Redskins outbid Bucs for Haynesworth

The Washington Redskins won a bidding war over the Buccaneers for defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.

The Titans defensive end agreed to a seven-year, $100-million deal with the Redskins that could be worth as much as $115-million based on performance, according to ESPN.com.

At around 5 a.m., agent Chad Speck said 'the Bucs have shown significant interest in Albert,' in a text message to the Times. But a few hours later, Haynesworth agreed to a deal with the Redskins that includes $41-million in guarantees. During the first 13 months of the contract, Haynesworth will earn approximately $32-million.

At 12:01 a.m., six teams jumped into the sweepstakes for Haynesworth, agreeing to guarantee more than $30-million. Speck sorted through the offers and the choice came down to the Redskins and Buccaneers, who have $61-million in salary cap space, the most of any team in the NFL.

The Bucs jumped into the free agent fray as soon as the signing period began at 12:01 a.m. Friday. Tampa Bay is trying to arrange a visit with New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma even as the Saints were faxing over an offer to keep him.

Vilma recorded 132 tackles and forced fumbles, one sack and one interception.

Tampa Bay also has shown some interest in Steelers receiver Nate Washington, who is scheduled to visit the Lions.

The Bucs still are negotiating with cornerback Phillip Buchanon but couldn't prevent him from testing free agency.   

     

Comments

[drspb]

Thank you! Now I don't have to read anymore speculation about Albert Haynesworth!

[Jasonhouse]

yay! This is win-win-win for the Glazers... Not only can they claim to the fans that they tried to get the best player available in FA, but they can still suck just enough this season to win the Tebow sweepstakes going into next year's draft... And best of all, they still will have 8 figures to dump into ManU debt payments when it's all said and done.

[Steve~S]

Whew! I thought we were going to end up with Haynesworth. He had a good year when playing for a big pay day. Let's see how he measures up this year now that he's been paid. Hope we get TJ though.

[Brandon]

Not surprising... These Bucs seem more intent on saving money than producing a winning onfield product.

Now, with $61 mil in cap room, there is very little out there that really fills a need (Nate Washington, yes) and we will likely go into this season no less than $40 mil under the cap.

That being said, the new regime could not have started off worse. Cutting team icons, the hiring of a poor fit at d-coordinator and then the disorganization and apparent immaturity shown at the press conferences. Losing out on Haynesworth might be a blessing in disguise, but with the recent screw-ups this team needed to do something to reverse this trend.

[Brandon]

Jasonhouse,

Tebow sucks, quit that stupid crap. If Tebow had entered this QB poor draft this year, he would have been at best a 2nd round pick. If the National Championship game proved anything it is that Sam Bradford was clearly the better QB while Florida had the better team.

ANd then Steve,

Quit with the freakig TJ BS. He's among the slowest WRs in the league that has played opposite of the league's best deep threat in Chad Johnson, how many WRs average less than 10.0 yards per catch? TJ for one... and what has his fabulous exploits done to help Cincinatti do anything? NOTHING... Move on and get a clue.

[aaron]

we need to go out and get TJ. We have never had two threats at Wr. With AB on board, TJ will still see the single coverage and will do great. Then sign Clayton on as our #3. We have soooo much money we HAVE to go out and get some top tier players!

[Jasonhouse]

^I'm sorry, I didn't know you were my daddy... Thanks, but I'll keep thinking for myself.

[D Block]

How do the bucs get bidded out by a team that only has 8.5 million in cap room? WTH is going on in Tampa if nothing happens today the Glazers may actually be paying of there Manchester United debt at the bucs expense. If that would be true it sucks to be a bucs fan. As fans the light at the end of the tunnel is getting real dim, we are not saving money for draft picks! We only have one first rd pick not 3 or 4. The redskins manage to sign Deangelo Hall at 12:10 am Haynesworth at 5:01 the bucs have whats his name in route to one buc place 61 million for nothing TJ doesn't care to come Tampa so let me know if i missed someone.

[Valrico Rick]

Stupid, you guys are nothing but stupid. If it came down to the Bucs and Washington and it started with six teams and Washington gave him 100 mil with 42 quaranteed and you are still calling the Glazers cheap and too worried about man u! There is stupid and then there you! My god man what does it take! That wasn't a battle the Bucs needed to win, but they put up a fight and still you guys think the problem is money. I am so glad I don't know any of you clowns! What idiots!

[Steven]

YEs, VR - "outbid" is a misnomer here. And just how much success has "moneybags Snyder" had with his annual free agent spending sprees? The Bucs were in it until it became unrealistic. Then they bowed out as they should have and concentrated on more reasonable free agents. It's just that simple.

[shuturyap]

Screw the Bucs. They suck.

[UJAY]

Just like last year...failed to get the most talented player in the FA ...JUST BECAUSE THEY DONT WANT TO SPEND MONEY...Bucs have most salary cap space in NFL..you know what this means? this means that they are the CHEAPEST ORGANIZATION IN THE WHOLE NFL...I dont think BUCS are worth it...If they dont spend money on FA this year, at least I am NOT buying tickets or ANY Buc product.

[D Block]

Hey Val that is like saying you compete for 2nd place we tried. Winning isn't everything it is the only thing! It doesn't matter if you win or loose it's how you play the game? Those words are usually muffled to kids that have just lost a game. They say that to kids so they can try to do better and it builds sportsmanship early. This is the NFL the bucs biggest problem is on the D line and Haynesworth was the most dominant DT out there the past 3 yrs. No one wants to here try they want results not unsuccesful attempts

[Brandon]

You morons don't care if we get good players, just that we spent a whole lot of $$$ on a bunch of crappy players.. it isn't the players you want, it's the wasting of money. WHere has that ever gotten any team? NOWHERE!

If you want a team that spends frivolously on a bunch of players that aren't great, go root for the Redskins. So the Skins got Haynesworth, he is a huge risk regardless of his status, HUGE.. and of course stupid Redskins fans have already forgotten about Sean Gilbert.

[UJAY]

Some of you clowns who are still supporting Glazers can buy season tickets and blindly follow your team ...they willl get richer at your expense and the team will have the same story every year...and we wonder why we dont get any media coverage like cowboys, giants or patriots CUZ WE DONT HAVE ANY STAR PLAYERS.

[Robert]

Im glad we can see that the Glazers really do want to spend and get talent in Tampa! The Bucs were offering at least 30mil guranteed and they haven't layed money on the table like that in a while!! THANK YOU GLAZERS! Come on Dominik, let's get some franchise type of players back in Tampa!

[aaron]

TJ, Vilma, Derrick ward. Go get them and it will be a successful day.

[Robert]

D Block, at first glance I felt the same, but look at who they were bidding against! Schneider would of paid him 200 mil if that's what it would take. Haynesworth agent probably got a call after saying Tampa was in th hunt and The redskins probably saod they will match and beat any offer he got. There are some solid DL in the draft and there are still some good looking FA. I'm just glad that money isn't a problem as long as it's on the right guys!

[Steve~S]

Oh gee Brandon I never realized how football savy you are! Let's see in the last 3 yrs. TJ was a top ten receiver. In 2007 he was first in the NFL. Chad didn't catch one of those balls. Give me a receiver that gives me a first down every catch. Paired with Antonio a winning combination.

[Eric C.]

For the people that are saying the Glazers are cheap and just caring about Manchester United... did you read what was said? Are you paying attention at ALL to what is going on in free agency? We have targeted some of the biggest names out there. Do you know what Washington has just done to their cap space? To start, unless they release some players they will be over the cap limit and will have to pay a ridiculous luxury and then will be forced to get under the cap or they will be fined again. Secondly, Washington might be charged with tampering considering they were talking to haynesworths agent before FA, and finally he ended up choosing Washington over us. Not the deal. I wanted Haynesworth bad, but give the front office credit for making a great push at the man and doing it properly. (as in planning on there being a capped year next year unlike Washington). Good luck Washington signing your draft picks.

[aaron]

Amen, Steve!

[Steven]

Thanks for adding some levity, Brandon. Largely free agency is where you fill holes - not land franchise players. AH could end up being a franchise player and could just as well end up a huge, expensive bust. It happens every year. Spend, spend, spend is not how you build a team - not in the NFL at least. If that were the case the Redskins would have the last few SuperBowls.

[Ish]

Over the last two years Chris Hovan and Haynesworth have put up almost identical numbers. Over the last three years, Hovan put up MUCH better numbers -- the only edge AH had was sacks, which was not what Monte's defense asked Hovan to do.

Haynesworth only played a complete season ONCE in his career. He only put up "star" numbers in contract years. The other years he puts in slightly less than average numbers, steps on opposing players (for a worse penalty than Trueblood ever thought of), and works his mouth (rather than his job).

Do you REALLY want us to pay almost twice what we're playing contributing players for that? If so, ValricoRick is right.

[D Block]

Don't get me wrong Robert i'm glad we jacked the price up for them but i wanted Haynesworth, Fred Taylor and Bart Scott so i'm still venting and i know Tj doesn't want to come to Tampa so here we are.

[D Block]

Ok the Glazers have me routing for them. Word is that the bucs actually had more money on the table for Haynesworth he just chose to go with the redskins. At the end of the day now need to bring anyone here who doesn't want to play here that would be stupid.

[Steven]

We obviously have a reasonable shot at TJ. Fred Taylor? Seems like trading old (Dunn) for old there. Bart Scott looks like he's going to re-sign with the Ravens. He would have fit well here. Vilma would too however.

[Steven]

Also, don't overlook Lavernues Coles...

[D Block]

Fred Taylor has signed with New England already

[aaron]

Tj is concerned about the qb situation here. Maybe we should try adn swing a deal for Derek Anderson or...gulp....shall i even mention Cassell.

[Steven]

Derek Anderson would be a far more palatable solution than Cassell. I'm just not sold on a QB who was coached by Belichick and threw to Moss and Welker. Gee, Chris Simms could thrive in that environment. Anderson has a big arm and would come at a much better price.

[BucFandango]

The Daydream Team strikes again. This was all part of the "Secret Plan". It was head fake to make fans think they wanted Hayneworth. Phase 2 begins today as other top FA's like Vilma & Boley are brought in to see what a lovely facility they have here for players that wish to play for free. Raheem can't even put a complete sentence together. Dominik didn't give one coherent answer at the press conference on Wednesday either. These two Morons are the biggest Nitwits to ever have graced 1 Buc Place, with the exception of the Gloozer Boys. Dumber & Dumberer get cloned. Please fire these 2 geniuses before the season starts or they screw anything else up.

[mockdraught]

What free agent would want to sign with the Bucs after the way they treated Derrick Brooks? With their clumsiness, the Glazers just broke any deals with FAs who might be on the fence.

Imagine: Haynesworth signing with that idiot Redskins owner instead of the Bucs. The Glazers are perceived as, well, below Dan Snyderly Whiplash.

Dominik and Morris are not to blame. They looked like saddened front men out there the other day, doing the bidding of others.

Is Eddie DeBartolo around to take over pretty soon?

[Steven]

Is this BucFandango retard for real?

[Murph]

How in the hell can the Redskins afford Haynesworth and Hall? They only had 8.5 million in cap space. I'm not pissed that the Bucs didn't sign him. Just curious on how the Redskins do this year in and year out. They give away money as if they're printing their own. The NFL still hasn't come up with Rookie Pool yet.

[Eric C.]

Steven, he has to be. Anybody with an IQ over 100 wouldnt be that dumb. It amazes me how many people call themselves BUC fans but never look at the positives and only mention the negatives. And PLEASE dont tell me that you all are just realist. The FACT is that we were the only other team legitimately going after haynesworth other than washington. The report again is that we offered more money but he decided to go with the team that will be charged with tampering. When you cut a HOF player how should the GM and HC (both young and brand new) act in the press conference. Act like he didnt matter? They should some class during the interview. I still disagree with the decision, but at least the interview they made specifically about him and the other players and not about anything else. Give me a break quote unquote FANS.

[Steven]

There's a reason the Redskin's are never seriously contenders: Snyder. I'll say it again, you can't buy success in the NFL. It might work in baseball to an extent, but even there it fails. Check out the book Moneyball for a detailed explanation of this rather simple phenomenon. Snyder is a not so bright (in terms of football, obviiously he know how to make a dollar) fan with way too much money. The Skins are his toy.

[DooDooBrown]

Haynesworth hasn't played all 16 games in a season yet. How can you pay someone such an exhorbitant amount of money when there are 10 other guys on the field with you? 1 player does not win a game (see Larry Fitz SB performance). There have been few athletes that have been worth their weight in gold and were able to take over a game by themselves each night and win it.... and those players are/were in the NBA, where there are only 4 other men on the floor with you at one time. Kudos to Dan Snyder for making an idiotic purchase. Kudos #2 to Haynesworth for cashing in!! Go Patriots!

[Steven]

Thanks Eric C - a voice of reason.

To BucFandango I would say please enlighten me, what value would a “head fake” for the fans have, especially if they’re not signing the player they’re pretending to be interested in? It makes no sense and disqualifies your ill advised commentary. So let’s see, you imply that the relatively new facilities (which have been lauded in the media) are somehow now a deterrent; you imply that the Glazer’s don’t pay their players (of course, this is a reliable gripe; I guess Bryant will have some epic games of Monopoly with that 9M dollars worth of Monopoly money); you imply the new coach is stupid; you imply the GM can’t form sentences, and then you suggest that the Glazer’s (I won’t dumb myself down to write your childish suggestion) fire the guys they just hired. That has to be one of the most ridiculous posts I’ve ever seen on this blog. I think you just put the “s” in stupid, along with the “tupid”.

[Nick Smith]

Valrico Haynesworth had 14.5 sacks the last two years. Nobody on the Bucs has approached that since Simeon Rice. If you haven't noticed WE HAVE THE MOST CAP ROOM IN THE NFL. My bet is we do not attract alot of free agents and will get the scraps but if we come away with another Free agent year like last year we will not be competitive. Take that to the bank. The Glasers have changed since the time when they spent money on the team and the only thing I can point to is their acquiring of MU.

[DR]

It's great to see the Redskins waste more money on an overrated vet that played only one full season and takes only 65% of the snaps when he is healthy. There is no way he is worth $100M, that is ridiculous. 7 years, he won't play 7 years. It will be 3-4 years.

[OAR]

DR-flip, at it again, now that they were "outbid" for Haynesworth, he's no longer what the Bucs need. Thought you said he was the answer to thier dline needs?

[Jasonhouse]

Steven... BucsFandango's point is that the Glazers are cheaping out on the Bucs payroll, just like they did last year, apparently so that they can raise their personal profits as much as possible.

My hypothesis is this (and it's just a hypothesis)... When the Glazers bought ManU, they were already taking on significant risk, and were counting on refinancing that team's debt to lower their annual payments (which are about $145mil per yr). But since they couldn't get better terms on ManU's books, ManU's debt was spread to a holding company (RedFootball Ltd) which is operated by the Glazer Family Trust. That move allowed any profits from the Glazer's other endeavors to be directly injected into the trust and used to pay down ManU debt. Through all of this economic turmoil in the past 1.5 years, they have been trying to refinance ManU's debt without much luck, and are still on the hook for huge annual payments, even though the value of their other corporate holdings (First Allied Holdings- a REIT and Zapata Corp) are tanking because of the global economic meltdown. The money to pay the bills for ManU has to come from somewhere, and the Bucs is the only asset the Glazers own which they can extract 8 figures worth of cash from.

They did it last year, and they are giving every indication of going full bore with the same tactic this year. From a business perspective, you can't blame them. They're doing what they have to do... However, from a fan's perspective, it is total BS... I would much rather they sell the Bucs, and let someone run the team who will invest in it, not extract value from it... But the problem there is, the buyer wouldn't pay a premium in this economic environment, and would run into the same credit problems the Glazers are having themselves. Conversely, the Glazers could take out a loan against the Bucs, but then they probably run into complications with the league, and probably would get worse terms than the loans they already have.

Either way, Bucs fans are just going to have to deal with whatever reality the Glazers feel like dictating to us, because there's not a damn thing any of us can do about it.

[ty guy]

Dan Snyder is a cheat anyways. The guy was meeting with Haynesworth's agent at the Combine last week. Gee, I wonder what they were talking about, maybe Tiger Woods returning to the golf course? Every year the Redskins spend more than what they have under the cap but somehow don't get penalized. I don't know how they do it but I would like to find out so I can pay for college and not care.

[Steven]

Jason, you took the long way there, but thanks for at least presenting something that has at least a little validity. Your last point was the most meaningful for what we're discussing here. Given the dollars being discussed, I believe the Glazer's can well afford it, but it's cost prohibitive based on a normal risk/benefit assessment (speaking of Haynesworth here).

[Jasonhouse]

To be clear, I don't think the Glazers had any intention of signing Haynesworth. It was a PR smokescreen, to make it seem like they're trying to build a winner, when what they're really doing is milking Bucs fans for every cent they can get, to save their own over-leveraged hides.

[Grs]

Note to Glazers! you're not in MLB you're in the NFL you can't do what the Rays did. Morris is not Maddon. NFL has a spending floor whether you like it or not Glazer family. Stop mocking us fans and come out and tell us your true intentions. You want our money you owe us a product and truth. My season ticket plans are on hold until further notice.

[Steven]

You’re right – that’s more clear. I would say that I disagree. In fact, I just said it. I think you’d let Bryant walk in that case. Why not just re-sign Clayton for less than half that? I say you don’t fire Gruden and Allen in that case. Why spend money on top of money since you’re paying Gruden and Allen anyway to NOT be part of the team? Those are just recent examples, but I think too many things disagree with such a black and white assessment. I jut don’t see the need for s smokescreen. As I said previously, what’s the value in pretending you have interest in a player and then not signing him? Because it’s then (now) when you get the backlash! I just do not believe they’re concerned with that.

[Stacy]

I am surprised that the backlash here is not worse and for that I applaud you guys. But I know it is early in the day. I for one am not too upset the way things went. I said previously that we should go after AH, but if he exceeded the $ that we wanted to spend on him and not leave us in good $ situation for other acquisitions, becasue DT is not the only position that we need to fill, "he could want in one hand and s..t in the other and see which one fills up first". Well Snyder filled his hand (and a little more) up. I am good with that. I believe the Glazers, Dominik and Morris did make a push for him. I give them that. I also know that he did not go to the SB last year and he cant win big, although he is big and good, he can't win big by himself... Soooo, We still have a shot and a good one,at almost everyone else in FA with the remaining $ we have. I hope we go after Canty for the same reason we went after AH. We still need that middle push. If we can't land him, there are, as I said prev, alot of DT's in the Draft, so not all is lost @ this position just becasue we did not sign AH. I too like Vilma, but I have never HAD TO watch him. he is good but I dont think that special splash player. This will be a long day and FA season to come for us. We will have to wait and see how things shake out. I am at this point more interested in the Noon TV release of Brooks' press conference. Someone mentioned something else, just as a matter of course, I want to see who the Redskins release in the near future to get them under the cap, not that they have signed Hall as well. Whom I dont think we needed anyway. Nonetheless, I want to see who they release for that type $...or will they just pay the fine like last year? I wasn't interested in Fred Taylor either, who went to NE so I dont see that we are a bust in FA just becasue we did not sign AH....yet.

[Grs]

Steven what you don't get is that the glazers MUST it's not a choice MUST spend at least $100 Million this year. They were under floor last year. They are lobbying hard to have the floor dropped. Harder than any other team owner. Signing Bryant is not a sign of commitment it's a step towards the floor mark they need to attain. 1 warm body for 1 year until 2010 when the entire league goes nuts and the collective bargaining agreement expires. No Gene Upshaw to hold their feet to the fire anymore. The new commish is doing a good job at pleasing the owners. The Glazers are sitting pretty!

[Steven]

Well Grs, in that case I would think that the Glazer's would definitely have outbid Snyder if one is to assume they need to meet this nice, neat and mysterious financial objective. Haynesworth would have been their deux ex machina! Still not buying it.