In February of 2009 the Washington Redskins signed defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to a seven year contract worth a whopping $100 million. Haynesworth’s deal included an NFL record $41 million in guaranteed money. Albert went on to back up his larger than life contract with some larger than life statements.

"You're not going to remember Albert Haynesworth as a bust," he said.

"With the contract, it's going to be all on me," Haynesworth said. "My goal is to be the best player on the field and to eventually get to that Hall of Fame status and be mentioned with Reggie White and Bruce Smith and all the greats."

These remarks only intensified the already massive hype around the 6-6 350 lb lineman. Unfortunately during the sixteen months Albert has played with the Redskins thus far he hasn’t played like a Hall of Famer or a Pro Bowler.

The Washington Redskins chose to invest $100 million in the defensive lineman after watching Haynesworth record 51 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles as a member of the Tennessee Titans in 2008. After watching Haynesworth’s monster 08’ campaign and his huge contract, Redskin fans were expecting Haynesworth to wreak havoc on defenses in 2009. While it would be unfair to say that Albert Haynesworth was ineffective during his rookie campaign in Washington, it would be fair to say that his production wasn’t at the level Redskin fans were hoping for. He recorded 37 tackles, 4 sacks, and didn’t force any fumbles in the twelve games he played with Washington, a drop off in all categories from his 2008 season.

While the drop off in production certainly didn’t make Redskins fans happy it wasn’t what really got them angry with their $100 million man. Rather it was a statement that Albert’s agent, Chad Speck, issued to the Washington Post less than a month ago that really enraged the fan base.

"The Redskins are trying to establish a new regime with new schemes at Redskins Park, and it is not an organization that Albert would have ever been attracted to just a short year ago -- regardless of the money," Haynesworth's agent, Chad Speck, told The Washington Post. "He has made it clear to me that he does not want to play for the Washington Redskins.”

Redskins ownership had to be wondering what happened to the man that they were so confident would turn their franchise around that they gave him $41 million worth of guaranteed money. The man who they signed for seven years and preached words of wanting to achieve “Hall of Fame” status with Washington now was asking for a trade after only a little over a year. Albert Haynesworth has argued that he prefers and excels in a 4-3 defensive scheme and that he has no interest in playing in the 3-4 defensive scheme that the Redskins have adopted.

To make a long story short Haynesworth and his agent have lobbied for a trade the entire offseason, but the Redskins have been unable to move Albert. It is understandably hard to move a man who has a seven year $100 million salary. Much to his chagrin, Albert reported to Redskins training camp today and promptly failed the teams conditioning test according to ESPN’s John Clayton. A source said that after failing the test Haynesworth argued that he never had to run three such sprints during his Pro Bowl seasons. New Head Coach Mike Shanahan responded by saying that he must have never been in shape.

When the Redskins signed Albert Haynesworth they understandably had dreams of him being the cornerstone of a vaunted Washington defense in the future. Now though the dream has turned into the proverbial nightmare. Albert still has six years left on his contract, he doesn’t want to play with the team, and today he failed to run three consecutive sprints as part of a training camp conditioning exercise. Washington can try to trade the lineman but right now Haynesworth’s $100 million salary is something that no other team in the league wants to touch (Terrell Owens will play for the Bengals next season for $2 million, that is how big Albert’s contract is).

So the ball is now in the court of Redskins management as to what they want to do with their giant investment. Either way it should be interesting to see how this plays out.

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