As a lifelong Redskins fan, I have enjoyed some jubilation in my 26+ young years, but also have largely endured 10+ years of serious ineptitude for the team as well. Albert Haynesworth is just another example of the idiocy that has run my favorite sports team (of any team in any sport, by the way) into the ground.
In case you don’t know the story, Haynesworth signed a 7-year, $100 million contract with over $41 million of that contract guaranteed. In the first season of that contract, Haynesworth produced 37 tackles and 4 sacks. He made $30 million alone last year. So by those numbers, he made $7.5 million per sack or $1.23 million per tackle.
And now, to start the second year of his contract, he’s doing this:
The disgruntled two-time All Pro defensive tackle has stayed away from all offseason activities, including last week’s mandatory minicamp, because he is unhappy with the team’s switch to a 3-4 defense and wants to be traded. The Redskins offered him a chance to find another team — until he collected a $21 million bonus on April 1, the latest installment in the seven-year, $100 million contract he signed last year.
Forget the magnitude of his contract for a minute (though it adds a level of stupidity to the issue that can’t be ignored). Consider his actions. He’s staying away from offseason activities for a team that is at the beginning of a new coaching regime and a new defense. And for what reason? Because he doesn’t want to learn a slightly different position.
This would be like if I refused to write a press release at work because that’s “not what I was brought in to do.” I’m sorry, but the “not in my job description” excuse is total baloney.
In my “Open Letter to Bruce Allen“, I wrote that the Redskins should get what they can out of a Haynesworth trade. They didn’t, and his contract and attitude now make him more untradeable than ever.
Which gets me thinking about NFL contracts. I have two ideas:
1. Abolish contracts and go to “At-Will” Offer Letters
In the business world, most employment opportunities are “at-will” jobs, meaning that either the employer or the employee may discontinue the employment relationship at any time. If Haynesworth was in this system and he didn’t show up for mandatory activities (like he did by skipping minicamp), he’d be fired without question. His employer would determine that his failure to show up means he was choosing to end the “at-will” relationship. It’s that simple.
The NFL could go that way, too. The offer letters can still cover the expectations for the year, the compensation, the escalators and bonuses, etc. They will be open-ended and based on fiscal years. It’d be pretty easy to do. It’d just mean that everyone is a free agent, which could make the league awfully interesting… especially with the salary cap in effect.
2. Use the academic system’s one-year contract method
Unless on the tenure track (which simply wouldn’t work for the NFL), people who work in higher education–for the most part–work on 1-year contracts. (Sometimes, they are even 9-month contracts.) I know it doesn’t provide the insurance that the players union might be looking for, but it does allow teams to renew the contracts based on performance. It also allows the players to renegotiate their contracts every year. And you could allow for auto-renewal performance triggers as well.
The bottom line is that Haynesworth is perhaps the worst example of players who want to renegotiate their contracts or change teams after signing long-term contracts. And the people who suffer the most are the fans.
So, as a devoted fan, I say break the system and try again. And have the athletes join the rest of the world in terms of compensation standards (terms and renegotiations).
What do you think?
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