almost) every game last year.

The next step: get Silverback signed.

This post is about Albert Haynesworth, but it's really isn't about Haynesworth.  I still think -- and hope -- that Albert can be an important cog on our defensive line this season, but to do that, he'd have to be willing to take a percentage of his snaps at nose tackle and do so with a controlled dominance.  I think he'll line up there and execute his assignment if asked, but the first rule of being a dominant player is that you really have to buy into the idea of your own dominance.  No one except Albert can prevent him from taking his disgust out to the field with him, and if he does, it's hard to see him dominanting.

Keep in mind that Albert's now 29 years old and has been a dominant defensive tackle for three consecutive seasons.  One of the reasons I like the idea of him playing nose so much is that he's bound to decline dramaticly as an individual player by virtue of where he is at this point.  At nose tackle, he would line up against significantly smaller players and draw double teams (which, contrary to belief, he doesn't draw many of as a 3-technique).  His decline would be less meaningful there.  What was originally the biggest danger about signing Haynesworth -- that you were getting a dominant but eventually declining player with an inflated sense of self -- now seems like a small problem compared to the malcontent he currently is over much less tangible reasons.

The Albert Haynesworth story runs deeper (or perhaps shallower) than the media is reporting, per a source.  Haynesworth's main beef, I'm told, is not with the Redskins, their scheme, or his teammates or coaches.  The issues that are truly causing the divide are two fold: pride, and authority.  Mike Shanahan came in to a really ugly situation, and established his authority immediately by flexing his muscle as head coach.  This meant that at Redskins Park, it's Mike's way, or the highway.  He told Albert as much in their February meeting, the last time the two have seen each other.  Haynesworth doesn't seem to be against the idea of playing for Mike Shanahan, but both men have great senses of entitlement.  Haynesworth is aware that, if it had been his decision, Shanahan would never have signed him.  Haynesworth says he wouldn't have signed with the Redskins if he had known they have gone through these changes after one season.  Both sides have very understandable positions.

Where this situation gets a little bit ugly, and very, very stupid and petty is when the coach and the pro athlete start playing their games with each other.  Haynesworth informs Shanahan that he's going to work out on his own away from the team.  Reasonable.  Shanahan is disappointed, but "respects the decision." Again, reasonable.  Knowing he has no play, Shanahan schedules Albert's physical with the team at the first mandatory minicamp for 6:30 AM.  A bit petty, in my opinion.  The big one: Haynesworth is bumped down to second string on the depth chart -- a slap across the face, though not an uncommon coaching technique.  Haynesworth opts to pay the fine -- missing the minicamp -- rather than Shanahan's little game, and his agent formally requests a trade.  Incredibly petty.

What's happened here is that the coach and the player are locked in a small power struggle that is obscuring the facts of a) the player getting a $21 million dollar bonus to play for the coach this year, and b) the coach needs the beef on the d-line, since you know, the coach has a reputation of being unable to field quality defenses.  Romeo and Juliet these two are not.

Media reports would have yout think this situation is going to get uglier before it gets better, but I really don't see how it's going to.  Haynesworth is going to report to training camp as a second string defensive lineman, and that much should take care of the rift he's created with his teammates.  He'll have to mend fences to get on the field, back into the starting lineup.  At the conclusion of the 2010 season, both the player and the team have buyout options on the contract, so if the drama continues, the player won't be here in 2011.

Of course, he will play here in 2010.  The fact that he's still on the team is rock solid evidence of at much.

Haynesworth has pocketed more than 70% of the guaranteed money in his deal already, leaving just the remaining $9 million for any team that trades for him to pay.  That's a crazy expensive 16 games, you know.  For a team to acquire what would be a practical 3 years of Albert Haynesworth for just $16 million total plus three seperate "option" years in 2013-2015 -- that contract is the greatest asset in professional sports.  You see, the Redskins HAVE that asset.  The percieved value of that asset, according to 2009 market value, is $32 million minus his playing salary for 2009, which we can estimate as the franchise tender for a DT, or about $8 million dollars.  The contract itself might be worth close to $25 million dollars.

I'll say: if I'm going to sell off that contract prior to this year, I'm trying to get at least a first round pick out of it.  If the Redskins were actually willing to take a fourth round pick for that contract, it wouldn't have taken 2+ weeks to find a suitor.  It would have taken, at most, 10 minutes.  The Redskins are not interested in dealing their best contractual asset for a mid round pick, apparently.

At the current moment, I would be willing to take a second round pick for Albert Haynesworth: give up some value to be rid of the headache.  But it's possible he's not on the trading block at all.  Which brings me to the real meat of the post: without Haynesworth, the Redskins defensive line is in some trouble.

It's important to understand the role of defensive lineman in the 3-4.  The 3-4 works best when it's best players are the linebackers.  Between Carter, Orakpo, and Fletcher, and even Lorenzo Alexander, the Redskins certainly qualify.  This means that the defensive line is accepted, if not encouraged, to play second fiddle.

But sacks for 3-4 defensive ends are creeping up into league leader territory as more teams adapt this defense.  I don't really know whether they should be characterized as "edge rushers" (probably not), but each good 3-4 defense seems to have one do-it-all end who can defend the run and rush the passer.  Perhaps Phillip Daniels, Adam Carriker, or Vonnie Holliday can perform in this role (Holliday did last year, at least), but when the league leaders in 2009 from the DE position are Randy Starks, Calais Campbell, Trevor Pryce (yes, Trevor Pryce), Shaun Ellis, and Justin Smith, Daniels does seem a bit out of place there.  Haynesworth, on the other hand, seems like the trendsetter if added to that group.  He would certainly have more sack opportunties than last year, and I think even he knows that.

Now, more Haynesworth pass rushing opportunties from the 3-4 end would mean that Orakpo and Carter would have to play more coverage, and McIntosh/Fletcher do more interior rushing, which might not be the best use of the linebackers, but when you have a player like Albert, you can make an exception.  Especially if he draws the tight end in pass protection.

Without Haynesworth, the headliners on the defensive line are Ma'ake Kemoeatu and Adam Carriker, and the role players are Kedric Golston, Phillip Daniels, Vonnie Holliday, and then either Howard Green or Anthony Bryant at backup nose, with appearances by Darrion Scott.  Six of those eight players weren't on the Redskins last year.  Three weren't on an active roster.  Daniels, of course, who is one of the two that played for the Redskins, missed all of 2008 with a knee injury.  Kemoeatu and Carriker both missed 2009 with injuries.  If, at some point, the starting defensive line against the Eagles is DE Golston/DT Green/DE Holliday, because the team couldn't sort out it's differences with Haynesworth, my scorn will not be nearly enough to properly deal with management.

Leadership is an important quality on a football team.  It is something the Redskins have plenty of, and Haynesworth has none of.  But Haynesworth does have something that the Redskins absolutely lack, and that's durability on the interior.  While I honestly think Haynesworth would be best utilized as a nose tackle, the Redskins need that quality end even more (because, ulitmately, if Greg Blache knew anything about anything, it's that Kedric Golston was a nose tackle in a defensive ends body).  With Golston and Kemo competiting at nose, that's not where Haynesworth is going to play.  A Carriker-Haynesworth-Daniels-Holliday DE rotation is particulary ideal, and would keep all bodies healthy for much longer.

The reason this post is about Haynesworth but not really about him is because the Redskins have to do something about their D-Line while they play their games with him, and Albert responds by being a giant pain in the ass.  What the team really needs up front is a dominant player like Haynesworth, however, the team appears too prideful to admit this.  And for all of Haynesworth's dominance and percieved value, if he tries to stay in the 4-3 to finsih his career, he's going to find himself more injury prone and less dominant year after year.  Because the 3-4 changes his role, it changes how success is measured, and makes it more obtainable as he ages.

Albert doesn't want change because he still fancies himself a premier player.  And he is.  Until he wakes up one November morning and just doesn't have the same dominant abilities he used to.  If he's playing in a team-oriented 3-4, he can adjust by tuning down the freelansing a bit and helping to free up his younger, more athletic teammates.  And he can make that adjustment without telling anyone anything.  In the 4-3, if he starts getting beaten off the ball by smaller, younger, more eager opponents, he's hurting both his own ego, and himself.  There's no freeing up opponents for a three-technique: it's you against the man across from you.  You need to win that battle.

Teamwork is what might very well extend the career of Albert Haynesworth, but all the teamwork in the world can't turn a Haynesworth-less Redskins DL into a plus on the field.  That's a group that badly needs a talent/durability injection.

You might say that this post is less about Haynesworth that it is about two abstract concepts.  Two puzzle pieces that need to be placed together to make a sensible picture, but find themselves in two very different boxes three months before the season.  This is not an issue limited to the Redskins alone, as all the 32 teams have some sort of puzzle with their offseason additions and subtractions.  The Redskins' problem is being played out in front of a national audience, which makes it seem more dramatic.  At it's core, there's hardly any drama in a giant misunderstanding.  Tragedy? Perhaps.  It would be a tragedy if the player and the team don't find the obvious, amicable solution.

It's out there in front of our faces, as solutions to great problems tend to be.